pogrom

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Pronunciations

pogrom (puh-GRUHM) listen

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Definitions

  • n. A massacre of Jews, typically in Russia and Poland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Example Sentences

  • "The common usage of the term pogrom to describe any attack against Jews throughout history disguises the great variation in the scale, nature, motivation, and intent of such violence at different times." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • פּאָגראָם pogrom

      • Who Uses This

      • Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
      • Non-Jews: (words that have spread outside of Jewish networks)

      Regions

      • North America

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).

Notes

  • "The czar’s Cossacks would ride into the shtetl to murder Jews, rape the women, and pillage and burn the homes and shops. Pogroms were often incited by government officials and church leaders, who made Jews the scapegoats for the hunger and poverty in the country. Kristallnacht, the start of the Nazi reign of terror, is perhaps the most famous pogrom in recent history." (JPS)

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