From the meagre data at our disposal
we are justified in concluding, that, left undisturbed, the Slavonic
Jews would have evolved a civilization rivalling, if not surpassing,
that of the golden era of the Spanish Jews. But this was not to be.
Their onward march met a sudden and terrific check. Hetman Chmielnicki
at the head of his savage hordes of Russians and Tatars conquered the
Poles, and Jews and Catholics were subjected to the most inhuman
treatment. The descendants of those who, in 1090, had escaped the
Crusaders fell victims in 1648 to the more cruel Cossacks. About half a
million Jews, it is estimated, lost their lives in Chmielnicki's
horrible massacres. The few communities remaining were utterly
demoralized. The education of the young was neglected, both sacred and
secular branches of study were abandoned. And when the storm calmed
down, they found themselves deprived of the accumulations of centuries,
forced, like Noah after the deluge, but without his means, to start
again from the very beginning. Indeed, as Levinsohn remarks, the wonder
is that, despite the fiendish persecution they endured, these
unfortunates should have preserved a spark of love of knowledge.
Pages:
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56