Prostitution passport Russian Empire 1904 front

Yellow ticket, yellow passport or yellow card"Three Centuries of Russian Prostitution"
30.04.2002, ''english.pravda.ru'' () was an informal name of a

personal identification An identity document (abbreviated as ID) is a document proving a person's identity. If the identity document is a plastic card it is called an ''identity card'' (abbreviated as ''IC'' or ''ID card''). When the identity document incorporates ...

document of a

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

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 ...

between 1843 and 1909. The document combined an ID card, a

residence permit A residence is a place (normally a building) used as a home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide shelte ...

, a license to practice prostitution, and prostitute's medical check-up card. The official title of the document varied: medical card (медицинский билет), replacement card (заменительный билет), etc. The title "replacement card" refers to the fact that upon registration, the prostitute left her original passport or residence permit (вид на жительство) in the local police office and was issued the "yellow card" as a replacement personal ID. The carriers of the card were subject to periodic medical check-ups. This requirement was dropped in 1909. ''Zhyolty bilet'' ("yellow card") and ''zheltobiletnitsa'' ("yellow-card-holder") have become

euphemism A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...

s for prostitution and prostitutes in Russian language. A traditional etymology is that the document was named so for its yellow color. Another alleged association of yellow color with prostitution is that Tsar Paul (“Pavel”) I, known for his obsession with uniforms, ordered that prostitutes wear yellow dresses to differentiate them from other women in public settings.

Jewish women

"Yellow ticket" was of additional significance for

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

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

, beyond prostitution. The yellow ticket as a residence permit allowed the holders to live beyond the

Pale of Settlement The Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 (''de facto'' until 1915) in which permanent settlement by Jews was allowed and beyond which the creation of new Jewish settlem ...

, and according to contemporary witnesses thousands of young Jewish women took upon themselves the stigma of being labelled a prostitute and the burden of biweekly medical check-ups without actually being prostitutes, for the purpose of escaping the Pale and seeking higher education in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

Saint-Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

."White Slavery"
by Nelly Las in: ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia'' This situation was used in plots of a number of Jewish dramas in the early 20th century
ttp://www.jg-berlin.org/fileadmin/redaktion/downloads/jb_Okto_2012.pdf ''Jüdisches Berlin'', November 1, 2012(retrieved December 2, 2012) and notably in the 1914

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

play '' The Yellow Ticket'' by Michael Morton (which was the base of '' The Yellow Passport'' and '' The Yellow Ticket'', US feature movies).

Pola Negri Pola Negri (; born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec ; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienn ...

, a Polish actress who later became a Hollywood star, acted in two silent film versions of the story (Poland 1915 and Germany 1918). A restored version of the latter toured the United States in 2013 accompanied by a newly commissioned score for the latter by the klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals.

References

{{Portal, Society, Law, History, Russia, Sex, Jewish, Feminism Prostitution in Russia Culture of the Russian Empire Identity documents