n the fierce language of the new
reign which had begun in the meantime. It rose in the bloody mist of the
Velizh affair. The fatal consequences of this synchronism were not
limited to the Jews of Velizh. Judging by the contents and the harsh
wording of the resolution, Nicholas I. was convinced at that time of the
truth of the ritual murder libel. The mysterious and unloved tribe rose
before the vision of the new Tzar as a band of cannibals and evil-doers.
This sinister notion can be traced in the conscription statute which was
then in the course of preparation in St. Petersburg and was soon
afterwards to stir Russian Jewry to its depths, dooming their little
ones to martyrdom.

While punishment was to be meted out to the entire Jewish population of
Russia, the fate of the Velizh community was particularly tragic. It was
subjected to the terrors of a unique state of siege. The whole community
was placed under suspicion. All the synagogues were shut up as if they
were dens of thieves, and the hapless Jews could not even assemble in
prayer to pour out their hearts before God. All business was at a
standstill; the shops were closed, and gloomy faces flitted shyly across
the streets of the doomed city.

The stern command from St. Petersburg ordering that the case be
"positively probed to the bottom" and that the culprits be apprehended
gladdened only the heart of Strakhov, the chairman of the Commission of
Inquiry, who was now free to do as he pleased. He spread out the net of
inquiry in ever wider circles. Terentyeva and the other female
witnesses, who were fed well while in prison, and expected not only
amnesty but also remuneration for their services, gave more and more
vent to their imagination. They "recollected" and revealed before the
Commission of Inquiry a score of religious crimes which they alleged had
been perpetrated by the Jews prior to the Velizh affair, such as the
murder of children in suburban inns, the desecration of church utensils
and similar misdeeds.

The Commission was not slow in communicating the new revelations to the
Tzar who followed vigilantly the developments in the case. But the
Commission had evidently overreached itself. The Tzar began to suspect
that there was something wrong in this endlessly growing tangle of
crimes. In October, 1827, he attached to the report of the Commission
the following resolution: "It is absolutely necessary to find out who
those unfortunate children were; this o