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ABSTRACT
This essay delves into the humanitarian response of British Jews towards the suffering of the Armenians during the Hamidian massacres (1894–7). The essay argues that this humanitarian act is a very early and hardly known attempt by Jews to aid members of other non-Jewish groups. This “external” humanitarian act perhaps fits the scholarly argument concerning the nineteenth century’s watershed of humanitarianism: the transition from an earlier more inward-looking based relief action, to aiding, in the name of all humanity, other, distinct religious or ethnic groups. Most importantly, as this essay argues, these Jewish humanitarian activities mainly derived from rational, practical reasons, primarily resulting from Jewish vulnerability. Rational rather than sentimental humanitarianism, hence, was the main cause for the humanitarian response of British Jews. Indeed, the essay argues, the endorsement of the Armenians was an influential affair in Britain, moving the public as well as British Jews into action. However, some British Jews, and interestingly also German Jews objected to any formal or even non-formal support that might endanger their Jewish brethren in the Ottoman Empire. The support of the Armenians, thus, was also controversial, arousing inner conflicts within the community and even between British Jews and German Jews.
Acknowledgement
I wish to express my gratitude to Yehonatan Abramson, Nora Derbal, Jean-Michel Johnston, and Ruth Nattermann for reading different versions of this essay. I also thank the very constructive comments of the two anonymous reviewers.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 “Armenian Massacres,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 16 October 1896
2 Green, “Montagu, Samuel.”
3 “Armenian Massacres,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 16 October 1896
4 Other nineteenth-century examples are the donations of the distanced Native American people of the Choctaw to the Irish in 1847, amidst the Great Famine. See, Howe and Kirwan, Famine Pots; Another example, as Nöemie Duhaut illustrates, is the involvement of French Jews in the antislavery movement and their discursive merger between abolitionism and the suffering of Romanian Jews in the second half of the nineteenth century. See: Duhaut, “A French Jew Emancipated the Blacks,” 645-674.
5 In terms of defining humanitarianism, the alleviation of suffering among distant strangers is central. As Thomas L. Haskell writes it is when some “feel compelled to go to the aid of strangers for whose misery they would previously have felt no more than passive sympathy.” Haskell, “Capitalism and the Origins of the Humanitarian Sensibility,” 36; Barnett, “Humanitarianism as a Scholarly Vocation,” 235-263.
6 Fassin, “The Predicament of Humanitarianism,” 38.
7 Ibid, 36.
8 David Hume, for instance, asserted that this hierarchy is founded on our ability to imagine ourselves as being close to or in the place of the victim. See: Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, 318
9 תלמוד בבלי, מסכת בבא מציעא, דף ע"א, עמוד א. עניי עירך קודמים.
10 Shaw, Britannia’s Embrace, 227-228.
11 For example, due to practical circumstances, the British Jewish leadership refused to include any Jewish poor (not only Jewish migrants) in the poor relief fund. See: Feldman, “Jews in the East End,” 13; Cesarani, The Jewish Chronicle and Anglo-Jewry, 72-82.
12 Shaw
13 Barnett and Gross Stein, Sacred Aid, introduction.
14 Fink, for example, discusses the humanitarian efforts of prominent Jewish figures such as the Jewish-German banker Gerson von Bleichröder who aimed through his close relationship with Otto von Bismarck to improve the condition of the Jews of Romania and Serbia during the Berlin Congress (1878). See: Fink, Defending the Rights of Others, 3-38. Green explains the different humanitarian interventions toward Eastern European Jews and Moroccan Jews. While the Powers assumed that it was probable to reform the Christian states of Romania and Serbia, they defined Morocco as a barbarous place where reforms were unlikely to be implemented. See Green, “The Limits of Intervention,” 473-492.
15 Baron,“The Jews and the Syrian Massacres of 1860,”3-31; Leff, Sacred Bonds of Solidarity, 151-154.
16 While Montefiore led a general appeal that included many non-Jewish donors, Crémieux approached the Jewish communities. Crémieux act led to some criticism, as the German rabbi Ludwig Phillipson wrote “an appeal from Jews to Jews alone for non-Jewish purposes is a new form of separation, which merely serves to keep the old ones alive!” See, Green, Moses Montefiore, 291.
17 Klose, “The emergence of humanitarian intervention”, 20; The emergence of modern humanitarianism is of course also associated with the establishment of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1864. See, Dromi, Above the Fray.
18 Bass, Freeedom’s Battle.
19 Salvatici, A history of humanitarianism 1755-1989; Fabian Klose continues in a similar line writing that from the eighteenth century, “People began to develop empathy for their fellow human beings and work towards alleviating the suffering of others not just in their own countries, but across borders and even in other continents.” See: Klose, “Interventionism and Humanitarianism under the Sign of Internationalism,”19–46.
20 See discussion above (footnotes 5&6)
21 Alderman, “Adler, Hermann.”
22 Freeman, The Ottoman Power in Europe, xix; Endelman and Kushner, Disraeli’s Jewishness; Julius, Trials of the Diaspora, 263-268; Wohl, “‘Dizzi-Ben-Dizzi,’” 375-411; Steinberg, Race, Nation, History, chapter 4.
23 Such expressions are prolific in social media aiming to express artificial empathy towards movements such as Black Lives Matter. See: Kutlaca and Radke, “Towards an Understanding of Performative Allyship.”
24 Green, “Humanitarianism in Nineteenth-century Context,” 1157-1175.
25 Tusan, The British Empire and the Armenian Genocide, chapters 1 & 2; Bass, Freeedom’s Battle, part four; Gill, Calculating Compassion, chapter 4.
26 Steinberg, “James Bryce and the Origins of the Armenian Question,” 13-33.
27 The treaty mentioned the Armenians by name. The Jews, however, were described in general details as: “The subjects and citizens of all the Powers, traders or others, shall be treated in Romania, without distinction of creed, on a footing of perfect equality” (Article 44).
28 Johnston and Steinberg, “Armenians, Jews, and Humanitarianism,” 72-100.
29 Klein, “Making Minorities in the Eurasian Borderlands,” 17-32; Weitz, A World Divided, chapter 5.
30 The massacres were given this name following the intense involvement of the Kurdish battalions of Sultan Abdel Hamid II. See: Miller, “Rethinking the Violence in the Sasun Mountains (1893-1894),” 97-123.
31 On the Massacres, see: Adjemian et al., “The Massacres of the Hamidian Period (II).”
32 While famously Eric Hobsbawm begins his “age of extremes” with WWI as the opening stage of the “short 20th century,” then following the same organizing narrative of extensive wars and genocides, it is possible to claim that this age already erupted during the end of the nineteenth century with the Armenian Massacres, followed by the 1905 German Genocide of the Herro and Nama.
33 Laycock, Imagining Armenia, chapter 2; Prévost, “L’opinion publique britannique et la Question arménienne, ” 51-90.
34 The actions of this humanitarian network are depicted in the following archival material: Ms. Bryce, Armenian, Bodleian Special Collection.
35 Steinberg, “The Confirmation of the Worst Fears,” 15-39.
36 For instance, in 1896 the term “Armenians” appeared over 70,000 times in the British press. See: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1896-01-01/1896-12-31?basicsearch=armenians%20&somesearch=armenians&retrievecountrycounts=false
37 Rodogno, Against Massacre, chapter eight.
38 Laderman, Sharing the Burden, 16-25.
39 Case, The Age of Questions, 187.
40 Bernard, “The Armenians,” Tablet - Saturday 12 October 1895
41 Gladstone, Bulgarian Horrors.
42 One of the Punch cartoons in 1895 portrayed (perhaps sarcastically) Gladstone and Lord Argyll as Crusaders riding their horses towards the East. Underneath the picture it was written: “The Duke of Argyll (Bryce) and Gladstone.” The Old Crusaders! ‘Brothers in Arms’ Again! Bulgaria, 1876. Armenia, 1896.” On this occasion, hence, Bryce, the “Byron” of the Armenians, joined the old “Crusaders,” Gladstone and Argyll, who led the previous anti-Ottoman activities of 1876. See: John Tenniel, “The Old Crusaders! The Duke of Argyll and Mr Gladstone ‘Brothers in Arms’ again!
Bulgaria, 1876. Armenia, 1895,” Punch Magazine, May 15th, 1895.
43 London Evening Standard - Friday 19 January 1877; The following day, the Jewish MP John Simon refuted this accusation: John Simon, “The Jews and the Eastern Question,” London Evening Standard - Saturday 20 January 1877.
44 Freeman, The Ottoman Power in Europe, xx.
45 “The Jews and the Eastern Question,” Glasgow Herald - Saturday 14 October 1876
46 Smith, “Can Jews be Patriots?,” 875-887; The essay caused a stir among Jews and non-Jews. See, for example: Adler, “Can Jews be Patriots?,” 637-646.
47 Glover, Literature, Immigration, and Diaspora in Fin-de-Siècle England.
48 Alderman, “English Jews or Jews of the English Persuasion?,” 128-156.
49 Roth, A History of the Jews in England, epilogue.
50 Cesarani, Disraeli, 210–215
51 Feldman, “The Jews in London, 1880-1914,” 210-11; Feldman, Englishmen and Jews, 92.
52 Jacob Levi, “The Jews and the Eastern Question,” Darlington & Richmond Herald - Saturday 11 May 1878.
53 “Sir John Simon on the Massacre of the Armenians,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 18 September 1896
54 “The Conference at St James’s Hall,” Morning Post - Saturday 09 December 1876.
55 Shaw, Britannia’s Embrace, 208-211.
56 “Without Consuls or foreign Powers to protect them [Jews], they had been left at the mercy of a semi-barbarous people, erected by the Great Powers into a semi-independent nation [Romania]. Religious fanaticism and political intrigue had been levelled at this unoffending race.” Motion For an Address, Volume 210: debated on Friday 19 April 1872 https://hansard.parliament.uk//Commons/1872-04-19/debates/8c15bff4-f81d-4941-b9fd-f8d750ce8299/MotionForAnAddresshighlight = stigma±civilization#contribution-4791f172-b391-452a-8caf-6935d9fd044a
57 The Damascus Affair was a blood libel against three local Jews accused of ritual murder. Another, later affair (1858) was the kidnapping and forced conversion of Edgardo Mortara, a Jewish-Italian kid. See: Green, “Intervening in the Jewish Question,”139-158.
58 Gilman, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, 131-151.
59 Cesarani, Jewish Chronicle, 62.
60 Ibid, 75.
61 From its founding until its closure, the Jewish World mentioned “Armenians” only 17 times, not even once refereeing to the massacres.
62 Diplomaticus, “Lord Rosbery’s Second Thoughts,” Fortnightly Review, Nov 1896; 60, 359.
63 Levene, “Authority and Legitimacy in Jewish Leadership,” 85–110.
64 Levene, “Wolf, Lucien (1857–1930).”
65 “For Right, not Might,” Jewish World - Friday 20 May 1898
66 The Armenian Atrocities, Jewish Chronicle - Friday 18 September 1896
67 “The Massacre of the Armenians,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 25 September 1896, letter written on 19th of September
68 Michael Barnett, “Evolution Without Progress?”.
69 George, Merchants in Exile; For the nineteenth century, Armenian mercantile networks and the links with the Armenians of Manchester see, for example: Der Matossian, “The Armenian Commercial Houses and Merchant Networks in the 19th Century Ottoman Empire,” 147-174.
70 Jewish Chronicle, March 2 1894, p.16
71 “The Armenian Atrocities.” Great Meeting at Whitechapel (Liberals, Tories, Catholics, Jews and Protestants condemn Abdul the Damned,” Tower Hamlets Independent and East End Local Advertiser - Saturday 17 October 1896
72 Caron, “Catholic Political Mobilization and Antisemitic Violence in Fin De Siècle France,” 294-346.
73 Carter-Sinclair, Vienna’s “respectable Antisemites,” chapter four; Krzywie, “The Lueger effect in fin-de-siècle Catholic Poland.”
74 Russo-Jewish Committee. The Persecution of the Jews in Russia.
75 “The Armenians,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 02 October 1896
76 Joseph Dulberg, “The Armenian Question and the Jews,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 23 October 1896 [my emphasis]
77 Zero, “The Jews and the Armenian Cause,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 24 January 1896
78 “Curse not the king, no not in thy thought and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.”
79 The socialism that the author is referring to is probably linked to the actions of the social democratic Hunchakian party which was founded in 1887 and was rather active in defending the Armenian communities during the Massacres. On the links between the Armenians and socialism see: Suny, The Baku Commune, 1917-1918, 21-27.
80 “The Massacre of the Armenians,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 02 October 1896
81 Ibid.
82 Dr Cohn, “A defence of Turkey and its Sultan,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 04 September 1896
83 Cohen, Becoming Ottomans.
84 Veritas, “Catholics and ‘Armenian Atrocities,’” Tablet - Saturday 25 May 1895
85 Karkason. “The Buffer Zone,” 151–154
86 Trumpener, “Germany and the End of the Ottoman Empire,” 117-146.
87 “Jews and the Crisis: Some Stray Thoughts,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 17 January 1896
88 Özyüksel, The Berlin-Baghdad Railway and the Ottoman Empire; Ediger and Bowlus, “Greasing the Wheels,” 193-206.
89 “Sir John Simon on the Massacre of the Armenians,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 18 September 1896
90 “The Armenian Atrocities,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 18 September 1896
91 Ihrig, Justifying Genocide, chapters 1 & 2.
92 Im deutschen Reich : Zeitschrift des Centralvereins Deutscher Staatsbürger Jüdischen Glaubens, Heft 10 (Oktober 1896), 509; Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums 60 Heft 37 (11.9.1896)
93 In response to this, some local Ottoman Jews stated that any public acknowledgement of aid to the Armenians (E.g. Hakham Bashi’s letter) could endanger the Jewish well-being in the Ottoman Empire, denoting Jews as unpatriotic subjects, see: Cohen, “Between Civic and Islamic Ottomanism,” 237–255.
94 “Constantinople Riots,” Weekly Irish Times - Saturday 12 September 1896
95 “Jews and the Massacres in Constantinople,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 18 September 1896
96 Rodogno, “Humanitarian intervention in the nineteenth century.”
97 “The Armenian Massacres,” London Evening Standard - Wednesday 30 September 1896
98 Daily Telegraph & Courier (London) - Friday 11 January 1895
99 “The Armenian Atrocities. Great Meeting at Whitechapel (Liberals, Tories, Catholics, Jews and Protestants condemn Abdul the Damned,” Tower Hamlets Independent and East End Local Advertiser - Saturday 17 October 1896
100 Alderman, “Adler, Hermann.”
101 Rabbi Hermann Adler in a published letter to Sir Samuel Montagu, October 13, 1896 published in “The Armenian Massacres,” Jewish Chronicle - Friday 16 October 1896
102 It is possible to question if and how public discourse truly represents the genuine motivations of the speakers. Indeed, there is no way to fully verify this, but the fact that the discussions ignited controversy may inform us about the sincerity of the different stances.
103 Bryce, The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
104 See British Newspaper Archive: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1890-01-01/1899-12-31?basicsearch=armenians&somesearch=armenians&retrievecountrycounts=false
105 “Jewish National Movement,” The Jewish Chronicle, December 7, 1917.
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Oded Steinberg
Oded Y. Steinberg is an assistant professor in the departments of International Relations and European Studies (European Forum) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research, as an intellectual historian of international relations, is primarily focused on the exchange of ideas across social and national borders in modern Britain and central Europe. Within this framework, his publications have explored various aspects of British and central European intellectual, cultural and diplomatic history. His latest book Race, Nation, History: Anglo-German Thought in the Victorian Era was published in 2019 (Penn: University of Pennsylvania Press). His new research is focused on the European perception of the Armenians during the nineteenth century.