The Russian word pogrom (literally meaning “like thunder,” and destruction or devastation more generally) refers to an official and organized campaign directed toward a precise ethnic group. The term was originally used to describe violence enacted toward Jews in the Russian Empire between 1881 and 1921. Although the word pogrom is often used to describe systematic violence against Jews, it can also refer to attacks against other ethnic or religious groups and communities. Some of the main characteristics of pogroms are varying degrees of destruction and bloodshed, the plundering of property and goods, sexual crimes and atrocities, and murder.