Using detailed panel data from the Pale of Settlement area between 1800 and 1927, we document that anti-Jewish pogroms--mob violence against the Jewish minority--broke out when economic shocks coincided with political turmoil. When this happened, pogroms primarily occurred in places where Jews...

The persistence literature in economics and related disciplines connects recent outcomes to events long ago. This influential literature marks a promising development but has drawn criticism. We discuss two prominent examples that ground the rise of the Nazi Party in distant historical roots....