Deuteronomy 28:64-66 “The Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other; there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known… Among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life.”
Deuteronomy 28:29 “You shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually; no one shall save you.”
What is a “pogrom”? The word itself, first recorded in 1882, originated from the Russian word ‘pogróm’, which means ‘to destroy, wreak havoc, demolish violently’. It is used in history to mean “a violent riot that specifically targets a single ethnic or religious group to massacre or expel them.”
A pogrom is a mob attack, usually condoned by governing authorities. Widespread Jewish pogroms began when the Russian Empire targeted Jews in 1881-1883. As we shall see, pogroms continue today.
Each pogrom had its own characteristics, but all resulted in the massacre of innocent Jews. In the table below, global violence against Jews is well documented throughout history – over 100 Jewish pogroms from 38-2013, murdering over 4.6 MILLION Innocent Jews.
| Pogroms Against Jews | |||||
| Year | Pogrom Name | Alternate Name | Deaths | Why | Where |
| 38 | Alexandrian pogrom | Alexandrian riots | 5,000+ | Roman antisemitism | Egypt |
| 1066 | Granada pogrom | Granada massacre | 4,000 | Muslim antisemitism | Spain |
| 1096 | 1096 pogroms | Rhineland massacres | 2,000 | 1096 Crusade antisemitism | Germany |
| 1113 | Kiev pogrom | Kiev revolt | 3,000 | Ukrainian antisemitism | Ukraine |
| 1349 | Strasbourg pogrom | Strasbourg massacre | 6,000 | Black Death persecutions | France |
| 1391 | 1391 pogroms | Massacre of 1391 | 50,000 | Catholic Church antisemitism | Spain |
| 1506 | Lisbon pogrom | Lisbon massacre | 4,000 | Catholic Church antisemitism | Portugal |
| 1563 | Polotsk pogrom | Polotsk drownings | 300 | Ivan the Terrible antisemitism | Russia |
| 1648-1667 | Khmelnytsky pogroms | Khmelnytsky massacres or Cossack riots. | 100,000 | Cossack antisemitism | Poland |
| 1821-1871 | Odessa pogroms | Odessa massacres | 1,000 | Ethnic & economic discrimination | Russia |
| 1834 | 1st Hebron pogrom | Battle of Hebron | 12 | Muslim destruction of Jewish rebellion | Palestine |
| 1834 | Safed pogrom | Looting of Safed | 500 | Muslim antisemitism | Arabia |
| 1840 | Damascus pogrom | Damascus affair | 13 | Antisemitic Blood Libels | Syria |
| 1881-1884 | 1st Russian Tsar pogroms | 259 Anti-Jewish pogroms | 25 | Antisemitic Blood Libels; Death of Tsar Alexander II | Russia |
| 1881 | Warsaw pogrom | Warsaw massacre | 20 | Ethnic & economic discrimination | Russia |
| Pogroms Against Jews (continued) | |||||
| Year | Pogrom Name | Alternate Name | Deaths | Why | Where |
| 1902 | Częstochowa pogrom | Częstochowa massacre | 40,000 | Russian antisemitism | Russia |
| 1903-1906 | 2nd Russian Tsar pogroms | Anti-Jewish pogroms | 2,000 | Antisemitic Blood Libels | Russia |
| 1903 | 1st Kishinev pogrom | Kishinev massacre | 47 | Antisemitic Blood Libels | Russia |
| 1905 | 2nd Kishinev pogrom | Kishinev massacre | 19 | Antisemitic Blood Libels | Russia |
| 1905 | 1st Kiev pogrom | Kiev massacre | 100 | Ethnic & economic discrimination | Ukraine |
| 1906 | Siedlce pogrom | Siedice massacre | 26 | Jews blamed for Police Chief assassination | Russia |
| 1918 | Lwów pogrom | Lemberg massacre | 150 | Ukranian antisemitism | Poland |
| 1917-1921 | 1st Miskolc pogroms | Miskolc massacres | 60,000 | Russian antisemitism | Hungary |
| 1919 | Proskurov pogrom | Proskurov massacre | 1,500 | Jews accused of revolt against Ukraine | Ukraine |
| 1918-1921 | 2nd Kiev pogroms | Kiev massacres in Russian Civil War | 100,000 | Polish soldiers murdered Jews | Ukraine |
| 1919 | Pinsk pogrom | Pinsk massacre in Polish-Soviet War | 30,000 | Polish soldiers murdered Jews | Belarus / Poland |
| 1919-1920 | Vilna pogroms | Vilna offensive | 60,000 | Polish antisemitism | Poland-Lithuania |
| 1929 | 2nd Hebron pogrom | Hebron massacre | 70 | Arab antisemitism | Palestine |
| 1936 | Przytyk pogrom | Przytyk riot | 2 | Polish antisemitism | Poland |
| 1938 | Kristallnacht pogrom | Kristallnacht | 30,000 | Targeting Jews -1935 Nuremberg, Reich Citizenship Laws | Nazis – Germany |
| 1939-1945 | 1st Krakow pogroms | Nazi invasion of Poland | 78,000 | Antisemitic Blood Libels, Nazi invasion | Nazis – Poland |
| 1940 | Dorohoi pogrom | Dorohoi massacre | 200 | Romanian antisemitism | Romania |
| 1941 | Iași pogroms | Iasi massacre | 13,266 | Romania propaganda: Communism was from the Jews | Romania |
| 1941 | Antwerp Pogrom | within Belgium Holocaust | 25,250 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Nazis – Belgium |
| 1941 | Bucharest pogrom | Legionnaires’ rebellion | 150 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Hungary |
| 1941 | Tykocin pogrom | Tykocin massacre | 1,500 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Nazis – Poland |
| 1941 | Jedwabne pogrom | Jedwabne massacre | 1,600 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Nazis – Poland |
| 1941 | Farhud pogrom | Farhud massacre | 189 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Iraq |
| Pogroms Against Jews (continued) | |||||
| Year | Pogrom Name | Alternate Name | Deaths | Why | Where |
| 1941 | Lviv pogroms | Lviv massacres | 5,000 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Nazis – Ukraine |
| 1941 | Ponary pogrom | Ponary massacre | 70,000 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Nazis – Lithuania |
| 1941 | Ninth Fort pogrom | Ninth Fort massacre | 7,000 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Nazis – Lithuania |
| 1941 | Babi Yar pogrom | Babi Yar massacre | 33,771 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Nazis – Ukraine |
| 1941 | Lithuania, Estonia pogroms | Lithuania, Estonia, massacres | 57,000 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Nazis – Russia |
| 1941 | Latvia pogroms | Latvia massacres | 82,100 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Nazis – Latvia |
| 1941 | Kaunas pogrom | Kaunas massacre | 4,000 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Nazis – Lithuania |
| 1941 | Riga pogrom | Riga massacre | 2,300 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Nazis – Lithuania |
| 1941 | Rumbula pogrom | Rumbula massacre | 25,000 | Nazi death squad Einsatzgruppen | Nazis – Poland |
| 1943 | Warsaw Ghetto pogrom | Warsaw Ghetto uprising | 13,000 | Nazi deport of Jews to Treblinka | Nazis – Poland |
| 1940-1943 | Lvov Ghetto pogroms | Lvov Ghetto massacres | 136,000 | “Final Solution” – killed by Jun. 1943 | Nazis – Russia |
| 1943 | Bialystok Ghetto pogrom | Bialystok Ghetto massacre | 50,000 | “Final Solution” – killed by Jun. 1943 | Nazis – Poland |
| 1943 | Vilna Ghetto pogrom | Vilna Ghetto massacre | 40,000 | “Final Solution” – killed by Sep. 1943 | Nazis – Lithuania |
| 1944 | Kovno Ghetto pogrom | Kovno Ghetto massacre | 29,000 | “Final Solution” – killed by Jul. 1944 | Nazis – Lithuania |
| 1944 | Lodz Ghetto pogrom | Lodz Ghetto massacre | 164,000 | “Final Solution” – killed by Aug. 1944 | Nazis – Poland |
| 1942-1944 | Auschwitz-Birkenau pogroms | Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp | 1,100,000 | “Final Solution” – killed 1942-1944 | Nazis – Poland |
| 1942-1944 | Treblinka pogroms | Treblinka concentration camp | 925,000 | “Final Solution” – killed 1942-1944 | Nazis – Poland |
| 1942-1944 | Sobibor pogroms | Sobibor concentration camp | 250,000 | “Final Solution” – killed 1942-1944 | Nazis – Poland |
| 1942-1944 | Belzec pogroms | Belzec concentration camp | 600,000 | “Final Solution” – killed 1942-1944 | Nazis – Poland |
| 1942-1944 | Chelmno pogroms | Chelmno concentration camp | 320,000 | “Final Solution” – killed 1942-1944 | Nazis – Poland |
| 1942-1944 | Majdanek pogroms | Majdanek concentration camp | 78,000 | “Final Solution” – killed 1942-1944 | Nazis – Poland |
| 1945 | 2nd Kraków pogrom | Kraków riot | 1 | Blood Libel accusations | Poland |
| 1945 | Tripoli pogrom | Tripoli massacre | 140 | Muslim antisemitism | North Africa |
| 1946 | Kunmadaras pogrom | Kunmadaras riot | 4 | Anti-Semitic attacks | Hungary |
| 1946 | 2nd Miskolc pogrom | Miskolc massacre | 42 | Blood Libel accusations | Hungary |
| 1946 | Kielce pogrom | Kielce massacre | 42 | Blood Libel accusations | Poland |
| Pogroms Against Jews (continued) | |||||
| Year | Pogrom Name | Alternate Name | Deaths | Why | Where |
| 1947 | Aleppo pogrom | Aleppo massacre | 75 | Muslim antisemitism | Syria |
| 1955 | Istanbul pogrom | Istanbul massacre | 12 | Anti-Semitic attacks | Turkey |
| 1991 | Crown Heights pogrom | Crown Heights riot | 2 | Anti-Semitic attacks | NY City |
| 2023 | Hamas pogrom | Hamas massacre | 1,200 | Radical Islam attacks | Palestine |
After reviewing all these pogroms, dating from years 38 – 2023, where over 4.6 million innocent Jews were murdered for simply being Jews – the descendants of the Old Testament patriarch Abraham – how do you explain such consistent, historical hatred and violence towards one ethnic group?
The Bible documents the history of many nations conspiring to not only attack Israel also to enslave and genocide them. Two great examples are Egypt and the Pharaohs (read Exodus 1:7-16) and Haman, descendant of the Amalekites, during the Persian rule (read Esther 3:1-15).
Deuteronomy 7:6-9 è one of many passages where God tells Israel how He feels about them:
“You are a holy people to the Lord your God; He has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
But it was because the Lord loved you and the Lord kept the oath He swore to your forefathers that He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping
His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.”
God makes it clear that He loves Israel and chose the Jews as His possession, redeeming them out of Egyptian slavery and reiterating His oath that He swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
But, after studying all these pogroms through history, it looks like God’s attitude towards Israel is not loving at all. In fact, the question many people – including Christians – are asking today: Question #1 = How could Israel be God’s “Chosen People” and yet be so persecuted around the world?
This week’s verses, taken from Deuteronomy chapter 28, help us in answering this question. God is clearly pronouncing judgment and punishment on His chosen people Israel. What happened? How can history record so much terrible persecution of His people?
In Genesis 12:3a, God promised Israel “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you…” What changed?
First è notice that God pronounces blessing and cursing on other nations based on how they treat Israel, His chosen people. Here, in Deuteronomy 28, God now pronounces blessings and cursings on Israel based on how THEY treat His holy character by obeying Him out of love for Him.
God’s Blessings = Deuteronomy 28:1-2
“If you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
God’s Cursings = Deuteronomy 28:15
“If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.”
Question #2 = Why such harsh judgment against Israel because they disobeyed God?
Second è remember the God of the Bible says He does not regard any person above any other person when it comes to His objective moral character. There is no way God lowers His standard of His holy character to accommodate anyone’s sin, even His chosen people.
In Ezekiel 36:20-23, God explains why He threw Israel out of the Promised Land – their wickedness was seen by God as a stain to His moral character:
“When Israel came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name – when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they have gone out of His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.
Say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.
I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.”
Answering Our 2 Questions – Why Israel is so Persecuted Today
Question #1 = How could Israel be God’s “Chosen People,” and yet be so persecuted around the world?
Question #2 = Why such harsh judgment against Israel because they disobeyed God?
The Deuteronomy 28 Cursings on Israel were a direct result of profaning God’s holy character, which all surrounding nations witnessed and were actually ashamed that Isreal’s behavior was so lewd and vulgar:
“Behold, therefore, I stretched out My hand against Israel, diminished your allotment, and gave you up to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior.” Ezekiel 16:27
“Was Israel ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; nor did they know how to blush. Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall; at the time I punish them, they shall be cast down,” says the Lord.” Jeremiah 6:15
Answering Question #3: Will Israel Ever Overcome God’s Punishment?
God continues in Ezekiel 36:24-36 that He will not punish Israel forever.
In fact, here is Ezekiel (written in 580 BC), God makes 27 FUTURE PROMISES He will perform to Israel:
- He will regather them back into His Promised Land è vs. 24 “1 I WILL take you from among the nations, 2 I WILL gather you out of all countries, and 3 I WILL bring you into your own land.”
- He will forgive them of all their sin è vs. 25, 29a “Then 4 I WILL sprinkle clean water on you, and 5 YOU SHALL be clean; 6 I WILL cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.”
“7I WILL deliver you from all your uncleannesses.”
- He will give them a new heart and spirit è vs. 26 “8 I WILL give you a new heart and 9 I WILL put a new spirit within you; 10 I WILL take the heart of stone out of your flesh and 11 I WILL give you a heart of flesh.”
- He will live within each of them by the Holy Spirit è vs. 27 “12 I WILL put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and 13 YOU WILL keep My judgments and do them.
- He will put Israel back in the Land, He will again be Israel‘s God and receive Isarel as His people è vs. 28 “Then 14 YOU SHALL dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; 15 YOU SHALL be My people, and 16 I WILL be your God.”
- He will prosper Israel in the Land è vs. 29b,30 “17 I WILL call for the grain and multiply it, and
18 I WILL NOT bring famine upon you. And 19 I WILL multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.”
- Israel will repent after God gives them a new Spirit è vs. 31 Then 20 YOU WILL remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and 21 YOU WILL loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.”
- He will do all these Blessings to Israel for HIS Sake, not Theirs è vs. 32 “Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”
- His Blessings on Israel Will Be Seen By All Nations è vs. 33-35 “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, 22 I WILL also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins 23 SHALL BE rebuilt. The desolate land 24 SHALL BE tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. So, 25 THEY WILL say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’
- All Nations will Know the God of Israel is God è vs. 36 “Then the nations which are left all around you 26 SHALL KNOW that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and 27 I WILL do it.”
God repeats His 27 promises to Israel Ezekiel 36 in Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 11:17-20 and Hebrews 9:15 (see Article 666) by connecting His Old Testament promises to Israel of a future NEW COVENANT to their New Testament fulfillment in the NEW COVENANT in Jesus Christ!
While we watch today in America a rise in antisemitism, especially in our secular universities and certain popular podcasters (such as Candice Owens and Tucker Carlson), we only need to recheck our Bibles to know what will God promises will happen: 1) He wins; 2) Israel is restored; Jesus Christ reigns.
The Evidence of Faith’s Substance_ Article #671
FSE University 