As the train gathered speed along the tracks, Rachel looked out the dirty window at the town passing by, a distorted jumble of shapes and images that were hard to recognize as the train accelerated. She couldn’t believe they were actually leaving Kishinev, where she had been born, where her father had lived and died, where Chaia still lay, unable to speak, and where she had grown to care for Sergei more than she ever could have imagined.
Rachel thought about him now, her eyes damp with tears. If only Sergei had been able to come with her, if only he had been able to give up his secure world for hers. If only life could be a fairy tale, like the “Snow Maiden,” where Ivan gave up everything to live in a castle of ice and be with the woman he loved. Rachel shuddered as she remembered that the love between Ivan and Snegurochka had ended in an instant, when they died together in the warm light of spring.
She looked out the window and saw the river in the distance. It sparkled under the sun, a greenish-brown snake winding its way across the earth. For a second, Rachel thought she saw the reflection of a radiant face with amber eyes and white skin—the face of Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden. She blinked and the image was gone, replaced by a bold ray of sunlight reflecting off the river.
Historical Note
Years will have to go by before the terrible recollection of these doings and of the damning bloodstain on the “conscience of the Christians in Kishineff” can be at all effaced. There is a blot on the consciences not only of those who actually committed murder, but also of those who provoked to murder, by their base lies and their preaching of hatred to their fellow men; and also on the consciences of those who maintain that the fault lay not with the murderers, but with the murdered, that there exist such things as common irresponsibility, and that a whole nation may be treated as having no rights.
The Kishinev pogrom was a direct consequence of the propaganda of lies and violence that the Russian government pursues with such energy.
The events of this story are true: fifty-one people were killed, more than four hundred were injured, seven hundred homes and six hundred shops were vandalized or destroyed during the riots in Kishinev. On May 22, 1903, The New York Times reported that twenty-five hundred servings were distributed at the soup kitchen daily but that this was but “a drop in the ocean.”
Remarkably, the Jews themselves were blamed for the pogrom and were not allowed to meet or gather as a result of this massacre. In the end, twenty-five of thirty-seven rioters were found guilty on various counts and were sentenced to terms ranging from six months to seven years. The stiffest sentences went to two men convicted of murder, who received terms of hard labor for seven and five years. Relations among Jews and gentiles remained strained, and on October 18, 1905, another pogrom took place in Kishinev.
Many of the characters in this book are also based on real people in Kishinev: Ita and Gofsha Paskar, Chaia Berlatsky, Hosea Berlatsky, Sergei’s father (Aleksandr Konstantinovich Khanzhenkov), V. G. Korolenko, Lopukhin, Dr. M. B. Slutskii, Bishop Iakov, Rose Katsap (Menahem’s grandmother, who was bludgeoned to death while her young grandson looked on in hiding), and Mikhail Rybachenko.
Rachel’s life in Kishinev represents the experience of the majority of Jews in this city in 1903. Though they lived in poverty, Jews attended their own schools, which provided instruction in Yiddish and Hebrew. Also, they were able to speak and read Russian, while Russians were unable to communicate in Yiddish or Hebrew.
Mikhail was stabbed to death by a family member for money and his murder led to newspaper stories about Jews killing for blood. These false stories fuelled the 1903 Kishinev Pogrom. I did take the liberty of changing the location of the murder from Dubossary to Kishinev in order to develop more intimate relationships among the characters. I chose the river because the last place Mikhail was seen was skating on a river. Another interesting aside is the fact that Korolenko did meet and talk to a girl at House Number 13, who relayed her version of the pogrom, which he published in House Number 13.
Glossary
Balalaika: Triangular-shaped string instrument
Blini: Small pancakes
Bubbe: Grandmother
Challah: Special Shabbat bread loaves
Gorodki: An ancient Russian folk sport where the goal is to knock out groups of pins, which are called cities or towns
Gut: Yiddish for “good”
Gymnazium: School
Hamantashen: A triangular pastry with sweet seed filling
Icon: Tempera pictures of religious scenes and figures that adorned church walls and the eastern walls of family homes. Icon images, based on Byzantine art, were important for Orthodox Russians from birth to death.
Kaddish: A prayer recited by mourners after the death of a close relative
Kopeck: A Russian coin. In 1704, Russia was the first country in the world to introduce a decimal monetary system, where 1 ruble equals 100 kopecks.
Kugeclass="underline" A baked Jewish pudding made from egg noodles or potatoes, usually served as a side dish on Shabbos
L’chayim: To life—a Jewish toast
Lashon-ha-ra: Speaking the truth about somebody, even though it might be hurtful
Maslenitsa: An eight-day carnival, “Butter Week,” where Russians consumed large quantities of blini (small pancakes smothered in butter) at every meal. This fell right before Lent, when butter was prohibited.
Matzah: Unleavened bread eaten by Jews during Passover
Megillah: The Book of Esther, one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It’s the basis for the Jewish celebration of Purim.
Menshe yiden: Good, honest Jewish people
Mikveh: A bath used for ritual immersion in Judaism, to regain purity
Pirozhki: Baked or fried buns stuffed with either fruit, vegetables, or meat
Purim: Commemorates the biblical story of Esther, which marks the deliverance of the Jewish community that lived in Persia
Samovar: A heated container used to boil water for tea and a symbol of Russian generosity
Shabbat, Shabbos: The most important day of the week (Friday) for Jews. It begins eighteen minutes before sunset and ends on Saturday night about forty-five minutes after sunset. During this time, no work or creative pursuits are allowed.
Shiva: The Jewish tradition of publicly mourning the death of a loved one
Sholom Aleichem: Peace be upon you—a greeting from one Jew to another
Shuclass="underline" A Yiddish word derived from the German word for school, since the shul is a place of learning and a place of prayer
Sobornost: Community
Troika: Carriage or sled drawn by three horses harnessed side-by-side
Verst: Obsolete Russian unit of length defined as 500 sazhen (3,500 feet; 1.0668 kilometers)
Yarmulka: Skullcap worn by men in the shul
Zeyde: Grandfather
Acknowledgments
This book would not exist had it not been for the help and support of many wonderful people: Marsha Skrypuch, for pointing me in the right direction; my agent, Margaret Hart, for reading an early version and providing invaluable comments; Ann Featherstone, for showing me how to fully develop characters; Malcolm Lester, for his insight and keen eye; and Margie Wolfe and Second Story Press, for believing in a new writer.
I’d also like to thank Reverend Dr. Morar Murray-Hayes and Rabbi Stephen Wise for reading the manuscript and providing comments to help ensure its accuracy.