duced to forsake their religion, and
only the less discerning were caught in the snare. It remained for the
"terrible incarnation of autocracy," Nicholas I (1825-1855), or, as his
Jewish subjects called him, Haman II, to fill their cup of woe to
overflowing and employ every available means to convert them to his own
religion.

Nicholas's one aim was "to diminish the number of Jews in the empire,"
but not by expulsion, the means employed by Ferdinand and Isabella. He
knew too well their value as citizens to allow them to migrate. He would
diminish their numbers by forced baptism. Baptized Jews were exempted
from the payment of taxes for three years; Jewish criminals could have
their punishment commuted or could obtain a pardon by ceasing to be
Jews. But as these inducements could naturally appeal only to
comparatively few, more stringent measures were resorted to. Hitherto
the Jews had been excused from military service, paying an annual sum of
money for the privilege. On September 7, 1827, an ukase was issued
requiring them not only to pay the same amount as theretofore, but also
to serve in the army; and while Christians had to furnish only seven
recruits per thousand, and only at certain intervals, the Jews had to
contribute ten recruits for each thousand, and that at every
conscription. The only exception was made in the case of the Karaites,
who, according to Nicholas's decision, had emigrated from Palestine
before the Christian era, and could not therefore have participated in
the crucifixion of Jesus. Jews found outside of their native towns
without passports, and those in arrears with their taxes, frequently
even those who, having lagged behind in their payment to the Government,
eventually discharged their obligations, were to be seized and sentenced
to serve in the army, and this meant a lifetime, or at least twenty-five
years, of the most abject slavery imaginable. This grievous measure
caused the utmost misery. No Jewish youth leaving home could be sure of
returning and seeing his dear ones again. The scum of the Jewish
population (poimshchiki, or "catchers") made it their profession to
ensnare helpless young men or poor itinerant students suspected of the
Haskalah heresy, destroy their passports, and deliver them up as
poimaniki (recruits), to spare the rich who paid for the substitutes. To
form an idea of the time we need but read some of the numerous
folk-songs of that day. Here is one of many:

Quietl