Prior to 1880, the American Jewish population was primarily of German and Central European descent. However, the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881 triggered devastating, state-sponsored anti-Jewish riots (pogroms) in the Russian Empire. Millions of Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews fled their villages (shtetls) to escape violence and systemic economic marginalization. Unlike other immigrant groups of the era who came to work temporarily and send money home, Eastern European Jews arrived with the explicit intention of permanently relocating and raising families. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
