My paternal grandfather had his trigger finger amputated in order to avoid the Russian draft in 1911 when he was 21 years old. I'm wondering how long the term of service was in the Russian army at that time and whether Jewish conscripts were still treated harshly at that time. I'm assuming that self-mutilation for the purpose of draft avoidance was illegal -- so presumably it would have been difficult for him to find a doctor to perform this operation? I'd appreciate hearing >from anyone with knowledge of this subject. Thanks. David Laskin, Seattle, WA