Review: Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History

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Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History by Steven J. Zipperstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was all too timely as we see a new rise of anti-Semitism around the world and what it means for Jews in the United Kingdom, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and especially in the former Soviet Republics.

We all grew up knowing of the Kishinev Pogrom. It's still remembered during memorial services, and for some of my family from the Bessarabia region of Rumania/Russia/Moldavia it was part of our personal history. Zipperstein digs deep into the research, separating fact from myth to the best of his ability based on surviving material. Because the pogrom occurred in the early 20th c., technology in the form of telegraph lines, steamships, trains, and the modern press moved the story forward in a fashion that would have been impossible 100 or even 50 years earlier.

The hate that led to the murders in Kishinev lives on, particularly in the scurrilous writings of the so-called Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It laid the groundwork for the big lies of the Nazi era and the Stalinist regime, and continues to fuel hatred today. This is an important work of history, well worth reading so that we never forget how quickly hate can make events spiral out of control.

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