Herzel Yankel Tsam (; 1835–1915) was a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish military officer in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, one of only nine Jewish officers in the Russian army in the 19th century who didn't convert to Christianity.Zvi Y. Gitelman (2001): ''A Century of Ambivalence: the Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to the Present''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
p.5
/ref> Drafted as a 17-year-old ''

cantonist Cantonists (; more properly: , "military cantonists") were underage sons of conscripts in the Russian Empire. From 1721 on they were educated in special "cantonist schools" () for future military service (the schools were called garrison school ...

'', Tsam served in

Tomsk Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. Tsam became an officer in 1873 (his fellow officers attested to his qualities in the promotion petitions) and, after forty-one years of service, he was retired with a rank and pension of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. The promotion was granted on the day of his retirement, so he would have the pension, but wouldn't be able to serve as a captain. An able commander and administrator, he turned one of the worst companies of his regiment into one of the best. After retirement, Tsam took an active part in the Jewish community of

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