History of the Jews in Ukraine

Jewish communities have lived in the territory of Ukraine for centuries and developed many of modern Judaism's most distinctive theological and cultural traditions. While at times they flourished, at other times they faced periods of intense antisemitic discriminatory policies and persecutions.

Kievan Rus'

Jewish settlements in Ukraine can be traced back to the 8th century. Jewish refugees from the Byzantine Empire, Persia, and Mesopotamia, fleeing from persecution by Christians throughout Europe, settled in the Khazar Khaganate.

The 11th century Byzantine Jews of Constantinople had familial, cultural, and theological ties with the Jews of Kiev. For instance, some 11th-century Jews from Kievan Rus participated in an anti-Karaite assembly held in either Thessalonica or Constantinople.

Halych-Volynia

In Halychyna, the westernmost area of Ukraine, the Jews were mentioned for the first time in 1030. From the second part of the 14th century, they were under the patronage of the Polish kings and magnates. The Jewish population of Halychyna and Bukovyna, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was extremely large; it made up 5% of the world Jewish population.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

From the founding of the Kingdom of Poland in the 10th century through the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, Poland was one of the most tolerant countries in Europe. It became home to one of the world's largest and most vibrant Jewish communities. The Jewish community in the territory of Ukraine during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was one of the largest and most important ethnic groups in Ukraine.

Cossack Uprising and the Deluge

The Ukrainian Cossck hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky incited the Cossacks to revolt by telling them that the Poles had sold them as slaves "into the hands of the accursed Jews." At that time it is estmated that the Jewish population in Ukraine was 51,325. [Orest Subtelny, "History of Ukraine", p. 599. University of Toronto Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8020-0591-0] In the name of Orthodox Christianity the Cossacks killed a huge number of Jews, Roman Catholics and Uniates during the years 1648–1649.

The precise number of dead may never be known, but estimates range from fifty thousand to several hundred thousand Jews killed: 300 Jewish communities were totally destroyed.Fact|date=July 2008

Rise of Hasidism and internal struggles

The Cossack Uprising and the following the Swedish war (1648–1658) left a deep and lasting impression on the Jewish social and spiritual life.

In this time of mysticism and overly formal rabbinism came the teachings of Israel ben Eliezer, known as the "Baal Shem Tov", or "BeShT", (1698–1760), which had a profound effect on the Jews of Eastern Europe. His disciples taught and encouraged the new fervent brand of Orthodox Judaism based on "Kabbalah" known as Hasidism. The rise of Hasidic Judaism had a great influence on the rise of Haredi Judaism all over the world, with a continuous influence through its many Hasidic dynasties.

Imperial Russian and Austrian rule

The traditional measures of keeping Imperial Russia free of Jews failed when the main territory of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was annexed during the partitions of Poland. During the second (1793) and the third (1795) partitions, large populations of Jews were taken over by Russia, and Catherine II of Russia established the Pale of Settlement that included Congress Poland and Crimea.

During the 1821 anti-Jewish riots in Odessa after the death of the Greek Orthodox patriarch in Constantinople, 14 Jews were killed. Some sources claim this episode as the first pogrom, [ [http://www.moria.farlep.net/vjodessa/en/pogroms.html Odessa pogroms] at the Center of Jewish Self-Education "Moria"] while according to others (such as the Jewish Encyclopedia, 1911 ed.) say the first pogrom was the 1859 riots in Odessa. The term became common after a large-scale wave of anti-Jewish violence swept southern Imperial Russia, including Ukraine, in 1881-1884, after Jews were wrongly blamed for the assassination of Tsar Alexander II.

In May 1882, Alexander III of Russia introduced temporary regulations called "May Laws" that stayed in effect for more than thirty years, until 1917. Systematic policies of discrimination, strict quotas on the number of Jews allowed to obtain education and professions caused widespread poverty and mass emigration. In 1886, an Edict of Expulsion was applied to Jews of Kiev. In 1893-1894, some areas of the Crimean peninsula were cut out of the Pale.

When Alexander III died in Crimea on October 20, 1894, according to Simon Dubnow: "as the body of the deceased was carried by railway to St. Petersburg, the same rails were carrying the Jewish exiles from Yalta to the Pale. The reign of Alexander III ended symbolically. It began with pogroms and concluded with expulsions." ["The newest history of the Jewish people, 1789-1914" by Simon Dubnow, vol.3, Russian ed., p.153]

Political activism and emigration

Counterrevolutionary groups, including the Black Hundreds, opposed the Revolution with violent attacks on socialists and pogroms against Jews. The concessions came hand-in-hand with renewed, and brutal, action against the unrest. There was also a backlash from the conservative elements of society, notably in spasmodic anti-Jewish attacks — around five hundred were killed in a single day in Odessa. Nicholas II of Russia himself claimed that 90% of revolutionaries were Jews.

Persons of Jewish origin were over-represented in the Russian revolutionary leadership. However, most of them were hostile to traditional Jewish culture and Jewish political parties, and were eager to prove their loyalty to the Communist Party's atheism and proletarian internationalism, and committed to stamp out any sign of "Jewish cultural particularism".

Ukrainian People's Republic

Anti-Jewish pogroms continued to occur during the Revolution of 1917 and the ensuing Russian Civil War. An estimated 70,000 to 250,000 civilian Jews were killed in the atrocities throughout the former Russian Empire in this period.

During the establishment of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1919-20), pogroms continued to be perpetrated on Ukrainian ethnic territory. In Ukraine itself, the number of civilian Jews killed during the period was estimated to be between 35 and 50 thousand. Archives declassified after 1991 provide evidence of a higher number; in the period from 1918 to 1921, "according to incomplete data, at least 100,000 Jews were killed in Ukraine in the pogroms." [ [http://www.eastview.com/docs/FR-3050-vstuplenie%20Eng.pdf Kiev District Commission of the Jewish Public Committee for Relief to Victims of Pogroms. State Archive of the Kiev Oblast. Fond FR-3050] by Vladimir Danilenko, Director of the State Archive of the Kiev Oblast.]

Disputes among scholars continue over Symon Petlura's association with these pogroms. see|Symon Petliura

Jewish Colonisation of Crimea

In 1921 Crimea became an autonomous republic. In 1923 the All-Union Central Committee passed a motion to resettle a large number of the Jewish population from Ukrainian and Belorusian cities to Crimea. 50400 families were moved. The plan to further resettle Jewish families was again confirmed by the Central Committee of the USSR on Juy 15, 1926 assigning 124 million roubles to the task and also receiving 67 million from foreign sources [Сергійчук, В. Український Крим К. 2001, p.150] .

The Soviet initiative of Jewish colonisation of Crimea was opposed by Symon Petlura [Петлюра С. Статті, листи, документи - Н. Й. 1979 - Vol 2, p. 428 ] which he regarded as a provocation. This train of thought was supported by Arnold Margolin [Margolin A. "The New Palestine", December 1926 also Тризуб, 1927 ч. 14 p. 13-14] who stated that it would be dangerous to set up Jewish colonies there.

The actions of the Soviet government for the supported colonization of Crimea with Jewish families by 1927 led to a growing anti-semitism in the area [Сергійчук, В. Український Крим К. 2001, p.156] .

In 1944 it was suggested to Stalin to form a Jewish Soviet Socialist Republic in Crimea however the idea was not materialised [ [http://ukrlife.org/main/uacrim/conf_hebr.htm Віктор Даниленко ПРОЕКТИ ЄВРЕЙСЬКОЇ АВТОНОМІЇ В РАДЯНСЬКОМУ КРИМУ] ] .

For names and maps of Jewish settlements [http://www.evkol.nm.ru/crimea_settlements_en.htm Jewish Agricultural Colonies of South Ukraine and Crimea]

Early 20th Century

In 1905 a series of pogroms erupted at the same time as the 1905 Revolution against the government of Tsar Nicholas II. The chief organizers of the pogroms were the members of the League of the Russian People (commonly known as the "Black Hundreds"). [Baron 1964, 67.]

In June 1906 a pogrom in Bialystok, in which eighty people were killed, marked the end of three years of sporadic anti-Jewish violence. [Lambroza 1987, 266; Pinkus 1988, 29.]

From 1911-1913 the anti-Semitic tenor of the period was characterized by a number of blood libel cases (accusations of Jews murdering Christians for ritual purposes). One of the most famous was the two-year trial of Mendel Beilis, who was charged with the murder of a Christian boy (Lowe 1993, 284-90). The trial was showcased by the authorities to illustrate the perfidy of the Jewish population. [Pinkus 1988, 30.]

From March-May 1915, in the face of the German army, the government expelled thousands of Jews from the Empire's border areas, which coincide with the Pale of Settlement [Pinkus 1988, 31] [Baron 1964, 188-91.]

The February 1917 revolution brought a liberal Provisional Government to power. On 21 March/3 April, the government removed all "discrimination based upon ethnic religious or social grounds". [Korey 1978, 90.] The Pale was officially abolished. The removal of the restrictions on Jews' geographical mobility and educational opportunities led to a migration to the country's major cities. [Insight on the News 21 May 1990b, 17.]

One week after the 25 October/7 November 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the new government proclaimed the "Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples [Nations] of Russia," promising all nationalities the rights of equality, self-determination and secession. Jews were not specifically mentioned in the declaration, reflecting Lenin's view that Jews did not constitute a nation. [Sawyer 1979, 14-15.]

[
Judaism Without Embellishments" published by the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR in 1963. "It is in the teachings of Judaism, in the Old Testament, and in the Talmud, that the Israeli militarists find inspiration for their inhuman deeds, racist theories, and expansionist designs..."]

In 1918 the RSFSR Council of Ministers issued a decree "On the Separation of Church from State and School from Church", depriving religious communities of the status of juridical persons, the right to own property and the right to enter into contracts; nationalized their property; banning their assessment of religious tuition. As a result, religion could be taught or studied only in private. [Soviet Jewish Affairs Autumn-Winter 1990, 27.]

1 February, 1918:The Commissariat for Jewish National Affairs is established as a subsection of the Commissariat for Nationality Affairs. It is mandated to establish the "dictatorship of the proletariat in the Jewish streets" and attract the Jewish masses to the regime while advising local and central institutions on Jewish issues. The Commissariat is also expected to fight the influence of Zionist and Jewish-Socialist Parties. [Korey 1978, 79; Pinkus 1988, 58-59.]

27 July 1918:The Council of People's Commissars issues a decree stating that anti-Semitism is "fatal to the cause of the ... revolution". Pogroms are officially outlawed. [Weinryb 1978, 306.]

20 October 1918:The Jewish section of the CPSU (Yevsektsia) is established for the Party's Jewish members; its goals are similar to those of the Jewish Commissariat. The Yevsektsia is at the forefront of the anti-religious campaigns of the 1920s that lead to the closing of religious institutions, the break-up of religious communities and the further restriction of access to religious education. [Survey Jan. 1968, 77-81.] To that end a series of "community trials" against the Jewish religion are held. The last known such trial, on the subject of circumcision, is held in 1928 in Kharkov. [Rothenberg 1978, 172-73; Levin 1988, 78-80.] At the same time, the body also works to establish a secular identity for the Jewish community. [Pinkus 1988, 62.]

In July 1919 the Central Jewish Commissariat dissolves the kehilahs (Jewish Communal Councils). The kehilahs had provided a number of social services to the Jewish community. [Levin 1988, 81.]

From 1919-1920 Jewish parties and Zionist organizations are driven underground as the Communist government seeks to abolish all potential opposition. [Schechtman 1978, 113; Levin 1988, 90-91.]

31 January 1924:The Constitution of the USSR is confirmed. The USSR consists of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR), Ukraine SSR, Belorussian SSR and Transcaucasian SSR. [Carr 1950, 401, 413.] The Commissariat for Nationalities' Affairs is disbanded. [Pinkus 1988, 59.]

29 August 1924:An official agency for Jewish resettlement, the Commission for the Settlement of Jewish Toilers on the Land (KOMZET), is established. KOMZET studies, manages and funds projects for Jewish resettlement in rural areas. [Levin 1988, 131; Schwarz 1951, 162-63.]

January 1925:A public organization, the Society for the Agricultural Organization of Working Class Jews in the USSR (OZET), is created to help recruit colonists and support the colonization work of KOMZET. [Pinkus 1988, 64.] For the first few years, the government encourages Jewish settlements, particularly in Ukraine. Support for the project dwindles throughout the next decade. [Levin 1988, 131-51.]

In 1928, in an effort to establish a Jewish territorial region, KOMZET sends a number of Jews to the confluence of the Bira and Bidzhan Rivers in the Far East. Colonization of this area will help to create a buffer between the Soviet Union and the Far Eastern countries, and to stimulate development in the remote region. [Baron 1964, 230-236.]

8 April 1929:The new Law on Religious Associations codifies all previous religious legislation. All meetings of religious associations are to have their agenda approved in advance; lists of members of religious associations must be provided to the authorities. [Problems of Communism May-June 1973, 10-11.]

In 1930 the Yevsektsia is dissolved, [Pinkus 1988, 62.] and there is now no central Soviet-Jewish organization. Although the body had served to undermine Jewish religious life, its dissolution leads to the disintegration of Jewish secular life as well; Jewish cultural and educational organizations gradually disappear. [Rothenberg 1978, 177-78.]

When the Soviet government reintroduced the use of internal passports in 1933, "Jewish" is considered a nationality for these purposes. [Pinkus 1988, 57.]

7 May 1934:Birobidzhan Province, the Far Eastern area where Jews are being encouraged to settle, is granted the status of an Autonomous Region in an effort to revitalize the settlement program. Between 1928 and 1934, fewer than 20,000 Jews migrate there; approximately 60 per cent return in the same period. [Pinkus 1988, 74-75.]

In 1938 OZET is disbanded, following years of declining activities. [Pinkus 1988, 65.]

As the Soviet government annexes territory in Poland, Romania and the Baltic states, [Dmytryshyn 1965, 210-14.] roughly two million Jews become Soviet citizens. [Rothenberg 1978, 180; Altshuler 1993, 85.] Restrictions on Jews that had existed in the formerly independent countries are now lifted. ["Soviet Jewish Affairs" Summer 1991, 53-54.] [The Baltic states had begun their brief period of independence as democracies. [Schneider 1993, 181-82.] Policies of "Latvianization" and "Lithuanization" also caused friction with all minorities, although the Lithuanian government at the same time supported minority-language schooling. [Nodel 1974, 230-31.] ] At the same time, Jewish organizations in the newly-acquired territories are shut down and their leaders arrested and exiled. [Baron 1964, 294.] Approximately 250,000 Jews escape or are evacuated from the annexed territories to the Soviet interior prior to the Nazi invasion. [Gitelman 1993, 4.]

World War II

See: Controversy regarding the Nachtigall Battalion

Total civilian losses during the war and German occupation in Ukraine are estimated at seven million, including over a million Jews shot and killed by the Einsatzgruppen and the local Ukranians supporters - the majority of the nation in the western part of Ukraine.

Post-war

The post-Soviet era

At present Ukraine contains the third-largest Jewish community in Europe and the fifth-largest Jewish community in the world. The majority of Ukrainian Jews live in four large cities: Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Odessa [ [http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/major.religions/jewish/ RISU on Jewish Communities] ] .

Ukrainian Jewish Committee was established in 2008 in Kiev with the aim to concentrate the efforts of Jewish leaders in Ukraine on resolving strategic problems of the community and addressing socially significant issues. The Committee declared its intention to become one of the world’s most influential organizations protecting the rights of Jews and "the most important and powerful structure protecting human rights in Ukraine" [ [http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/news/article;21193/ Ukrainian Jewish Committee Established to Address Jewish Issues in Ukraine, RISU] ] .

Rabbis Yaakov Dov Bleich of Kiev and Shmuel Kaminetzky of Dnipropetrovsk are considered to be among the most powerful foreigners in the country. [ [http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/106197.html Ukrainian rabbis seen as 'powerful foreigners'] ]

In November 2007, an estimated 700 Torah scrolls confiscated from Jewish communities during the Soviet Union's Communist rule were returned to Jewish communes in Ukraine by the state authorities. [ [http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/religion.and.society/digest/article;18831/ Ukraine President Orders Return of 700 Torah Scrolls Confiscated by Communist Government, RISU News] ]

There is a growing trend among some Israelis to visit Ukraine with a "roots trips" to follow the footsteps of Jewish life there [http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/religion.and.society/digest/article;22177/A mile in their shoes, By Moshe Gilad, RISU] ] .

Among the place of interest are usually mentioned Kiev, where it is possible to trace the paths of Sholem Aleichem and Golda Meir; Zhytomyr and Korostyshiv, where one can follow the steps of Haim Nahman Bialik; Berdychiv, where one can trace the life of Mendele Mocher Sforim; Rivne, where one can follow the course of Amos Oz; Buchach - the path of S.Y. Agnon; Drohobych - the place of Maurycy Gottlieb ans Bruno Schulz.

References

See also

*Beilis trial
*Cantonist
*Galician Jews
*Jews in Russia/USSR
*Jewish gauchos
*Reichskommissariat Ukraine
*Babi Yar
*Dnipropetrovsk
*Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee
*Lwów Ghetto
*Lwów Uprising
*Odessa massacre

External links

* [http://www.chabad.org/centers/default_cdo/country/Ukraine Chabad-Lubavitch Centers in Ukraine]
* [http://www.fjc.ru/default.asp Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine]
* [http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/major.religions/jewish/ RISU Portal on Jewish Communities in Ukraine]
* [http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Colonies_of_Ukraine Jewish Agricultural Colonization in the Ukraine]