THE AGRARIANISATION OF VOLYN JEWRY IN THE 19TH CENTURY: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES

Abstract

The article examines the lengthy process ‘turning into peasants’ of Jewish that began in 1804, when the ‘class’ of Jewish farmers was introduced into the social stratification system. In 1835, Jews in the western provinces were granted the right to settle on a contractual basis on state and private lands or to acquire land plots by purchasing them as private property. The emergence of the first Jewish farming colonies in the Volyn province at that time was shown. It was emphasized that the expansion of the list of privileges for Jewish farmers at the legislative level in 1844 encouraged the establishment of new colonies. An analysis of archival material suggests that, in 1859, there were 38 Jewish farming colonies on state and private land in the Volyn province, with a population of around 4,600 people. These colonies had 9,104 dessiatines of land at their disposal, which was either leased or owned. The economic situation of the Jewish population was described as unsatisfactory. Poor Jewish families who lacked the funds to purchase tools or build houses and other structures were resettled. They wanted to become farmers because it offered them the opportunity to live legally in the countryside, where they could secretly engage in crafts and trade while deferring the payment of taxes and state loans, and receiving temporary exemption from conscription. However, the number of Jewish farmers in the Volyn province remained ‘drop in the ocean’ compared to the number of their co-religionists who remained townspeople or merchants. It has been proven that the lack of adequate financial assistance, the state’s disinterest in increasing the number of free peasants, shortcomings in the administrative system and legal instability were the reasons that prevented small-scale traders and craftsmen from succeeding. The idea of ‘turning into peasants’ Jews was unsuccessful