Pending the termination of the trial, no Jew was allowed to leave the city, while natives from Mstislavl in other places were captured and conveyed to their native town.

A large Jewish community was threatened with complete annihilation.
The Jews of Mstislavl, through their spokesmen, petitioned St.
Petersburg to wait with the penal conscription until the conclusion of the trial, and endeavored to convince the central Government that the local administration had misrepresented the character of the incident.
To save his brethren, the popular champion of the interests of his people, the merchant Isaac Zelikin, of Monastyrchina, [1] called affectionately Rabbi Itzele, journeyed to the capital.

He managed to get the ear of the Chief of the "Third Section" [2] and to acquaint him with the horrors which were being perpetrated by the authorities in Mstislavl.
[Footnote 1: A townlet in the neighborhood of Mstislavl.] [Footnote 2: See above, p.

21, n.

1.] As a result, two commissioners were dispatched from St.Petersburg in quick succession.