Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Information about Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Coordinates:
Jewish Autonomous Oblast (Russian: Евре́йская автоно́мная о́бласть, Yevreyskaya avtonomnaya oblast; Yiddish: ייִדישע אווטאָנאָמע געגנט, yidishe avtonome gegnt) is a federal subject of Russia (autonomous oblast) situated in the Far Eastern federal district, bordering Khabarovsk Krai and Amur Oblast of Russia and Heilongjiang province of China. The region was created in 1934 as the Jewish National District. It was the result of Joseph Stalin's nationality policy, which allowed for the Jewish population of Russia to receive a territory in which to pursue Yiddish cultural heritage within a socialist framework.
Ethnic groups: As per the 2002 census, ethnic Russians at 171,697 (89.93%), constituted by far the largest part of the population, followed by ethnic Ukrainians at 8,483 (4.44%), Jews (the oblast's titular nation) at 2,327 (1.22%,[1] although this figure is disputed as there is some speculation that the percentage of Jews is currently 16% as some residents are now less afraid to announce their Jewish identity[2]), Tatars at 1,196 (0.63%), and Belarusians 1,182 (0.62%). There were also reported to be 672 Moldavians (0.35%), 594 Azeris (0.31%), 453 Germans (0.24%), 402 Koreans (0.21%), 401 Mordovians (0.21%), 320 Chuvash (0.17%), 282 Armenians (0.15%), 188 Bashkirs (0.10%), 156 Uzbeks (0.08%), 148 Poles (0.08%), 132 Roma (0.07%), 128 Tajiks (0.07%), 103 Mari (0.05%) and 102 Chinese (0.05%). All in all, residents identified themselves as belonging to no less than 95 different ethnic groups.
The birth rate is comparatively high at 11.95 (2004), compared to 10 for Russia as a whole, and 9 for predominantly Russian inhabited regions.
For the first half of 2007, the birth rate was 12.8 per 1000 [1]
Construction began in 1898 on the famous Trans-Siberian Railway connecting Chita and Vladivostok, starting at each end and meeting halfway. The project produced a large influx of new settlers and the foundation of new settlements. In 1908 Volochayevka, Obluchye, and Bira, Russia stations appeared; in 1910, Birakan, Londoko, and In stations; in 1912, Tikhonkaya station. The railroad was completed in October 1916, with the opening of the 2590 m (8500 ft) Khabarovsk Bridge across the Amur at Khabarovsk. In the pre-revolutionary period most local inhabitants were farmers. The only industrial enterprise was the Tungusskiy timber mill, although gold was mined in the Sutara River, and there were some small railway workshops. During the civil war, the territory of the future Jewish Autonomous Oblast was the scene of terrible battles. The economy declined, though it was recovering in 1926 and 1927.
On August 20, 1930 the General Executive Committee of RSFSR accepted the decree "On formation of the Birobidzhan national region in the structure of the Far Eastern Territory". The State Planning Committee considered the Birobidzhan national region as a separate economic unit. In 1932 the first scheduled figures of the region development were considered and authorized.[3]
On May 7, 1934, the Presidium of the General Executive Committee accepted the decree on its transformation in the Jewish Autonomous Region within the Russian Federation. In 1938, with formation of the Khabarovsk Territory, the Jewish Autonomous Region (JAR) was included in its structure.[3]
According to Joseph Stalin's national policy, each of the national groups that formed the Soviet Union would receive a territory in which to pursue cultural autonomy in a socialist framework. In that sense, it was also a response to two supposed threats to the Soviet state: Judaism, which ran counter to official state policy of atheism; and Zionism, and the creation of the modern State of Israel, which countered Soviet views of nationalism. The idea was to create a new "Soviet Zion", where a proletarian Jewish culture could be developed. Yiddish, rather than Hebrew, would be the national language, and a new socialist literature and arts would replace religion as the primary expression of culture.
Stalin's theory on the National Question held that a group could only be a nation if they had a territory, and since there was no Jewish territory, per se, the Jews were not a nation and did not have national rights. Jewish Communists argued that the way to solve this ideological dilemma was by creating a Jewish territory, hence the ideological motivation for the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Politically, it was also considered desirable to create a Soviet Jewish homeland as an ideological alternative to Zionism and the theory put forward by Socialist Zionists such as Ber Borochov that the Jewish Question could be resolved by creating a Jewish territory in Palestine. Thus Birobidzhan was important for propaganda purposes as an argument against Zionism which was a rival ideology to Marxism among left-wing Jews. The propaganda impact was so effective that several thousand Jews immigrated to Birobidzhan from outside of the Soviet Union, including several hundred from Palestine who had become disillusioned with the Zionist experience.
Another important goal of the Birobidzhan project was to increase settlement in the remote Soviet Far East, especially along the vulnerable border with China. In 1928, there was virtually no settlement in the area, while Jews had deep roots in the western half of the Soviet Union, in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia proper. In fact, there had initially been proposals to create a Jewish Soviet Republic in the Crimea or in part of Ukraine but these were rejected because of fears of antagonizing non-Jews in those regions.
The geography and climate of Birobidzhan were harsh, the landscape largely swampland, and any new settlers would have to build their lives from scratch. Some have even claimed that Stalin was also motivated by anti-Semitism in selecting Birobidzhan: he wanted to keep the Jews as far away from the centers of power as possible. On the other hand, it must be said that the Ukrainians and Crimeans were reluctant to have a Jewish national home carved out of their territory, even though most Soviet Jews lived there, and there were very few alternative territories without rival national claims to them.
By the 1930s, a massive propaganda campaign was underway to induce more Jewish settlers to move there. Some of these incorporated the standard Soviet propaganda tools of the era, and included posters and Yiddish-language novels describing a socialist utopia there. Other methods bordered on the bizarre. In one instance, leaflets promoting Birobidzhan were dropped from an airplane over a Jewish neighborhood in Belarus. In another instance, a government-produced Yiddish film called Seekers of Happiness told the story of a Jewish family that fled the Depression in the United States to make a new life for itself in Birobidzhan.
As the Jewish population grew, so did the impact of Yiddish culture on the region. A Yiddish newspaper, the Birobidzhaner Shtern (Russian: Биробиджанер Штерн, Yiddish: ביראָבידזשאַנער שטערן, "Star of Birobidzhan"), was established; a theater troupe was created; and streets being built in the new city were named after prominent Yiddish authors such as Sholom Aleichem and Y. L. Peretz. The Yiddish language was deliberately bolstered as a basis for efforts to secularize the Jewish population and, despite the general curtailment of this action as described immediately below, the Birobidzhaner Shtern continues to publish a section in Yiddish.
Valdgeym is a Jewish settlement within the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. [2] The settlement was founded in 1928 and was the first collective farm established in the oblast. [3] In 1980 a Yiddish school was opened in the settlement. [4] Amurzet also has a history of Jewish settlement in the JAO.[5] [6] [7] For the period 1929 through 1939, this village was the center of Jewish settlement south of Birobidzhan. [8] The present day Jewish Community members hold Kabalat Shabbat ceremonies and gatherings that feature songs in Yiddish, Jewish cuisine, and broad information presenting historical facts on Jewish culture. Many descendants of the founders of this settlement, which was established just after the turn of the 20th century, have left their native village. Those who remained here in Amurzet, especially those having relatives in Israel, are learning about the traditions and roots of the Jewish people. [9] The population of Amurzet, as estimated in late 2006, is 5,213. [10] Smidovich is another early Jewish settlement in the JAO. See also: List of Jewish Settlements in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast
There was a slight revival in the Birobidzhan idea after the war as a potential home for Jewish refugees. During that time, the Jewish population of the region peaked at almost one-third of the total. Efforts in this direction ended, however, with the Doctors' plot, the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state, and Stalin's second wave of purges shortly before his death. Once again, the Jewish leadership was arrested and efforts were made to stamp out Yiddish culture—even the Judaica collection in the local library was burned. In the ensuing years the idea of an autonomous Jewish region in the Soviet Union was all but forgotten.
Some scholars such as Louis Rapoport, Jonathan Brent and Vladimir Naumov assert that Stalin had devised a plan to deport all of the Jews of the Soviet Union to Birobidzhan much as he had internally deported other national minorities such as the Crimean Tatars and Volga Germans, forcing them to move thousands of miles from their homes. The Doctors' Plot may have been the first element of this plan. If so, the plan was aborted by Stalin's death on March 5, 1953.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and new liberal emigration policies, most of the remaining Jewish population left for Germany and Israel. In 1991, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast was transferred from under the jurisdiction of Khabarovsk Krai to the jurisdiction of the Federation, but by that time most of the Jews had gone and the remaining Jews now constituted less than two percent of the local population. Nevertheless, Yiddish is once again taught in the schools, a Yiddish radio station is in operation, and as noted above, the Birobidzhaner Shtern includes a section in Yiddish.
L'Chayim, Comrade Stalin!, a documentary on Stalin's creation of the Jewish Autonomous Region and its settlement was released in 2003. In addition to being a history of the creation of the proposed Jewish homeland, the film features scenes of contemporary Birobidzhan and interviews with Jewish residents.
In recent years, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast has grown interested in its Jewish roots. Students study Hebrew and Yiddish at a Jewish school and Birobidzhan Jewish National University. In 1989, the Jewish center founded its Sunday school, where children study Yiddish, learn Jewish folk dances, and memorize dates from the history of Israel. The Israeli government helps fund the program. [12]
Within Birobidzhan, there are several state-run schools that teach Yiddish, a Yiddish school for religious instruction and a kindergarten. The five to seven year-olds spend two lessons a week learning to speak Yiddish, as well as being taught Jewish songs, dance and traditions. [13] Today, the city’s 14 public schools must teach Yiddish and Jewish tradition. The school Menora was created in 1991. It is a public school that offers a half-day Yiddish and Jewish curriculum for those parents who choose it. About half the school’s 120 pupils are enrolled in the Yiddish course. Many of them continue on to Public School No. 2, which offers the same half-day Yiddish/Jewish curriculum from first through 12th grade. Yiddish also is offered at Birobidzhan’s Pedagogical Institute, one of the only university-level Yiddish courses in the country. [14]
In 2007, "The First Birobidzhan International Summer Program for Yiddish Language and Culture" was launched by Yiddish studies professor Boris Kotlerman of Bar-Ilan University. [15] Yiddish is still the region’s second official language after Russian, although it is spoken only by a handful of the 4,000 remaining Jews. [16]
Lev Toitman, 82, is the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS Chairman [19] for Birobidzhan's 4,500 member [20] Jewish Community. [21] Concerning the Jewish community of the oblast, Govenor Nikolay Mikhaylovich Volkov has stated that he intends to, "support every valuable initiative maintained by our local Jewish organizations." [22] In December 2005, the candle-lighting of a Chanukah Menorah in the city's center involved Alexander Vinnikov, who lit the 'shamash' candle and passed it to the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Chabad Lubavich representative, Mordechai Scheiner. [23]
| |||||
) | |||||
| Capital | Birobidzhan | ||||
| Area - total - % water | Ranked 61st - 36,000 km - no data | ||||
| Population - Total - Density | Ranked 80th - est. 190,915 (2002) - est. 5.3/km | ||||
| Political status | Autonomous oblast | ||||
| Federal district | Far Eastern | ||||
| Economic Region | Far Eastern | ||||
| Cadaster # | 79 | ||||
| Official language | de jure: Russian, Yiddish de facto: Russian | ||||
| Chairman of the government | Nikolay Mikhaylovich Volkov | ||||
| First Vice-Chairman | Viktor Spiridonovich Gozhy | ||||
| Legislature | |||||
| Anthem | none | ||||
)
Time zone
The Jewish Autonomous Oblast is located in the Vladivostok Time Zone (VLAT/VLAST). UTC offset is +1000 (VLAT)/+1100 (VLAST).Climate
The climate in the territory is monsoonal/anti-cyclonic, with warm, wet, humid, mosquito-infested summers due to the influence of the East Asian monsoon; and very harsh, cold, dry, windy conditions prevailing in the winter months courtesy of the vast Siberian high-pressure system.Administrative divisions
Demographics
Population (2002 Census): 190,915.Ethnic groups: As per the 2002 census, ethnic Russians at 171,697 (89.93%), constituted by far the largest part of the population, followed by ethnic Ukrainians at 8,483 (4.44%), Jews (the oblast's titular nation) at 2,327 (1.22%,[1] although this figure is disputed as there is some speculation that the percentage of Jews is currently 16% as some residents are now less afraid to announce their Jewish identity[2]), Tatars at 1,196 (0.63%), and Belarusians 1,182 (0.62%). There were also reported to be 672 Moldavians (0.35%), 594 Azeris (0.31%), 453 Germans (0.24%), 402 Koreans (0.21%), 401 Mordovians (0.21%), 320 Chuvash (0.17%), 282 Armenians (0.15%), 188 Bashkirs (0.10%), 156 Uzbeks (0.08%), 148 Poles (0.08%), 132 Roma (0.07%), 128 Tajiks (0.07%), 103 Mari (0.05%) and 102 Chinese (0.05%). All in all, residents identified themselves as belonging to no less than 95 different ethnic groups.
The birth rate is comparatively high at 11.95 (2004), compared to 10 for Russia as a whole, and 9 for predominantly Russian inhabited regions.
For the first half of 2007, the birth rate was 12.8 per 1000 [1]
History
Military colonization and the advent of the Trans-Siberian Railway
In December 1858 the Russian government authorized formation of the Amur Cossacks for protection of the southeast boundary of Siberia and communication on the rivers of Amur and Ussuri. This military colonization included settlers from Transbaikalia. During the years 1858-1882, sixty three settlements were founded, including, in 1857, Radde settlement; in 1858, Pashkovo, Pompeyevka, Puzino, Yekaterino-Nikolskoye, Mikhailo-Semyonovskoye, Voskresenovka, Petrovskoye, and Ventzelevo; in 1860, Storozhevoye, Soyuznoye, and Golovino; later in the decade, Babstovo, Bidzhan, and Bashurovo settlements. Expeditions of scientists - including such geographers, ethnographers, naturalists, and botanists as Venyukov, Schrenck, Maksimovich, Radde, and Komarov - promoted the development of the new territories. Their achievements produced the first detailed "map of the Amur land".Construction began in 1898 on the famous Trans-Siberian Railway connecting Chita and Vladivostok, starting at each end and meeting halfway. The project produced a large influx of new settlers and the foundation of new settlements. In 1908 Volochayevka, Obluchye, and Bira, Russia stations appeared; in 1910, Birakan, Londoko, and In stations; in 1912, Tikhonkaya station. The railroad was completed in October 1916, with the opening of the 2590 m (8500 ft) Khabarovsk Bridge across the Amur at Khabarovsk. In the pre-revolutionary period most local inhabitants were farmers. The only industrial enterprise was the Tungusskiy timber mill, although gold was mined in the Sutara River, and there were some small railway workshops. During the civil war, the territory of the future Jewish Autonomous Oblast was the scene of terrible battles. The economy declined, though it was recovering in 1926 and 1927.
)
Jewish Autonomous Oblast map
Jewish settlement and development in the region
On March 28, 1928, the Presidium of the General Executive Committee of the USSR passed the decree "On the attaching for Komzet of free territory near the Amur River in the Far East for settlement of the working Jews." The decree meant that there was "a possibility of establishment of a Jewish administrative territorial unit on the territory of the called region".[3]On August 20, 1930 the General Executive Committee of RSFSR accepted the decree "On formation of the Birobidzhan national region in the structure of the Far Eastern Territory". The State Planning Committee considered the Birobidzhan national region as a separate economic unit. In 1932 the first scheduled figures of the region development were considered and authorized.[3]
On May 7, 1934, the Presidium of the General Executive Committee accepted the decree on its transformation in the Jewish Autonomous Region within the Russian Federation. In 1938, with formation of the Khabarovsk Territory, the Jewish Autonomous Region (JAR) was included in its structure.[3]
According to Joseph Stalin's national policy, each of the national groups that formed the Soviet Union would receive a territory in which to pursue cultural autonomy in a socialist framework. In that sense, it was also a response to two supposed threats to the Soviet state: Judaism, which ran counter to official state policy of atheism; and Zionism, and the creation of the modern State of Israel, which countered Soviet views of nationalism. The idea was to create a new "Soviet Zion", where a proletarian Jewish culture could be developed. Yiddish, rather than Hebrew, would be the national language, and a new socialist literature and arts would replace religion as the primary expression of culture.
Stalin's theory on the National Question held that a group could only be a nation if they had a territory, and since there was no Jewish territory, per se, the Jews were not a nation and did not have national rights. Jewish Communists argued that the way to solve this ideological dilemma was by creating a Jewish territory, hence the ideological motivation for the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Politically, it was also considered desirable to create a Soviet Jewish homeland as an ideological alternative to Zionism and the theory put forward by Socialist Zionists such as Ber Borochov that the Jewish Question could be resolved by creating a Jewish territory in Palestine. Thus Birobidzhan was important for propaganda purposes as an argument against Zionism which was a rival ideology to Marxism among left-wing Jews. The propaganda impact was so effective that several thousand Jews immigrated to Birobidzhan from outside of the Soviet Union, including several hundred from Palestine who had become disillusioned with the Zionist experience.
Another important goal of the Birobidzhan project was to increase settlement in the remote Soviet Far East, especially along the vulnerable border with China. In 1928, there was virtually no settlement in the area, while Jews had deep roots in the western half of the Soviet Union, in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia proper. In fact, there had initially been proposals to create a Jewish Soviet Republic in the Crimea or in part of Ukraine but these were rejected because of fears of antagonizing non-Jews in those regions.
The geography and climate of Birobidzhan were harsh, the landscape largely swampland, and any new settlers would have to build their lives from scratch. Some have even claimed that Stalin was also motivated by anti-Semitism in selecting Birobidzhan: he wanted to keep the Jews as far away from the centers of power as possible. On the other hand, it must be said that the Ukrainians and Crimeans were reluctant to have a Jewish national home carved out of their territory, even though most Soviet Jews lived there, and there were very few alternative territories without rival national claims to them.
By the 1930s, a massive propaganda campaign was underway to induce more Jewish settlers to move there. Some of these incorporated the standard Soviet propaganda tools of the era, and included posters and Yiddish-language novels describing a socialist utopia there. Other methods bordered on the bizarre. In one instance, leaflets promoting Birobidzhan were dropped from an airplane over a Jewish neighborhood in Belarus. In another instance, a government-produced Yiddish film called Seekers of Happiness told the story of a Jewish family that fled the Depression in the United States to make a new life for itself in Birobidzhan.
As the Jewish population grew, so did the impact of Yiddish culture on the region. A Yiddish newspaper, the Birobidzhaner Shtern (Russian: Биробиджанер Штерн, Yiddish: ביראָבידזשאַנער שטערן, "Star of Birobidzhan"), was established; a theater troupe was created; and streets being built in the new city were named after prominent Yiddish authors such as Sholom Aleichem and Y. L. Peretz. The Yiddish language was deliberately bolstered as a basis for efforts to secularize the Jewish population and, despite the general curtailment of this action as described immediately below, the Birobidzhaner Shtern continues to publish a section in Yiddish.
Valdgeym is a Jewish settlement within the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. [2] The settlement was founded in 1928 and was the first collective farm established in the oblast. [3] In 1980 a Yiddish school was opened in the settlement. [4] Amurzet also has a history of Jewish settlement in the JAO.[5] [6] [7] For the period 1929 through 1939, this village was the center of Jewish settlement south of Birobidzhan. [8] The present day Jewish Community members hold Kabalat Shabbat ceremonies and gatherings that feature songs in Yiddish, Jewish cuisine, and broad information presenting historical facts on Jewish culture. Many descendants of the founders of this settlement, which was established just after the turn of the 20th century, have left their native village. Those who remained here in Amurzet, especially those having relatives in Israel, are learning about the traditions and roots of the Jewish people. [9] The population of Amurzet, as estimated in late 2006, is 5,213. [10] Smidovich is another early Jewish settlement in the JAO. See also: List of Jewish Settlements in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Stalin and Doctors' Plot
The Birobidzhan experiment ground to a halt in the mid-1930s, during Stalin's first campaign of purges. Jewish leaders were arrested and executed, and Yiddish schools were shut down. Shortly after this, World War II brought to an abrupt end concerted efforts to bring Jews east . Curiously, around these decades, some Japanese officials were pushing the Fugu Plan to attract Jews to the Japanese vassal state of Manchukuo in the former Chinese part of Manchuria.There was a slight revival in the Birobidzhan idea after the war as a potential home for Jewish refugees. During that time, the Jewish population of the region peaked at almost one-third of the total. Efforts in this direction ended, however, with the Doctors' plot, the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state, and Stalin's second wave of purges shortly before his death. Once again, the Jewish leadership was arrested and efforts were made to stamp out Yiddish culture—even the Judaica collection in the local library was burned. In the ensuing years the idea of an autonomous Jewish region in the Soviet Union was all but forgotten.
Some scholars such as Louis Rapoport, Jonathan Brent and Vladimir Naumov assert that Stalin had devised a plan to deport all of the Jews of the Soviet Union to Birobidzhan much as he had internally deported other national minorities such as the Crimean Tatars and Volga Germans, forcing them to move thousands of miles from their homes. The Doctors' Plot may have been the first element of this plan. If so, the plan was aborted by Stalin's death on March 5, 1953.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and new liberal emigration policies, most of the remaining Jewish population left for Germany and Israel. In 1991, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast was transferred from under the jurisdiction of Khabarovsk Krai to the jurisdiction of the Federation, but by that time most of the Jews had gone and the remaining Jews now constituted less than two percent of the local population. Nevertheless, Yiddish is once again taught in the schools, a Yiddish radio station is in operation, and as noted above, the Birobidzhaner Shtern includes a section in Yiddish.
L'Chayim, Comrade Stalin!, a documentary on Stalin's creation of the Jewish Autonomous Region and its settlement was released in 2003. In addition to being a history of the creation of the proposed Jewish homeland, the film features scenes of contemporary Birobidzhan and interviews with Jewish residents.
Education
The Birobidzhan Jewish National University works in cooperation with the local Jewish community of Birobidzhan. The university is unique in the Russian Far East. The basis of the training course is study of the Hebrew language, history and classic Jewish texts. [11]In recent years, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast has grown interested in its Jewish roots. Students study Hebrew and Yiddish at a Jewish school and Birobidzhan Jewish National University. In 1989, the Jewish center founded its Sunday school, where children study Yiddish, learn Jewish folk dances, and memorize dates from the history of Israel. The Israeli government helps fund the program. [12]
Within Birobidzhan, there are several state-run schools that teach Yiddish, a Yiddish school for religious instruction and a kindergarten. The five to seven year-olds spend two lessons a week learning to speak Yiddish, as well as being taught Jewish songs, dance and traditions. [13] Today, the city’s 14 public schools must teach Yiddish and Jewish tradition. The school Menora was created in 1991. It is a public school that offers a half-day Yiddish and Jewish curriculum for those parents who choose it. About half the school’s 120 pupils are enrolled in the Yiddish course. Many of them continue on to Public School No. 2, which offers the same half-day Yiddish/Jewish curriculum from first through 12th grade. Yiddish also is offered at Birobidzhan’s Pedagogical Institute, one of the only university-level Yiddish courses in the country. [14]
In 2007, "The First Birobidzhan International Summer Program for Yiddish Language and Culture" was launched by Yiddish studies professor Boris Kotlerman of Bar-Ilan University. [15] Yiddish is still the region’s second official language after Russian, although it is spoken only by a handful of the 4,000 remaining Jews. [16]
Judaism in the 21st century
In 2004 the Regional Government announced that Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar has agreed to take part in the 70th anniversary celebration for the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Rabbi Lazar and Avraham Berkowitz, the Executive Director of the Federation of Jewish Communities CIS will lead a delegation to Birobidjan for the event. Rabbi Mordechai Scheiner, the Chief Rabbi of Birobidjan and Chabad Lubavitch representative to the region, said "Today one can enjoy the benefits of the Yiddish culture and not be afraid to return to their Jewish traditions. Its safe without any Anti-Semitism and we plan to open the first Jewish day school here". It is estimated that at least 3,000 Jews live today in the city. Mordechai Scheiner, an Israeli father of six, has been the rabbi in Birobidzhan for the last five years. The Birobidzhan Synagogue opened in 2004.[17] The Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia estimates the number of Jews in Russia at about one million, or 0.7 percent of the country's 143 million population. Sheiner says there are 4,000 Jews in Birobidzhan -- just over 5 percent of the town's 75,000 population. [18]Lev Toitman, 82, is the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS Chairman [19] for Birobidzhan's 4,500 member [20] Jewish Community. [21] Concerning the Jewish community of the oblast, Govenor Nikolay Mikhaylovich Volkov has stated that he intends to, "support every valuable initiative maintained by our local Jewish organizations." [22] In December 2005, the candle-lighting of a Chanukah Menorah in the city's center involved Alexander Vinnikov, who lit the 'shamash' candle and passed it to the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Chabad Lubavich representative, Mordechai Scheiner. [23]
Economy
The economy is based on mining (gold, tin, iron, and graphite), lumber, limited agriculture, and light manufacturing (mainly textiles and food processing).Amur Bridge Project
Valery Solomonovich Gurevich, government vice-chairman of Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Oblast said that China and Russia will start construction of the Amur Bridge Project at the end of 2007. [24] The bridge will link Nizhneleninskoye in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast with Tongjiang in Heilongjiang Province. [25] The 2,197-meter-long bridge, with an estimated investment of nearly US$230 million, is expected to be finished by the end of 2010, Gurevich said. [26] Gurevich said that the proposal to construct a bridge across the river was actually made by Russia, in view of growing cargo transportation demands. "The bridge, in the bold estimate, will be finished in three years," Gurevich said. [27]Notes
1. ^ Mark Tolts: The Post-Soviet Jewish Population in Russia and the World. Published in: Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe, 2004, No. 1 (52). p.51
2. ^ [28]
3. ^ Establishment and Development of the JAR Jewish Autonomous Region official government website. Accessed 2007-08-30
2. ^ [28]
3. ^ Establishment and Development of the JAR Jewish Autonomous Region official government website. Accessed 2007-08-30
See also
- History of the Jews in Russia and Soviet Union
- List of Jewish Autonomous Oblast Leaders
- Yevsektsiya
- Jewish Bolshevism
- In Search of Happiness
- Territorialism
References
- Shternshis, Anna, Soviet and Kosher; Jewish Popular Culture in the Soviet Union, 1923-1939, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2006, ISBN 0-253-34726-2.
- Weinberg, Robert, Stalin's Forgotten Zion; Birobidzhan and the Making of a Soviet Jewish Homeland, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1998, ISBN 0-520-20989-3.
- http://www.eao.ru//Images/Gorod/gen_022.JPG
- http://www.fjc.ru/news/newsArticle.asp?AID=166969
- http://www.fjc.ru/news/newsArticle.asp?AID=525676&cid=84435&NewsType=80052
- http://www.ncsj.org/AuxPages/091304JTA_Birobid.shtml#0923
- http://www.fjc.ru/news/newsArticle.asp?AID=317166
- http://www.eao.ru/eng/?p=365
- http://www.kulanu.org/links/birodidzhan.html
- http://www.ncsj.org/AuxPages/091304JTA_Birobid.shtml#0916
Films
- (English)
External links
- (English) Official government site.
- (English) Jewish Autonomous Oblast (Travel East Russia)
- (English) Birobidizhan: Stalin's Forgotten Zion
- (Russian) Birobidzhan: Dream of a Jewish Homeland That Never Came True by Eve-Maria Stolberg (Russian Archipelago)
| Autonomous Oblasts of the Soviet Union | |
| Adyghe AO | Gorno-Altai AO | Gorno-Badakhshan AO | Jewish AO | Karachay-Cherkess AO | Khakas AO | Nagorno-Karabakh AO | South Ossetian AO | Tuvan AO | |
geographic coordinate system enables every location on the earth to be specified by the three coordinates of a spherical coordinate system aligned with the spin axis of the Earth.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Flag of Jewish Autonomous Oblast is the flag of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, which is situated in the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia.
..... Click the link for more information.
History
The rainbow flag design was adopted during October 1996...... Click the link for more information.
The Coat of arms of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast the coat of arms for the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. [1] [2] The figure of the tiger is turned to the right toward a viewer that symbolizes an unusual history and original way of the JAO’s development.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Биробиджа? (Russian)
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Area is a physical quantity expressing the size of a part of a surface. The term Surface area is the summation of the areas of the exposed sides of an object.
..... Click the link for more information.
Units
Units for measuring surface area include:- square metre = SI derived unit
..... Click the link for more information.
Here is a list of the 85 federal subjects of Russia in order of size. Values are given using SI (metric) units. According to reports from the 2002 Census, the total area of Russia is 17,075,400 km² (6,592,849 mi²).
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Square kilometre (U.S. spelling: square kilometer), symbol km², is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km² is equal to:
..... Click the link for more information.
- 1,000,000 m²
- 100 ha (hectare)
- 1 m² = 0.
..... Click the link for more information.
population is the collection of people or organisms of a particular species living in a given geographic area or mortality, and migration, though the field encompasses many dimensions of population change including the family (marriage and divorce), public health, work and the
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, humans in particular.
..... Click the link for more information.
Biological population densities
..... Click the link for more information.
Here is a list of the 85* federal subjects of Russia in order of population according to the 2002 Census. The total of all federal subjects is 145,166,731, which does not include nationals living abroad at the time of census.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
20th century - 21st century - 22nd century
1970s 1980s 1990s - 2000s - 2010s 2020s 2030s
1999 2000 2001 - 2002 - 2003 2004 2005
2002 by topic:
News by month
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun
..... Click the link for more information.
1970s 1980s 1990s - 2000s - 2010s 2020s 2030s
1999 2000 2001 - 2002 - 2003 2004 2005
2002 by topic:
News by month
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun
..... Click the link for more information.
autonomous oblast (autonomous province), the Jewish Autonomous Oblast.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
federal districts (Russian: федера́льные округа́, sing.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Far Eastern Federal District (Russian: Дальневосто́чный федера́льный
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Russia is divided into twelve economic regions (Russian: экономи́ческие райо́ны, ekonomicheskiye rayony, sing.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Far Eastern economic region (Russian: Дальневосто́чный экономи́ческий
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Although Russian is the only federally official language of the Russian Federation, there are several other officially-recognized languages within Russia's various constituencies. This is a list of languages that are official only in certain parts of Russia.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
De jure (in Classical Latin de iure) is an expression that means "based on law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "in fact". De jure should not be confused with the French du jour
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Russian}}}
Writing system: Cyrillic (Russian variant)
Official status
Official language of: Abkhazia (Georgia)
Belarus
Commonwealth of Independent States (working)
Crimea (de facto; Ukraine)
..... Click the link for more information.
Writing system: Cyrillic (Russian variant)
Official status
Official language of: Abkhazia (Georgia)
Belarus
Commonwealth of Independent States (working)
Crimea (de facto; Ukraine)
..... Click the link for more information.
Yiddish}}}
Writing system: uses a Hebrew-based alphabet
Official status
Official language of: Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia (de jure only); officially recognized minority language in Sweden, the Netherlands, Israel and Moldova
..... Click the link for more information.
Writing system: uses a Hebrew-based alphabet
Official status
Official language of: Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia (de jure only); officially recognized minority language in Sweden, the Netherlands, Israel and Moldova
..... Click the link for more information.
De facto is a Latin expression that means "in fact" or "in practice" but not spelled out by law. It is commonly used in contrast to de jure (which means "by law") when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique (such as standards), that are found in the
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Nikolai Volkov is a Russian politician.
..... Click the link for more information.
Childhood and Education
Volkov was born on December 19, 1951 in Krasnoye village, in the Shablykinsky district of the Oryol Region. [1] In 1973, Volkov graduated from a civil engineer institute in Odessa...... Click the link for more information.
Viktor Spiridonovich Gozhy is a Russian politician.
Gozhy is the First vice-chairman of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. He is the next in the line of succession after the Chairman of the Government, Nikolay Mikhaylovich Volkov [1] See also: List of Jewish Autonomous
..... Click the link for more information.
Gozhy is the First vice-chairman of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. He is the next in the line of succession after the Chairman of the Government, Nikolay Mikhaylovich Volkov [1] See also: List of Jewish Autonomous
..... Click the link for more information.
Russian}}}
Writing system: Cyrillic (Russian variant)
Official status
Official language of: Abkhazia (Georgia)
Belarus
Commonwealth of Independent States (working)
Crimea (de facto; Ukraine)
..... Click the link for more information.
Writing system: Cyrillic (Russian variant)
Official status
Official language of: Abkhazia (Georgia)
Belarus
Commonwealth of Independent States (working)
Crimea (de facto; Ukraine)
..... Click the link for more information.
Yiddish}}}
Writing system: uses a Hebrew-based alphabet
Official status
Official language of: Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia (de jure only); officially recognized minority language in Sweden, the Netherlands, Israel and Moldova
..... Click the link for more information.
Writing system: uses a Hebrew-based alphabet
Official status
Official language of: Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia (de jure only); officially recognized minority language in Sweden, the Netherlands, Israel and Moldova
..... Click the link for more information.
Russia
This article is part of the series:
Politics of Russia
..... Click the link for more information.
This article is part of the series:
Politics of Russia
- Constitution
- President: Vladimir Putin
- Presidential Administration
- Security Council
..... Click the link for more information.
Anthem
Hymn of the Russian Federation
Capital
(and largest city) Moscow
..... Click the link for more information.
Hymn of the Russian Federation
Capital
(and largest city) Moscow
..... Click the link for more information.
An autonomous oblast is an autonomous entity within the state which is on the oblast (province) level of the overall administrative subdivision.
..... Click the link for more information.
Soviet Union
..... Click the link for more information.
The Far Eastern Federal District (Russian: Дальневосто́чный федера́льный
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
federal districts (Russian: федера́льные округа́, sing.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.