The Russian/Turkeyish War

Book Description

New York: J. Richman, 1878. Good. An Extraordinary Attempt to Gain Sympathy from American Jewry for Russia during the Russo-Turkish WarAn Unusual Look at Jewish Soldiers Under the Czar through an Extremely Remarkable and Rare Work of American Folk Art (HISTORIC LITHOGRAPH) The Russian-Turkeyish War, “PLLWNA”. Copyright by Prof. J.S. Kolbe, N. Printed by J. Richman 63 Christie St. (1878). Full color printed chromolithograph measures 22 inches x 22 inches. Captions printed in Yiddish (Hebrew font) and English. Water staining of image (mostly at edges) and loss to extreme peripheries, otherwise Good condition. PRINTED FOR DISTRIBUTION AMONG THE JEWS IN THE UNITED STATES This highly detailed print illustrates the little known involvement of Jewish Russian soldiers during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. Jews are portrayed in Plevna, Bulgaria wearing the uniform of the Russian Imperial army to which each man carries his tallis or prayer shawl. During the Battle of Plevna (which raged for five months from July to December of 1877 and which the Russians ultimately won after devastating losses) Czar Alexander II was camped nearby. It is possible, but not documented, that the Czar might have reviewed his Jewish troops as is depicted in this illustration which is an amalgamation of (then contemporary) Russian-Jewish military life. As the government swayed from side to side in its views of Jewish emancipation and the value of Jews to Mother Russia, so did its toleration of Jewish life. The poster seems to suggest that on one hand the Jewish soldiers were permitted to celebrate Yom Kippur (figs. 1 and 3) and on the other were being executed for “Denial of [Christian] Faith” (fig. 2). It was most likely produced (its printing and distribution were in New York) as Russian propaganda in an attempt to gain sympathy from American Jews, since the Turks were rumored to be recruiting an army in New York. [“Even so” writes Alfred Ruebens, “it is difficult to understand why the Russians should undertake such an elaborate piece of deception in order influence American Jews.”] It might also have been published to counteract the pro-Turkish British press which publicized atrocities committed by the Russian army against the Jewish civilian population. EXHIBITION HISTORY The Jewish Museum, New York, Item 52 in accompanying exhibition catalogue "The Jewish Heritage in American Folk Art", 1984.We suspect that there exist only two or three other known copies of this historic lithograph in institutional or private hands.

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