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LOT 109:
Text of the Cantonist Oath - Important and Moving Historic Document. Possibly the Only One in the World that has ...
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Text of the Cantonist Oath - Important and Moving Historic Document. Possibly the Only One in the World that has Survived. [Russia 1840-1850?]
Text with which the young Jewish soldiers were threatened and sworn into the Russian Czar's army.
'The Cantonist Decree' was one of the harshest decrees to have befallen the Jewish people in modern times.
Youth - actually children - were forcibly taken to serve in the Czar's army. They were taken from their parents and separated from their families. In the absence of family, they were 'reeducated' in the military framework, trained to be soldiers and officers for many years. This lengthy service often resulted in conversion.
These surviving leaves bear the text of the threat to the recruits before their swearing in. The 'rabbi' announces the text including a halachic warning about the severity of the oath and the G-dly commandment to adhere to the heads of the Russian government, and the severity of the punishment to those who profane the Name of Heaven. This is followed by the text of the oath taken by the young Jew.
[4] pp paper. 33x21 cm. Printed on both sides. 2 pp in Hebrew and 2 pp in Yiddish in vowelized Hebrew letters. Numbered 2 in Latin.
[4] pp paper. 33x21 cm. Printed on both sides. 2 pp printed in a foreign language that express Hebrew words (phonetically) and 2 pp in a foreign language that express Yiddish words (phonetically). Numbered 4 in Latin.
The purpose was to have the soldiers take the oath in a language that they understood.
This is the wording of the oath in Hebrew: "I hereby swear in the Name of the Living G-d, Hashem, G-d of Israel, that I want to serve and will serve the Russian Czar, the King of Poland, and the firstborn heir to the throne ... but if I transgress ... and I break this oath ... may G-d's curse come upon my soul ..."
As stated, these leaves are unknown in the Bibliography. It appears that they were bound together and there may have been such a booklet with the text of this oath in additional languages.
Fine condition. Stains.
