page_title: History of the Jews in Moscow
section_title: Imperial Russia
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Jews in Moscow / Imperial Russia
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: Jew [i.e., Jewish] Market, Moscow Abstract/medium: 1 negative&#160;: glass&#160;; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
context_page_description: The history of the Jews in Moscow goes back from the 17th century, although Moscow did not become an important Jewish center until the late 19th century when more Jews were legally allowed to settle. Prior to the 19th century, Jews had arrived in the city as prisoners of the Russo-Polish war or after 1790, as merchants allowed one month stays. In the late 1800s, the Jewish population boomed, and then dramatically dropped after the 1891 expulsion of Jews from the city. The population grew once again following World War I, and was a Jewish and Zionist cultural center until the end of the revolution, after which it became a Soviet Jewish center for a period of time. The Moscow Jewish community experienced a number of highs and lows under the Soviet Union as Jewish identity became increasingly taboo in the eyes of the government. After the collapse of the Soviet government and the mass migration of a huge portion of Russian Jews from the country, Moscow has still maintained a sizable Jewish population.
context_section_description: From the beginning of the 16th century to the middle of the 17th century, Jews were excluded from Moscow in Russia on account of religious enmity toward them. Conditions underwent a change in the reign of Catherine II. With the separation of White Russia from Poland and its addition to Russia proper (1772), the numerous Jewish populations of White Russia came under Russian rule. They were the first Russo-Jewish subjects. Jewish merchants from White Russia, particularly from the town of Shklov, began to arrive to Moscow, but they remained only for short periods. With the further addition to Russia of Polish territories, Jews from other governments came to Moscow. All these temporary visitors were permitted to stay only in a particular inn, Glebovskoye Podvoriye, also known as the "Jewish Inn." Since the inn was the only place at which these Jews could stay, the prices were extremely high.
  Beginning with the second decade of the 19th century the Jewish population of Moscow began to increase. From the year 1827, during the reign of Nicholas I, the Jews were compelled to serve for 25 years in the army. Many such Jewish soldiers were sent to Moscow." Most of the first Jews to settle in Moscow were these cantonists, Jews that had been conscripted to the army as children, and were now done with their military service. Some of them had married Jewish women from the Pale of Settlement, where the vast majority of Jews were stricted to living. In 1858, the Jewish population in the District of Moscow was 340 men and 104 women. During the rule of Tsar Alexander II, Jews who met certain criteria were allowed to live in the city. These were: Jews who had university degrees, completed military service, or were pharmacists, dentists, midwives, or first-guild merchants. As the Jewish population increased, many Jews who came did not fit the criteria and were illegal and unregistered. Liberal city administrators at the time largely looked the other way. In 1871, the Jewish population was about 8,000. In this time, the foundations of the community were laid, including the creation of the first Jewish cemetery in 1860s and the opening of a Jewish school and first formal synagogue in 1871.
  When Alexander III became Tsar in 1881, he took more hardline stances on Jews in Russia. By this point, in 1882, the Jewish population of the city had boomed to 12,000-16,000 of whom the majority were not registered legally. Jews were contributing greatly to the economy, and owned 29.3 percent of the capital declared by first-guild merchants, and were some of the most important bankers and entrepreneurs.  With this success, however, came unease from some Russians at the new Jewish influence in the city, and the community now numbered 35,000 in 1890 (3% of the total population). When Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich became Governor General of Moscow in 1891, he named one of his goals as being “to save Moscow from the Jews.” An imperial decree was promulgated (March 28, 1891) ordering the expulsion from the city and government of Moscow of all Jewish artisans, brewers, and distillers. Persons who had been born in Moscow and who knew no other place of residence were obliged to go in search of a new home. " Some 20,000 Jews were expelled from the city in short order, and the events sent shock waves through the entire Jewish community of Russia. Poor Jews were sent to the Pale of Settlement on criminal transports and there were large rewards offered to those who caught Jews hiding in the city. The newly-built Choral Synagogue, opened a year prior, was ordered closed in addition to eight other synagogues of the fourteen in the city. In 1897, the Jewish population was 8,095, less than a quarter of what it was prior to the expulsion. 
  World War I caused a wave of Jewish migration to Moscow, and helped revive to Jewish community to a state of flourishing once again. Additionally, for years, more Jewish students had been coming to the city to study in university. A number of the newly settled Jews also took part in the war industry, and amassed small fortunes. Moscow b
caption: Jewish Market in Moscow, 1911
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