US History Question - Immigration?

Question

My US history final is in two days and my teacher was nice enough to give me a review guide - but what does "pogroms" mean? I thought she might have misspelled "programs" but I talked to a classmate and he said there actually was a term "pogroms" in our Immigration section. (But he wouldn't tell me what it means!! Ugh.)
Anyway, does anyone know what "pogroms" means? Please help! :)

Answer 1

Your professor DEFINTELY did not mispell the word, here is the Merriam-Webster definition:

Main Entry: 1po·grom
Pronunciation: 'pO-gr&m, 'pä-; pO-'gräm, p&-
Function: noun
Etymology: Yiddish, from Russian, literally, devastation
: an organized massacre of helpless people; specifically : such a massacre of Jews

As has been said above by others, the devestation of a portion of the population that was usually believed by the leaders to be or have the possibility to be disloyal to the state. Most often used to define a massacre of Jews, it also encompasses any other group which might prove disloyal including such as Poles, Gypsies, Latts, and Muslims.

As mentioned in another answer, the only reason this would be on a US History final is in the context of how it affected immigration to the US and the beliefs of the immigrants when they arrived here.

Good Luck!

whale

Answer 2

You should be careful. While the term could logically be used to describe general expressions of ethnic violence, in practice the term "pogrom" is used rather specifically to talk about anti-Jewish riots in Eastern European (esp. Russian) history (To be fair, I've seen it used in books about Germany, too, but the generalization holds up pretty well). It makes sense that the term could be used to events in American history (against blacks, the Irish, etc.) but that is seldom the case in practice. U.S. history texts typically refer to pogroms only as events which occurred outside of the United States (e.g. Anti-Jewish riots in Russia and Poland) which gave immigrants reason to come to America (to escape persecution, find opportunity, etc.). You might take issue with that for any number of reasons, but that's just the way the history is typically written in the United States.

Answer 3

Pogrom is a form of riot directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious or other, and characterized by destruction of their homes, businesses and religious centers. Usually pogroms are accompanied by physical violence against the targeted people and even murder or massacre. The term has historically been used to denote extensive violence, either spontaneous or premeditated, against Jews, but has been applied to similar incidents against other, mostly minority, groups.- regarding your US history class it could refer to he minorities immigrating from countries such as Russia in order to escape the Pogroms.

Answer 4

No actually it does apply to all Immigrants,

A pogrom (from Russian: погроm which means "wreaking of havoc") is a massive violent attack on a particular ethnic or religious group with simultaneous destruction of their environment (homes, businesses, religious centers). The term has historically been used to denote massive acts of violence, either spontaneous or premeditated, against Jews, but has been applied to similar incidents against other minority groups.

Answer 5

it is a misspelled word.

out of context!

Answer 6

she probable ment pilgrims