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Conscription [154] Complaint about the Illegal Conscription of an Only Son (1836) “Petition of Beila Leibovna Faivilovich to Prince Nikolai Andreevich Dolgorukov, Military General Governor of Vil’na, Minsk, Grodno, and Belostok (13 January 1836)” LVIA, f. 378, op. 1, d. 45, l. 2–2 ob. Last month, the elected officials of the Vil’na Jewish community for conscription seized my only son Sender, who gives me daily sustenance in my impoverished circumstances, and designated him as a recruit. Their illegal action1 has now deprived me of my support and hope for daily sustenance. Your Excellency ! Turn your merciful eyes upon a poor mother, who has been deprived of her only son, who sheds tears before the most precious feet of Your Excellency. According to the decree approved by your Excellency, the recruitment must commence with large families that have several sons; but these recruiters, without considering this, abducted my only son, my sole hope for my existence. Therefore, in appealing to Your Excellency (as the protector, especially for the aggrieved) for protection and justice, I take the liberty to trouble the generous personage of Your Excellency to issue a decree regarding my only son: take a recruit from a family that has several sons, and return my only son Sender (who is still here in the city). I await a gracious resolution.2 notes 1. [Under Russian law, an only son was exempt from conscription—a policy designed to mitigate the impact of military service and to avoid leaving families without any working-age sons to support them.] 2. [The governor conducted an inquiry and discovered that the two representatives of the Jewish community of Vil’na, Todris Rozenkrants and Mordukh Aizikovich, did indeed know that Sender Faivilovich was an only son and conscripted him all the same. Although there was no exemption for only sons who were the primary breadwinners until 1874, petitioners routinely resorted to the image of the childless parent without support to gain attention from the authorities. In this case, the state found that Sender was listed with another family as the “nephew,” and that the representatives of the community had “oppressed” him and made “allowances for others.” Rozenkrants and Aizikovich were to be prosecuted for their actions, but there was no mention of returning Sender home from the military (LVIA, f. 378, op. 1836, d. 45, ll. 8–9).] [512]   jews, neighbors, & the state [155] Complaint about the Illegal Conscription of a Jewish Surgeon (1837) LVIA, f. 378, op. 1837, d. 62, ll. 1–30b. “Petition of the Midwife Khasia Iatskovaia to Prince Nikolai Andreevich Dolgorukov, the Military General Governor of Vil’na, Minsk, Grodno, and Belostok (18 March 1837)” My nephew, Faivish Berkovich, who is registered in the Antokol’ Jewish community as a barber, fulfilled all his responsibilities as a surgeon at the local military hospital and conducted himself honestly and decently, as the authorities of the Antokol’ community have attested. Due to some outrage, the Jew Iudel Apatov, who does not even belong to the Antokol ’ community, came with the housing supervisor bearing an order and, for unknown reasons, forcibly took Berko­ vich off to prison; without the knowledge of the Antokol’ community and without any directive based on the [recruitment] queue, they handed him over as a recruit. However, he suffers from an illness and is presently in the hospital. He has not yet been forced to take the oath because he was not drafted but was handed over because of Iudel Apatov’s outrage. For that reason I bow to the feet of Your Excellency and with all earnestness request, if you please, that you issue an order to investigate this. I affirm to Your Excellency that I submitted a petition on 3 March to you and respectfully have not yet received an order. “Report of the Vil’na Chief of Police (7 April 1837)” The Jew Faivish Berkovich was first in the queue to be handed over as a recruit in the previous recruitment from the Antokol’ community . However, due to a petition from the Jew Apatov, he was freed from conscription by the kahal. When the civilian governor ordered that they prosecute him and hand him over as a recruit, Feivish disappeared every time there was a conscription. Finally, His Excellency Dmitrii Nikolaevich [the son of General Governor Nikolai Andreevich Dolgorukov ] summoned Apatov and ordered him to find the Jew [Faivish] without fail. That is why Apatov took Faivish with the housing supervisor to His Excellency; on his orders...

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