In the 1930s a cache containing a large number of documents written in Hebrew and Ukrainian written in Hebrew script was found by the historian and linguist Saul Borovoy ( ru) in the archives of the Zaporozhian Sich. His quest was successful, and his children joined him. His children and property were seized by the qahal, and he had to apply to king Sigismund III for assistance in restitution of his children and property. Historian of the Cossacks Yuri Mytsyk describes a case in which, in 1602 a Jew from the town of Berestye converted to Christianity and joined Zaporozhian Host. Both Khlopitsky and Moses took oath on the Cossack Host's behalf in their treaty with the Emperor. In 1594 a Jew known only by his first name Moses served as a deputy to Stanislav Khlopitsky, the Cossack emissary to the court of Emperor Rudolph II. Karaimovich is presumed to be born a Karaim (a Turkic ethnic group adherent to Karaite Judaism.) In 1637 Ilyash (Elijah) Karaimovich was one of the officers of the registered Cossacks, and became their "starosta" (elder) after the execution of Pavlyuk. The deposition of Berakha's fellow-cossack "Joseph son of Moses" in the rabbinical court-case of Berakha's widow's permission to remarry states that there were at least 11 Jews in the cossack ranks of the Sahaidachny army in the battle in which Berakha was killed. The responsa of Joel Särkes discusses "Berakha the Hero", who fought in the ranks of Petro Sahaidachny's Cossacks and fell in battle against the Muscovites. Piasaczinski replied that the Cossacks were not subjects of the king of Poland, and that he therefore could not be held responsible for the "acts of uncontrollable rovers of the desert that were apostates from all faiths, Poles, Muscovites, Wallachians, Turks, Tatars, Jews, etc., among them". In 1681 Ahmad Kalga, chief councilor of the Khan of Crimea, complained to the Polish ambassador, Piasaczinski, that the Cossacks of the Lower Dnieper had attacked Crimea. Although the Cossacks were not known for religiosity before the 17th century it is presumed that conversion was a requirement for promotion in the Cossack ranks by the early 17th century. Jews could fulfill those tasks because of their level of literacy and command of several languages. The Cossack regiments in Ukraine served administrative purposes, besides military, and had constant demand for able administrators, educated diplomats and scribes. Jews also served in the ranks of the Cossacks, although the mechanism of their entry into the Cossack ranks is unclear. Maxym Kryvonis was a mercenary soldier from Scotland. The higher nobility, however, depended largely on some part of Jews to act as their leaseholders- arendators, agents, and financial managers, and this served in a significant measure as a bar to persecution.Ĭossack society was ethnically diverse and some Cossacks may have had their origins as far away as Scotland. The guilds that were established, which always feared the competition of the Jews, played a prominent part in connection with various accusations. They often included religious Jews among their company, but after the Union of Brest Mazur immigration introduced a negative feeling against the Jews from Poland to Ukraine during the reign of Sigismund III (1587–1632), and Cossacks wanted to baptize Jews now. The Zaporozhian Cossacks were generally indifferent to religious matters and bore no particular ill will toward the Jews up to the time of Hetman Nalyvaiko. When Poland and Lithuania were merged by King Sigismund Augustus into one commonwealth (in the Union of Lublin of 1569) the provinces of Volhynia, Podilia and the rest of Ukraine were separated from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and came under the direct rule of Poland. 1 Changes of sentiment during the 17th centuryĬhanges of sentiment during the 17th century.
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