boyuvke

Meaning

Noun

• A Jewish armed self-defence unit during the first Russian revolution

Origin

• From Russian "boy", combat, battle; hence, Yiddish "boyuvke", combat unit, commando.
• e.g. The last decade of the 19th century in Babruysk was characterized by pogroms as a result of the assassination of the Russian emperor Alexander II. However, most of the attacks were repelled by self-organized Jewish armed units called boyuvkes.