[Image: a relief on the Arch of Titus celebrating the sacking of Jerusalem in 73 CE.]
What exactly is a pogrom? According to Dictionary.com, it is “an organized massacre of a particular ethnic group, in particular that of Jewish people in Russia or eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.” But not just in Russia and Eastern Europe: You may be surprised and shocked to know there was a horrific antisemitic pogrom in York, England, in the year 1190, in which 150 Jews were massacred. Additional pogroms took place in London and other British cities. One hundred years later, all of England’s Jews were expelled from the country.
Quote: “One of the most infamous of the pre-expulsion pogroms took place in York on the site known as Clifford’s Tower. In March 1190, six months after the coronation of King Richard I, the city caught or was set on fire. Under cover of the fire a mob targeted the Jews. The family and friends of the leading Jew called Baruch were attacked and killed and his wealth looted. He himself had already been killed in an attack at the time of the King’s coronation.”
— BBC
Learn more about the history of the Jews in England from Wikipedia. ►
Learn about the expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290 from Wikipedia. ►
Watch “16th March 1190: The Jewish population of York massacred in a pogrom” [2:50]. ►
Read “16th March 1190: The Jewish population of York massacred in a pogrom” ►
Read “British city of York gets its first rabbi in 800 years” ►
Image: Shutterstock
We welcome your comments. Click here.
