Nazism inflicted history’s most horrendous crimes against Jews. But Germany has by no means been history’s top purveyor of global antisemitism.
That distinction goes to Russia, which spread antisemitism more widely and durably.
Heinze, Eric. “Russia is the global leader in Jew-hate.” The JC. February 24, 2017.
Emphasis added to the above quotation from Eric Heinze’s analysis in The JC.
“Rise of the Rus” — and the End of the Khazar Kingdom: Excerpt with Reference
Rise of Rus
Originally the Khazars were probably allied with various Norse factions who controlled the region around Novgorod. The Rus’ Khaganate, an early Rus polity in northwestern Russia, was probably heavily influenced by the Khazars. The Rus’ regularly travelled through Khazar-held territory to attack territories around the Black and Caspian Seas; in one such raid, the Khagan is said to have given his assent on the condition that the Rus’ give him half of the booty. In addition, the Khazars allowed the Rus to use the trade route along the Volga River. This alliance was apparently fostered by the hostility between the Khazars and Arabs. At a certain point, however, the Khazar connivance to the sacking of the Muslim lands by the Varangians led to a backlash against the Norsemen from the Muslim population of the Khaganate. The Khazar rulers closed the passage down the Volga for the Rus’, sparking a war. In the early 960s, Khazar ruler Joseph wrote to Hasdai ibn Shaprut about the deterioration of Khazar relations with the Rus: “I have to wage war with them, for if I would give them any chance at all they would lay waste the whole land of the Muslims as far as Baghdad.”
The Rus warlords Oleg of Novgorod and Sviatoslav I of Kiev launched several wars against the Khazar khaganate, often with Byzantine connivance. The Schechter Letter relates the story of a campaign against Khazaria by HLGW (Oleg) around 941 (in which Oleg was defeated by the Khazar general Pesakh; this calls into question the timeline of the Primary Chronicle and other related works on the history of the Eastern Slavs.
Sviatoslav finally succeeded in destroying Khazar imperial power in the 960s. The Khazar fortresses of Sarkel and Tamatarkha fell to the Rus in 965, with the capital city of Atil following circa 967 or 969. A visitor to Atil wrote soon after the sacking of the city: “The Rus attacked, and no grape or raisin remained, not a leaf on a branch.”
“Khazars”. Wikispeedia.
The Roman Empire had never been Europe’s only organizing power.
The Germanic tribes, the Norse, the Mongols, and many others had been crossing that landscape for political community, trade, and war for centuries. However, it appears to have been the Varangians — descendants of the Vikings — who corrupted the Turkic Jewish Khazar, and when the protective kingdom thought better of looting some of its own villages (Muslim) in concert with the Varangians (and sharing the loot), the Varangians made war on the Khazar and destroyed the kingdom. Legends about that warfare — and the Jews — MAY have floated across northern, central, and eastern Europe for generations. Combined with Christian supersessionary ambitions for subscription and the elimination of Judaism as a contemporary religion, the seeds for Russian (and Greek Orthodox) anti-Semitism may have flourished.
Related Reading
Encyclopedia Britannica. “Khazar People”.
Kellogg, Michael. The Russian Roots of Nazism: White Emigres and the Making of National Socialism, 1917-1945. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Nicholls, William. Christian Antisemitism: A History of Hate. Northvale, New Jersey, London: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1995.
When asked about admitting Jews into the Empire, Peter the Great stated “I prefer to see in our midst nations professing Mohammedanism and paganism rather than Jews. They are rogues and cheats. It is my endeavor to eradicate evil, not to multiply it.”
Wikipedia. “Antisemitism in the Russian Empire”.
Addendum, June 19, 2023 and Forward
From time to time, cogent reference crosses my desktop, and I may add the same to reference.
Motyl, Alexander J. “Why Russophobia Has Become a Moral Obligation.” The Messenger, June 19, 2023.
Orton, Kyle. “Jews and the Russian Orthodox Church: History of a Relationship.” It Can Always Get Worse, October 10, 2024.
Addendum to Addendum, September 28, 2023; Updated November 12, 2023
Link rot appears to have masked off references in the main body of this post. It looks like I’ll be building this fill-and-correct section for a short while. Note: I’ve removed out-of-service URLs, so this page and post now serves as a portal the Jewish presence in Byzantine Era Ukraine, the availability of Judaism as a choice for the Turkic Khazar tribes in their drive for independence and security against Constantinople, Mecca, and Rome. If Kyiv were not at the time Jewish, it had certainly the influence and presence of the Jews and Judaism within it. The period in history: approximately 6th to 10th Centuries.
The McGill University “Wikispedia” article “Khazars” has shown up on a mirror at this address: http://mirror2.polsri.ac.id/wiki/wp/k/Khazars.htm . Whether the “memory hole” was created by politics or technology remains to be found out (and I so don’t wish to pursue the matter down the proverbial rabbit hole), but as of the evening of this addendum’s date, it’s available online.
Related online->
ADL. “Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories Abound Around Russian Assault on Ukraine.” March 9, 2022.
American Jewish Committee. “Khazars”.
Brook, Kevin Alan. “The Jews of Khazaria.” Northvale, New Jersey, 2003.
Brook, Kevin Alan. “The Khazar Fortress of Sarkel.” Last updated June 22, 2022.
Facts and Details (web site). “Vikings in Russia” and related sections, including “Rus and Varangians”.
Gerster, Lea. “An Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory is Being Shared on Telegram to Justify Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine.” Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
Ludmer, Tara (AKA Tara Bognar). “Khazar Self-Perception: A Study of the Schechter Text.” December 9, 1998.
The Histories. “The Khazars – Jewish Turkic Nomads of The Eurasian Steppe.” YouTube Video, July 10, 2022.
The Yivo Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. “Khazaria”.
Wikipedia. “Khazars”.
Addendum, October 11, 2023
The Turkic Khazar tribes and their protectorate have been framed as colonialists in Israel and wholly without relationship to “real Jews” as well as being denied historic existence by being dismissed as mythical. The first and antisemitic position belies the question of how the Khazar came to identify with Judaism sufficiently to call themselves Jews. For that, there must have already been Jews within the region they came to control. The dismissal as myth begs the origin of names, “Khazar” itself and “Jewish names” like Kagan. Here’s another video on the matter:
HUJI. “Shaul Stampfer: Khazar Myth and Jews of Eastern Europe.” YouTube Video, May 31, 2022. Note: According to the McGill Wikispedia entry, neither the Vikings nor the Varangians organized the region associated with the Khazar between the 6th and 10th Centuries.
If swayed by the dismissive simplicity of the above explanation, feel welcome to revisit the matter and have a look at the coin of the realm:
Mayim Achronim (blog). “The Surprising Story of Russia, Ukraine, and the Jews.” March 9, 2022.
For independent research, start with the “Schechter Letter” and “Khazar Coinage”. For another launch from this page:
Wikipedia. “Khazar coinage”.
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In the 830s, coins were minted in Khazaria bearing the Arabic text “There is no God but Allah, and Musa (Moses) is His messenger.” These coins can be seen as evidence that the Khazars—or some of them—had converted to Judaism. However, we should recall, that the first Polish coins, from the time of Mieszko I had Jewish references, too—they had Mieszko Krul Polski written in Hebrew characters. Still, these Polish coins tell nothing about the religious adherence of Mieszko or Polish peasantry or gentry. The same can be true for the Khazar coins with a Jewish-like text—in both cases, the coins were minted by Jews for their purposes, and that’s all we know.
Shapira, Dan. “So, Who Were the Khazars.” Tablet, January 29, 2021.
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The Cleveland Museum of Art. “Solidus with Leo IV the Khazar and His Father Constantine V Copronymus.”
While Dan Shapira dismisses Khazar Jewish identification as impossible to confirm on a racial basis, there being no genetic material from the past with which to compare with some present sample, one may remind that Judaism is an idea shared with a religious cohort that spans language cultures and races worldwide. In the near past, the 20th Century, Germany and Russia could boast the presence of millions of Jews worthy of defaming, corralling, harassing, herding, and murdering in similar numbers.
The Jews have been referred to as “a people apart” (and there is today a title, Vital, David. A People Apart: A Political History of the Jews in Europe 1789-1939. Oxford University Press, 2001) and perhaps the Jewish Diaspora of the Byzantine Era simply lived with power amicable or terrorizing by turns.
Judging by today’s Jews, however, I believe the Jewish communities and families of the Byzantine would have wielded an influence on Power in the region similar to today’s myriad halls of state, and that would make the same a rival to other power bent on expansion or greater and perhaps unquestionable authority. Perhaps the Khazar were lucky to have them aboard for so long.
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