Persecution of Jews in Ukraine

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

Statute of 1566
Lithuanian nobles issued a statute 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.”

Sigismund III
King and Grand Duke Sigismund III of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth prohibited Jews from residing or acquiring real estate in Kyiv.

Khmelnytsky massacre
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.

Lviv massacre of 1664
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
Russian Empress Catherine I issued an edict in 1727 expelling Jews from Russia and Ukraine: “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.” She was an Orthodox Christian.

In 1742, Elizabeth Petrovna, Empress of Russia, ordered the expulsion of all the Jews of the Russian Empire and called Jews the “enemies of Christ”.

Empress Catherine II (who reigned from 1762 to 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.

In 1827, Emperor Nicholas I (who reigned from 1825 to 1855) required by law that Jews from 12 to 25 years old join the military and were required 25 years of service. Jews were also compelled to convert to Christianity.

Emperor Alexander III (who reigned from 1881 to 1894) favored Orthodox Christianity. He supported pogroms and attacks on Jews, and imposed various rules and bans on Jews: they weren't allowed land and property ownership 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, and medical professions, they were restricted in their entrance to universities and secondary schools, 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.