Jewish colonies in Bessarabia in the 19th century

The idea to involve Jews in Russia in agricultural work appeared for the first time at the late 18th - early 19th centuries, having been originated from both Russian statesmen and representatives of the Jewish intellectual elite. Among the first ones we can mention Chatsky with his project of 1788, Frizel and especially Derzhavin, among the latter – Nota Notkin (1798) and I.B. Levinson (the late 1820s). The government was also interested in this idea, intending to make the Jews “useful citizens for the benefit of the State” and use them, along with the Germans and Bulgarians, for the colonization of the territories of Novorossiya. The final status of the Jewish farmers was confirmed by a special statute from December 26, 1844, under which they had been provided with a number of privileges: exemption for 10 years from payment of all taxes and financial charges (except personal ones) with respect to the land in use, from payment of all arrears on a previous state, from recruitment for a period of 25 years, etc. Each family received 30 dessiatinas of land. According to the tax census of 1851, in Bessarabia there were registered 1966 Jewish farmers. By 1857 in Bessarabia there were already 13 Jewish colonies: in the counties of Hotin (1), Soroca (6) Iasi (2), Orhei (2), Chisinau (1), and Bender (1). Later the number of Jewish colonies has declined. In 1874 they had only 8 ones (including an uninhabited): 1 colony in the Iasi county and 7 colonies (including the uninhabited one) in the Soroca county. Although the Jewish farmers benefited from certain privileges and some measures were taken for their promotion, household level in the Jewish colonies was quite low, which proved the Jews' inability of the agricultural labour and their negative attitude towards this branch of economy, since by their nature they tended to trade and crafts.