The last batches of exiles were driven from Yalta in the month of October and in the beginning of November, 1894, during the days of public mourning for the death of Alexander III.  On October 20, the Tzar was destined to die in the neighborhood of the town which was purged of the Jewish populace for his benefit.  While the earthly remains of the dead emperor were carried on the railroad tracks to St. Petersburg, trains filled with Jewish refugees from Yalta were rolling on the parallel tracks, speeding towards the Pale of Settlement.

[Footnote 1:  The Crimean peninsula, forming part of the government of Tavrida, is situated within the Pale.]

Such was the symbolic finale of the reign of Alexander III. which lasted fourteen years.  Having begun with pogroms, it ended with expulsions.  The martyred nation stood at the threshold of the new reign with a silent question on its lip:  “What next?”