Description
Archangel lies on the shores of the White Sea, in the far north of European Russia. The city was the chief seaport of medieval Russia. The area was originally settled by Vikings around 800. It is impossible to know when the Berman family settled in Russia. Expelled en masse from England, France, Spain and most other Western European countries at various times, and persecuted in Germany in the 14th century, many Western European Jews naturally accepted Polish ruler Casimir III’s invitation to settle in Polish-controlled areas of Eastern Europe as a third estate, performing commercial, middleman services in an agricultural society. After settling in Poland (later Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth) and Hungary (later Austria- Hungary), the population expanded into the lightly populated areas of Ukraine and Lithuania, which were to become part of the expanding Russian empire. There were many waves of anti-Jewish campaigns over the centuries, mixed with several periods of peace. However, a largescale wave of anti-Jewish pogromsℵ
