ut the deportation of the Jews took place
as if on the sly, without attracting any one's attention, without
engaging the sympathies of the people at large to the degree which
might be expected.

The deported proved a heavy burden not only for the Jewish but also
for the Gentile population of the humble villages of the government of
Tavrida, which were flooded by the newcomers. The prices of food, and
the rent soared up, and competition among tradesmen and small
merchants grew more ruthless,--in a word, life here became much harder
than the War alone would have made it.

II

As one observes these throngs of old men, children and pregnant women
who are deported and tossed from one end of the country to the other,
simply because they are Jews, one wonders to whom it brings profit or
happiness. It is clear that it does no one any good and no one finds
this wholesale deportation either just or necessary.

"In discussing the deportation of Jews the Minister of the Interior
pointed out that this measure was not justified by the actual
behaviour of the Jewish population, which is in general loyal to the
country and cannot bear responsibility for the actions of criminal
individuals, of whom unfortunately no nationality is free" (_Yuzhnyia
Vyedomosti_, No 10). The same communication contains the following
statements: "It was asserted that the wholesale accusation of the Jews
as traitors is wholly groundless.... In view of this the council of
Ministers, by an overwhelming majority, decided to make intercession
to put an end to the deportation of the Jews."

Whether the Council of Ministers has interceded and whether its
efforts were crowned with success,--I know not. The papers published
several orders whereby separate groups of deported Jews were permitted
to return to their former places of residence,--for instance, the
deported Galician Jews were allowed to return to Galicia,--but there
was no general rescript which would put an end to the deportation....

The wholesale deportation of the Jews caused a great perplexity among
the population of Crimea. Even people who are not over-sensitive to
problems of truth and justice and whose sympathies are far from being
broad, show signs of being stirred up. Suppose the Council of
Ministers is mistaken, they say, and the presence of the Jews in the
governments of Kovno and Kurland is really a danger for the State, but
then do not Germans live in those provinces, in even larger n