destination, mostly in the Eastern provinces including Siberia. For it
must be noted that the cantonists were stationed almost to a man in the
outlying Russian governments, where they could be brought up at a safe
distance from all Jewish influences. The unfortunate victims who were
drafted into the army and deported to these far-off regions were mourned
by their relatives as dead. During the autumnal season, when the
recruits were drafted and deported, the streets of the Jewish towns
resounded with moans. The juvenile cantonists were packed into wagons
like so many sheep and carried off in batches under a military
convoy. When they took leave of their dear ones it was for a quarter of a
century; in the case of children it was for a longer term, too often it
was good-bye for life.

How these unfortunate youngsters were driven to their places of
destination we learn from the description of Alexander Hertzen, [1] who
chanced to meet a batch of Jewish cantonists on his involuntary journey
through Vyatka, in 1835. At one of the post stations in some
God-forsaken village of the Vyatka government he met the escorting
officer. The following dialogue ensued between the two:

[Footnote 1: Hertzen, a famous Russian writer (d. 1870), was exiled to the
government of Vyatka for propagating liberal doctrines.]

"Whom do you carry and to what place?"

"Well, sir, you see, they got together a bunch of these accursed
Jewish youngsters between the age of eight and nine. I suppose they
are meant for the fleet, but how should I know? At first the command
was to drive them to Perm. Now there is a change. We are told to
drive them to Kazan. I have had them on my hands for a hundred