History of The Jews in Russia

Mass Emigration

**Jewish emigration from Russia, 1880–1928**
Destination	Number
Australia	5,000
Canada	70,000
Europe	240,000
Palestine	45,000
South Africa	45,000
South America	111,000
United States	1,749,000

Even though the persecutions provided the impetus for mass emigration there were other relevant factors that can account for the Jews' migration. After the first years of large emigration from Russia, positive feedback from the emigrants in the U.S. encouraged further emigration. Indeed more than two million Jews fled Russia between 1880 and 1920. While a large majority emigrated to the United States, some turned to Zionism. In 1882, members of Bilu and Hovevei Zion made what came to be known the First Aliyah to Israel, then a part of the Ottoman Empire.

The Tsarist government sporadically encouraged Jewish emigration. In 1890, it approved the establishment of "The Society for the Support of Jewish Farmers and Artisans in Syria and Palestine " (known as the "Odessa Committee" headed by Leon Pinsker) dedicated to practical aspects in establishing agricultural Jewish settlements in Palestine.

A larger wave of pogroms broke out in 1903–06, leaving an estimated 1,000 Jews dead, and between 7,000 and 8,000 wounded.

See also: Kishinev pogrom, Beilis trial, Jewish gauchos, and Galveston Movement

Read more about this topic: History Of The Jews In Russia