Anatevka Assimilation

The Jews of Anatevka experienced both the threats of annihilation and assimilation in their Russian community. Outside of Anatevka, the world was changing and experiencing modernization. Liberal ideas began to take speed. The changing values that individuals tried to spread throughout Russia posed a threat to the traditional, long-established ideals of Judaism. On the other hand, Russian, violent attacks against the Jews also seemed to be a perceived threat. Russian pogroms threatened the safety and survival of the Jews living in Anatevka. While assimilation entailed merely changing and adjusting some traditional values to fit the time period, annihilation entailed the complete destruction of Anatevka Jews, so that it would not even be possible for them to practice any sort of Judaism. Ultimately, …show more content…
Pogrom literally mean to wreak havoc and to violently demolish, which was exactly what the Russians did to the Jews. Russians believed that Jews posed an economic, political threat initiating social hatred towards Jews. So many Jews were harmed and killed in the duration of these pogroms. Constable, a Russian military officer in Fiddler on the Roof, announced to the Jews of Anatevka that they must leave unless they want the government to force them out. Here, Constable most likely implies that the government would have killed them if the Jews would not have left. If the Jews would have protected their traditions by staying in the shtetl, they would have been killed by the Russian government, therefore being unable to practice any form of Judaism. The threat of government force on Jews posed a greater threat than that of the possibility of assimilating, because the characters mentioned above showed signs of somewhat assimilating into regular, modern values, yet their faith in God did not