Pogrom

A synagogue burns during Kristallnacht, a Nazi pogrom against Jews (1938)

A pogrom[a] is a form of riot that targets an ethnic or a religious group.[1]

In a pogrom, rioters attack a group of people, usually Jews, because of that group's ethnicity or religion.[1][2] In a pogrom, the local authorities such as the police do not arrest the rioters and do not help the victims.[3]

Rioters destroy the homes, businesses, and places of worship of the target group. People of the target group are physically attacked and usually some are murdered.[1][2]

Examples

The Kishinev pogrom of 1903 was an anti-Jewish riot in the Russian Empire that resulted in the deaths of dozens of Jews.[4] A second pogrom followed in the city in October 1905.

Kristallnacht was a 1938 pogrom that affected tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi Germany. It was a major event leading up to the Holocaust.[5][6][7]

Pogrom Media

Related pages

Footnotes

  1. From Russian: погром (pogrom); from "громить" IPA: [grʌˈmitʲ]- to wreak havoc, to demolish violently

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2
  2. 2.0 2.1
  3. Klier, John. Pogroms (2010)YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
  4. Zipperstein, Steven J.. The pogrom that transformed 20th-century Jewry. Harvard Gazette (2009-04-16). Retrieved 2025-12-06.