Alfonse Pogrom
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The Alfonse pogrom (in Polish, '' Pogrom alfonsów'' '
pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...
of the pimps'; the Polish
slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-g ...
term ''alfons'' means ' pimp'; 24–26 May 1905) Entry reproduced onlin
here
by the Żydowski Instytut Historyczny (Jewish Historical Institute). (Translated quote: "On the first day of the riots, groups of Jewish workers attacked pimps on the streets and destroyed their apartments and brothels. On the second day, Christians joined in; on the third day, the criminal element committed robberies." Original Polish-language quote: ''"Pierwszego dnia zamieszek grupy robotników żydowskich napadały na ulicach na stręczycieli oraz niszczyły ich mieszkania i domy publiczne. W drugim dniu do zajść włączyli się chrześcijanie; trzeciego – element przestępczy - napady rabunkowe."''
was a three-day riot in Warsaw, Poland. The violence led to the destruction of several dozen brothels, and to as many as 15 deaths. Accounts and analyses of the event differ with regard to its goals and participants (varying as to the participation of Jewish Bund labor-party militants, Jewish workers, Christian workers, and criminals; as well as to the genesis of the event and the exact numbers of casualties).


Background

In the second half of the 19th century, prostitution, sex trafficking, and sexual slavery became widespread in
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. These activities were mostly dominated by the Jewish underworld, and their existence caused much tension and controversy within Warsaw's Polish-Jewish community. While in Congress Poland and Warsaw, overall, 72.7% of prostitutes were
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and 21.36% were Jewish, in Warsaw the proportion of Jewish prostitutes was much higher. In 1874 two-thirds of all registered prostitutes in Warsaw were Jewish. In 1889 around 75% of all brothels in Warsaw were run by Jews. Accounts differ as to the cause of the violence. Some consider this a political action by Jewish workers. As violent riots escalated during the unrest in the mid-1900s, tensions between the Jewish underworld and workers grew to the point where a violent wide-scale incident was increasingly likely. According to Laura Engelstein, the pimps were perceived by
Bundists Bundism was a secular Jewish socialist movement whose organizational manifestation was the General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland, and Russia ( yi, אַלגעמײַנער ײדישער אַרבעטער בּונד אין ליטע פויל ...
to be agents of the Okhrana (Russian Tsarist police).


The riot

The pogrom started following a rumor, though it is not clear which rumor actually sparked the pogrom. One version suggests that a sister or fiancée of a Bund activist was kidnapped and taken to a brothel, and he was wounded trying to rescue her. Another says a Jewish prostitute asked a Jewish worker for help in her plight, and when he tried to rescue her, he was killed. All versions suggest that after the rescuer was injured or killed, his friends started a large-scale riot. Jewish activists associated with the Bund labor party were involved in the rioting. Another version is that the reason for the riot was criminal interference in the competition between legal and illegal brothels.
Antony Polonsky Antony Barry Polonsky (born 23 September 1940, Johannesburg, South Africa) is Emeritus Professor of Holocaust Studies at Brandeis University. He is the author of many historical works on the Holocaust, and is an expert on Polish Jewish history. ...
rejects the view that this was a political action organized by the Bund as "a reaction of Jewish workers to the exploitation of Jewish women." Polonsky writes that the criminal underworld was substantially involved, and he notes that "only licensed brothels were affected".
Antony Polonsky Antony Barry Polonsky (born 23 September 1940, Johannesburg, South Africa) is Emeritus Professor of Holocaust Studies at Brandeis University. He is the author of many historical works on the Holocaust, and is an expert on Polish Jewish history. ...
, ''The Jews in Poland and Russia'', volume 2: 1881 to 1914, The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2010, p. 93.
Although accounts of events differ, most agree that bands of Jewish workers went from brothel to brothel, assaulting pimps and prostitutes, destroying and looting property. Clashes also spread into the city streets. The rioting started in northwest Warsaw before spreading throughout the city. According to some scholars (for instance Borzymińska and Jakubczak) the rioting was joined on the second day by Christian workers, and the third day saw criminals take advantage of the chaos to commit robberies. Jewish workers acted only in the Jewish neighborhood, striking just the Jewish parts of the underworld. Christian workers did corresponding with the Christian gangsters. Tsarist police authorities allegedly attempted to orchestrate an anti-Jewish pogrom (such accusations are part of the Bund narrative of the events), but when the attempt failed, the Russian governor, ordered the military to suppress the riot. The riot is considered to have been put down by 26 May 1905, though lesser incidents continued for a few more days, with 3 further fatalities on 28 May.


Aftermath

During the disturbances 150 dwellings (including 40 brothels) were destroyed, with property damage estimated at 200,000 rubles, 5 people were killed, 10 severely injured (most died later in hospitals) and over 40 injured. According to Scott Ury, 5 persons were killed in the events themselves, another 10 died from wounds they incurred, and over 40 were hospitalized. According to a Reuter report, the number of injured was 100.Edward J. Bristow, ''Prostitution and Prejudice: The Jewish Fight Against White Slavery 1870–1939'', Clarendon Press, 1982, p. 61 Police arrested close to 100 pimps and prostitutes. The Bund leadership at first criticized its activists who took part in the rioting, but later changed its stance and claimed the riot was a righteous action against the morally corrupt government and criminals. The riot brought the problem of prostitution in Poland to wider public attention and led to attempts to address the problem through further debate and reforms. wrote a poem, ''"Po pogromie"'' ("After the Pogrom"), about the incident.


See also

*
History of Warsaw The history of Warsaw spans over 1400 years. In that time, the city evolved from a cluster of villages to the capital of a major European power, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—and, under the patronage of its kings, a center of enlightenmen ...
*
Zwi Migdal Zwi Migdal ( yi, צבי מגדל, Polish: Cwi Migdał) was an organized-crime group by Polish Jewish individuals, founded in Poland and based mainly in Argentina, that trafficked in Jewish women from Central Europe for sexual slavery and forced ...
*
Raquel Liberman Raquel Liberman (10 July 1900 – 7 April 1935) was a Polish immigrant to Argentina, a victim of human trafficking. Her denouncement of her traffickers led to the breaking up of the Jewish human-trafficking network from Poland, Zwi Migdal, whic ...
* Simon Rubinstein (pimp) * Ashkenazum * Sexual slavery


References

{{Reflist 1905 in Poland Prostitution in Poland History of Warsaw Jews and Judaism in Poland 1905 in the Russian Empire Congress Poland Sex trafficking 1905 riots Women in Poland