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THE WORKERS' UNION AND THE JEWS 209Jewish community. The differentiation led to the explicit condemnationof the pogrom's indiscriminate attacks against all Jews, regardlessof occupation or financial standing. The leaflet exposed the biasedreligious and nationalistic motivations behind the pogrom and touchedon some chord of international social solidarity, tinged by moralizingreferences. This document unquestionably rejected the notion setforth by Narodnaia volia that the anti-Jewish excesses expressed therevolutionary consciousness of the masses and that they embodied apopular movement of deep and positive social significance. The leafletdid not even adhere to the notion of the potential importance of thepogrom. 62That notion was held by some revolutionaries who, eventhough they despised what was happening, valued the outburst as amanifestation of the people's self-reliance, a kind of exercise beforethe big battle. They believed that what they considered to be aspontaneous outbreak of popular rage against the Jews would expandand turn against all rich men and exploiters without regard to religionor nationality, and they even hoped that it would evolve into a purerevolutionary movement for radical change of the social system.From the leaflet it is evident that the union saw the occurrence of thepogrom as an opportunity to direct the masses toward revolution.There is no indication, however, that a revolutionary organizationshould desire such events, let alone instigate them. An article publishedsometime later, in the clandestine periodical Narodnaia volia(no. 6, October 1881), read: "We must not assume a negative or evenan indifferent attitude towards a pure movement of the people. Weshould enunciate the general desires of all the forces whose discontentis justified and who are actively protesting — and lead them whileconsciously maintaining their point of departure." 63 This attitude wasalso expressed in correspondence reacting to the pogrom in Kiev andits repercussions throughout the province. 64There is no data about the specific reaction of the narodovol'tsy inKiev at that time. But it seems that circles of the local intelligentsia,including radical students, looked favorably on the disorders, in hopesthat it heralded a great social upheaval. Some regarded the pogromиOne reservation about this statement will be noted below.63Literatura partii Narodnoi voli, ed. В. Bazilevskii (Bogucharskii), no. 1 (Rostov,1906), p. 275.64Literatura partii Narodnoi voli, pp. 239-40, 242-47. The Listok Narodnoi voli,no. 1 (22 August 1881), says: "The Kiev events defined the direction and characterwhich the people's activity should take."