Pogrom

A pogrom (Russian: погро́м) is a violent mob attack generally against Jews, and often condoned by the forces of law, characterized by killings and/or destruction of homes and properties, businesses, and religious centers. The term originally entered English to describe 19th and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian Empire; similar attacks against Jews at other times and places also became known as pogroms. The word is now also sometimes used to describe attacks against non-Jewish ethnic or religious groups.