Shaul Stampfer. Jewish Population Losses in the Course of the Khmelnytsky Uprising

Jewish Population Losses in the Course of the Khmelnytsky Uprising

By Shaul Stampfer

(Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Source: Judaica Ukrainica 4 (2015): 36-52

Publication date: December 1, 2015

Publication type: article

Language: English

Full text:

Abstract

To assess Jewish population losses in the course of the Khmelnytsky Uprising it is not sufficient to simply accept statements of Jewish chroniclers regarding the numbers killed. They had no way to count the dead and their texts were written to memorialize but not to provide data for historical demography. Therefore, to reach a realistic assessment, it is necessary to consider the size of the Jewish population in Ukrainian lands before and after the uprising. To do this, it is necessary to bear in mind that cities in the region were small at that time and there were limited economic opportunities for Jews in the region. When this is done, it appears that the Jewish population before 1648 was roughly about 40,000 and the number of survivors, even more roughly, was about 22,000. This is a conservative estimate and there may have been more survivors, since most Jews apparently realized quickly that flight was the best tactic. This leads to the conclusion that the population losses were severe – perhaps 20,000. This would have been approximately half of the Jewish population at the outbreak of the uprising. However, this is much less than is often claimed. It is impossible to determine how many of these were direct victims of anti-Jewish violence and how many died from disease, hunger and the vicissitudes of flight. What is clear is that an awareness of the demographic realities is necessary to understanding the events that led to these historical catastrophes.

Keywords: Ukrainian-Jewish discourses, Khmelnytsky uprising, Jews in Poland, Jews in the Right-bank Ukraine

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DOI 10.14653/ju.2015.03