Persecution of Jews in Ukraine

Lithuanian and Polish monarchs
The Grand Duke Alexander of Lithuania expelled Jews from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1495 and confiscated liens held by Jews against Christians. The immovable property of the expelled Jews in Lutsk was confiscated, and most was distributed by Alexander to local Christian residents.

King and Grand Duke Sigismund II Augustus of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth approved of the statute issued by Lithuanian nobles in 1566 that was repressive toward Jews in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Paragraph 12 of the statute contains the following: “The Jews shall not wear costly clothing, nor gold chains, nor shall their wives wear gold or silver ornaments. The Jews shall not have silver mountings on their sabers and daggers; they shall be distinguished by characteristic clothes; they shall wear yellow caps, and their wives kerchiefs of yellow linen, in order that all may be enabled to distinguish Jews from Christians.” King and Grand Duke Sigismund III Vasa prohibited Jews from residing in or acquiring real estate in Kyiv.

Mid-17th century massacres
The Orthodox Christian Cossacks led by Khmelnytsky killed thousands of Jews in Ukraine in the mid-17th century. Jews were also attacked in Belarus and Poland. In Lviv in 1664, students of a Jesuit academy invaded the Jewish quarter. They killed about a hundred Jews and damaged houses and synagogues.

Russian monarchs
The Russian monarch, Peter the Great (who reigned from 1682 to 1725), who imported thousands of non-Russians, refused to accept Jews into his empire. Peter and the later Russian monarchs, Catherine I, Elizabeth Petrovna, Catherine II, and all of the emperors after her reign, were all Orthodox Christians. Peter's successor, the Russian Empress Catherine I, issued an edict in 1727 expelling Jews from the Russian Empire: “The Jews ... who are living in Ukraine and other Russian towns are to be immediately deported beyond the frontier, and must henceforth not be allowed to enter Russia under any circumstances.” In 1742, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna also ordered the expulsion of all the Jews from the Russian Empire and called them “enemies of Christ.”

Empress Catherine II (1762–1796) segregated Jews and restricted them to the Pale of Settlement. She doubled the taxes on Jews; the added taxes were lifted if they converted to Orthodox Christianity. Jews were still restricted to the Pale of Settlement under Emperors Paul I (1796–1801), Alexander I (1801–1825), and Nicholas I (1825–1855). In 1827, Nicholas I required by law that Jews from 12 to 25 years old join the military and be required to complete 25 years of service. Jews were also compelled to convert to Christianity. The later emperors, Alexander II (1855–1881), Alexander III (1881–1894), and Nicholas II (1894–1917), also kept Jews restricted to the Pale of Settlement.

Emperor Alexander III restricted the Jewish people. He imposed various rules and bans on Jews: they weren't allowed to own land and property in rural areas; they weren't allowed to hold government office, run schools, or appeal against a court sentence; they could be deported if they lived outside the Pale of Settlement; they weren't allowed to work in the legal, military, or medical professions; their entrance to universities and secondary schools was restricted; they weren't allowed to vote in zemstva and municipal elections; they were forced to sell up businesses; and their rights to trade or sell products were restricted. He also supported pogroms and attacks on Jews.