Pale of Settlement

As Pale of Settlement (Russian Tscherta osedlosti / Черта оседлости; engl.Pale of Settlement ) the area is known in the west of the Russian Empire, the between the late 18th and early 20th century residential and labor of the Jewish population in Europe part of the Russian Empire was limited. The area had previously been mostly part of Poland-Lithuania and arrives with the partitions of Poland end of the 18th century under Russian rule.

The Pale of Settlement, which stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea, included more than one million square kilometers and had the end of the 19th century, nearly five million Jews, which accounted for almost twelve percent of the population.

History

1791 was established by a decree of the Empress Catherine II, that Jews were allowed to live and work only within certain areas. 1835 Nicholas I changed the decree and adopted for other special districts permits that govern the settlement of Jews. Alexander II loosened some of these rules a little, especially wealthier Jews could then free to buy from the residence and work rules. However, by the so-called May Laws of his successor Alexander III. , That were in effect on May 1882 to the February Revolution of 1917, the movement of Russian Jews was restricted again.

Until the beginning of the 20th century lived more than five million Jews, about 90 percent of Russian Jews in the Pale of Settlement. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union (1941 ) the area of the former Pale of Settlement came under German occupation - the Jewish population was almost completely wiped out by German and some local helpers.