Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: New Books Network
Episode: Rethinking Kishinev: How a Riot Changed 20th Century Jewish History
Date: April 2, 2026
Host: New Books
Guest: Professor Steven J. Zipperstein, Koshland Professor in Jewish Culture and History at Stanford University

Overview

This episode features a lecture and expansive Q&A with Professor Steven Zipperstein, author of Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History. The episode dives into the infamous 1903 Kishinev pogrom in Bessarabia (present-day Moldova), exploring how this act of anti-Jewish violence became an iconic and myth-laden event, shaping Jewish political consciousness, migration narratives, and even the anti-Semitic imagination in Russia and the world.

Zipperstein seeks to “reconstruct, not commemorate” this history—moving beyond received memory and communal myth to probe why this particular pogrom so deeply imprinted itself on Jewish, Russian, and Western imagination, despite its relatively smaller scale compared to later massacres.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Setting and Mythology of Kishinev

• Kishinev’s Peripheral Status: At the turn of the 20th century, Kishinev was a rustic, peripheral city known for bribery, agricultural exports, and little Jewish intellectual or religious repute.

  • “Kishinev ... was little more than a blank slate. So much so that in May 1903, the New York Times ran a piece entitled, ‘Kishinev is a city far from a bad place to live in, except for Jews...’” (12:10)

• Transforming Into Icon: The 1903 pogrom left 49 Jews dead—modest by later standards—but became “the quintessence of Jewish disaster,” its name alone evoking horror worldwide for decades.

Origins and Triggers

• Local Hostility Fanned by Media: The pogrom was triggered by ritual murder accusations, stoked daily by the local anti-Semitic newspaper Bessarabets, edited by Pavel Krushevan.

  • “The noisiest drumbeat preceding the pogrom ... fixed on the ever explosive charge of Jewish ritual murder…” (22:45)

• Immediate Agency: The chief local Zionist, Yaakov Bernstein Kogan, used contacts to rapidly publicize the pogrom internationally—dramatically amplifying Western awareness and Jewish activism.

Why Did Kishinev Resonate?

• Timing & Symbolism: The pogrom’s timing—at the dawn of the century, during intense ferment among Zionists, socialists, and new mass media—helped it become a universal cause for all Jewish political factions.

  • “Conflicted ideologies divided Jews on nearly everything, but all embraced Kishineff as their own… This pogrom broke out at a moment of singular coherence…” (18:20)

• Western Press and Jewish Mobilization: Mass coverage in both Jewish and mainstream Western newspapers elevated what could have become a regional tragedy into a defining international event and prompted the first large-scale Jewish-American activism, including relief campaigns.

• Imagery and Myth-Making: Photography, eyewitness testimony, and literary accounts (like Bialik’s “In the City of Slaughter”) entrenched Kishinev in public memory.

  • “Still more than the massacre’s brutality was the so called Plehve letter. What this was thought to signal was...the government at the highest levels was directly responsible for it all…” (36:05)

Government and Anti-Semitic Conspiracy

• The Plehve Letter: The supposed letter from the Russian Minister of the Interior, Plehve, was published in the Western press and interpreted as governmental sanction for the violence. Later research shows this was likely a forgery, but its perceived authenticity drove outrage and defined the pogrom in memory.

  • “Not only did the letter offer no guide as to what ought to be done to stop the massacre, but it helped to explain why the government’s response turned out to be so ineffective.” (39:33)

• Krushevan, the Protocols, and Conspiracy: Krushevan and his circle not only organized and inspired the pogrom, but also stitched together the earliest version of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion—giving world “proof” of Jewish conspiracy and fueling a new era of anti-Semitism.

Pogrom as a Catalyst

• Jewish Political Organization: The pogrom galvanized relief efforts, the formation of Jewish self-defense groups (such as the precursor to the Haganah), and shifts in Jewish politics both within Russia and in the diaspora.

  • “The presumption that Jews do not engage in self defense inspires all sorts of self defense organizations. First of all in Gomel in September 1903…” (55:17)

• Myth and Migration: Pogrom became a catchall reason for migration—factually simplistic, but a potent communal shorthand:

  • “Pogrom comes to be a shorthand for the inescapable misery of what it means to live in the Russian Empire.” (52:45)

The Western and Russian Response

• Western Grassroots: The Lower East Side's Yiddish press and working-class Jewish immigrants took the lead in activism, surpassing the old communal elites.

  • “This is the great difference here. The engine of politics in the wake of the Kishinev pogrom ... were precisely those figures who had never been on the center stage of Jewish politics before in the United States.” (69:50)

• Russian Intelligentsia: Top writers and intellectuals, notably Tolstoy, condemned the pogrom, reflecting a rare moment of alignment among Russian liberals and radicals against the regime.

  • “This is the first anti-Jewish event that Tolstoy speaks out against ... from left liberal to radical ... there’s absolute unanimity that this is the event that really defines ... the insidious nature of the Russian regime...” (71:24)

The Birth of Key Terms & Cultural References

• Pogrom as a Word: Its usage explodes in the Western lexicon, becoming synonymous with state-condoned anti-Jewish violence.
• Pale of Settlement: The term’s popularization in the West owes much to Irish radical Michael Davitt’s reporting on Kishinev.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “How is it that an event becomes an historical event, a moment felt to define something essential about one’s age, imprinted beyond the mere moment of its occurrence?” (16:22 — Steve Zipperstein)

• “Much of what was learned by Jews regarding Kishinev was...the product of half truths of mythology that morphed into historicity, of poetry read as documentary journalism...” (47:00 — Steve Zipperstein)

• “For not a few in the Russian government as well as in the hard right, it was Bernstein Kogan who personified all that was most horrible, most perilous in the challenge posed by Zionism and Jews as a whole.” (27:30)

• “Did I say anything to provoke anyone? ... Even if my own political beliefs ... are predicated, as I now have come to see it, on historical half truths, so be it.” (50:53 — Steve Zipperstein)

Key Q&A Segments & Timestamps

[51:29–52:45]: Did the pogrom accelerate Jewish emigration?

• Not directly; migration tied more to overall misery and pressures, with “pogrom” becoming communal shorthand for the condition.

[56:13–59:50]: Who carried out the violence?

• Mainly peasants from surrounding areas; most of the worst violence occurred in a brief, three-hour window on the second day.

[61:16–63:35]: Why do some events (like Kishinev) become mythic, while others are forgotten?

• Only some disasters catch the attention of media and political activists; many “toxins” persist at the core of Russian life, then and now.

[63:35–65:50]: Kishinev as a “perfect storm” for political mobilization; myth-making by activists versus the more conservative Jewish response.

• Zipperstein agrees and notes how activism around relief created new cross-communal alliances, even as conservative elements responded differently.

[68:17–69:36]: On the American Jewish response and the myth versus reality of earlier US Jewish activism.

• Kishinev marked a shift from elite negotiation to grassroots activism.

[71:18–End]: Response of Russian non-Jewish intelligentsia; popularization of “pogrom” and “pale of settlement.”

• “Across the board … this is the event that really defines … the insidious nature of the Russian regime..."
• Stories and terminology that shaped Western understanding of the Russian Jewish past trace directly to Kishinev.

Final Reflection

Professor Zipperstein closes with humility on the limits and dangers of myth, history, and received wisdom—even those foundational to his own communal and political worldview. He advocates continually revisiting and reconstructing the past, insisting that stripping away the mythology of Kishinev can reveal not only the truth of one event, but deeper insights into how catastrophe, memory, and activism intersect.

For listeners:
This episode offers a gripping narrative and scholarly meditation on how one local tragedy can become an icon of communal identity and memory, and how myth and media shape modern history. It will especially appeal to those interested in Jewish history, Russian history, media studies, and the politics of memory.

Notable Sections to Check:

• [12:10] — Setting, New York Times, and myth of Kishinev
• [18:20] — How political activism united around Kishinev
• [27:30] — Bernstein Kogan and the spread of news
• [36:05] — The Plehve Letter and government responsibility
• [39:33] — Why “pogrom” enters Western usage
• [51:29] — Q&A: Pogrom and migration
• [63:35] — Q&A: Political elites, myth-making, and conservative responses
• [71:24] — Q&A: Russian intelligentsia and the meaning of “pogrom”