The Jews of Lithuania During the Muscovite Occupation (1655–1660)

• Published in: Lithuanian Historical Studies Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 53 - 70
• Main Author: Meilus, Elmantas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh 28.12.2009
• ISSN: 1392-2343; 2538-6565
• DOI: 10.30965/25386565-01401005

This article deals with the situation of the Jews in 1654 at the beginning of the Muscovite invasion of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It is maintained that that was the main reason to the disasters that befell the Jewry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The extant sources (mainly relating to Vilnius) show that in the occupied western lands of the GDL the attitude of the Russian authorities towards the Jews was more relaxed than in the eastern lands inhabited by the Orthodox. Seeking to win the favour of the population of the occupied territory, the Russians tried the Jews and the Christians by the same laws at least in areas where their jurisdiction was introduced. That could mean that Muscovy had no definite programme concerning the Jews at least in the western part of the GDL, inhabited mainly by the Catholics. Meanwhile, the Jews, despite the hostile attitude of the local population – that was attested by the plea of Vilnius authorities to the tsar to evict the Jews from the city – managed to find a way of coexistence both with the locals and the authorities of the occupiers. The sources show that even after the tsar’s indication to remove the Jews they continued to reside in the city.