Dmitry found favor in the eyes of the feared and dreaded Czar Nicholas I. He was brave, well-liked, and most importantly, a quick-witted thinker.
He was being trained in the Czar's most secret elite service. The Czar was ready to promote Dmitry, but something was discovered in the files that was going to change everything for everyone.
Military service was made compulsory for Jews in Russia in 1827, the age for the draft being established as between 12 and 25 years. Some were as young as 8. The objective of the Russian authorities was to alienate the cantonist children from their own people and religion.
For more info on this topic
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/cantonists
I used information for this story from the book The Cantonists: The Jewish Children's Army of the Tsar
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