The play, “Fiddler on the Roof,” tells the story recounted by President Benjamin Harrison on December 9, 1891:
“This Government has found occasion to express…to the Government of the Czar its serious concern because of the harsh measures now being enforced against the Hebrews in Russia.
“By the revival of anti-semitic laws, long in abeyance, great numbers of those unfortunate people have been constrained to abandon their homes and leave the Empire by reason of the impossibility of finding subsistence within the pale to which it is sought to confine them.”
President Harrison continued:
“The immigration of these people to the United States – many others countries being closed to them – is largely increasing…It is estimated that over 1,000,000 will be forced from Russia within a few years.”
Harrison went on:
“The Hebrew is never a beggar; he has always kept the law – life by toil – often under severe and oppressive civil restrictions. It is also true that no race, sect, or class has more fully cared for its own than the Hebrew race.”
President Benjamin Harrison concluded:
“This consideration, as well as the suggestion of humanity, furnishes ample ground for the remonstrances which we have presented to Russia.”
President Chester A. Arthur had previously stated, December 4, 1882:
“Our long-established friendliness with Russia has remained unshaken. It has prompted me to proffer the earnest counsels of this Government that measures be adopted for suppressing the proscription which the Hebrew race in that country has lately suffered.”
On April 4, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed a Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving on the 100th anniversary of George Washington’s Inauguration:
“That the joy of the occasion may be associated with…a devout supplication to God…representatives of the religious creeds, both Christian and Hebrew, have memorialized the Government to designate an hour for prayer and thanksgiving on that day.”
William J. Federer is a nationally known speaker, best-selling author, and president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company dedicated to researching America’s noble heritage.
To learn more about the author please visit William Federer
Photo provided by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. 1998
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