Soviet Jews during and after the World War II (In the Light of Russian Sources)
Şir Muhammed DualıAn significant portion of the Israeli population today consists of Jews emigrating from the former Soviet Union. This is because the Soviets hosted around three million Jews. Millions of Jews lived in the territory under the control of Russia, both during the Tsarist period and during the Soviet period. This situation sometimes caused tension and conflicts between Jews and Orthodox Russians. In the Tsarist period, Jews were generally targeted for religious and economic reasons, while in the Soviet period they were mostly targeted for political reasons. This article focuses on the difficulties that Soviet Jews experienced in World War two and beyond and the reasons behind these difficulties. In this framework, Stalin’s Jewish policy and pressures in particular are discussed. In addition, the situation of post-Stalin Soviet Jews in education and faith is discussed. Finally, the reasons for targeting Jews by an atheist regime are emphasized.
İkinci Dünya Savaşı ve Sonrasında Sovyet Yahudileri (Rusça Kaynaklar Işığında)
Şir Muhammed DualıBugün İsrail nüfusunun önemli bir bölümü, eski Sovyetler Birliğinden göç eden Yahudilerden oluşmaktadır. Bunun nedeni ise Sovyetlerin üç milyon civarında Yahudiye ev sahipliği yapmış olmasıdır. Hem Çarlık dönemi hem de Sovyetler zamanında milyonlarca Yahudi Rusya’nın kontrolü altındaki topraklarda yaşamışlardır. Bu durum bazen Yahudiler ile Ortodoks Ruslar arasında bir gerilime bazen de çatışmalara neden olmuştur. Çarlık döneminde genellikle dini ve ekonomik nedenlerle Yahudiler hedef alınırken, Sovyetler döneminde ise daha ziyade siyasi gerekçelerle hedef tahtasına oturtulmuşlardır. Bu makale, Sovyet Yahudilerinin ikinci Dünya Savaşı ve sonrasında yaşadıkları zorlukları ve buna neden olan sebepleri konu edinmektedir. Bu çerçevede özellikle Stalin’in Yahudi politikası ve yaşanan baskılar ele alınmaktadır. Ayrıca Stalin sonrası Sovyet Yahudilerinin durumu, eğitim ve inanç alanındaki konumları ele alınmaktadır. Son olarak da ateist bir rejim içerisinde dahi olsa Yahudilerin hedef alınmasının nedenleri üzerinde durulmaktadır.
During the Second World War, the Germans were cruel to the Jews. They declared their war against Russia as a war against the Bolshevik Jews who surrounded Moscow. With this claim, the Germans aimed to gain the sympathy of the Orthodox Russian society and break the resistance. However, the Russian Orthodox Church declared that it was with the state against the German attack and tried to frustrate this move by the Nazis. The rapid advance of the Germans resulted in hundreds of thousands of Jews seeking refuge with the Soviets, even on the border, and escaping the German occupation. A significant number of these Jews had migrated far from the front line to the inner parts of Russia. During the war, around five hundred thousand Jews fought against the Germans on the Soviet fronts. In this process, Stalin made some decisions to provide liberties for Soviet people. The primary one was loosening the existing bans on religious communities’ beliefs. This positive approach to religions also affected the Jewish community, and dozens of synagogues began to serve their religious purposes again. In the years after the war, especially with the establishment of Israel in 1948, multiple changes occurred in the Jewish policy of the Soviets. The Soviets, who supported Israel in the first stage, withdrew this support as Israel approached the Western bloc and turned towards supporting the Arab states against Israel.1 Thousands of Jews wanted to immigrate to Israel after the establishment of Israel. The Jews’ demands to immigrate to Israel, prompted the Stalin regime to take drastic precautions. In this framework, monitoring of Jews was initiated. At the same time, serious restrictions were imposed on religious, cultural and educational fields.2 In addition, Soviet Jews were prevented from going abroad. In an environment of cold winds in the Soviet-Israeli relationship, and after Stalin’s illness, this placed the Jewish doctors working in the Kremlin under suspicion. It was alleged that Kremlin doctors, allegedly affiliated with an international Jewish nationalist organization (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee), had attempted to poison Stalin and senior Soviet administrators. Over time, this claim was accepted by Stalin and a comprehensive investigation was launched against Kremlin doctors. In this context, dozens of doctors were arrested, including Professor Aleksey Andreyevich Busalov.
These policies and strict measures taken by the Soviet administration against the Jews also found a response in the Russian society. Of all these tensions, the bomb attack on the Soviet consulate in Tel Aviv in 1953 resulted in the breaking of diplomatic relations between the two countries. After Stalin’s death, Khrushchev became the leader of the party. He made partial changes in oppressive policies and ended the pursuit of Russian Jews. A new claim was made in 1952. According to this claim, Stalin was planning to drive all the Jews in big cities, especially Moscow, to Siberia. Aiming to turn the situation in its favor in this process, Israel tried to pave the way for the immigration of Soviet Jews to Israel by increasing international pressure on Stalin.4 As a result, the rumor that Soviet Jews were being deported to Siberia only came to an end with Stalin’s death on March 5, 1953.
According to 1960 statistics, the total population of the Soviet Union was around 208 million. Of these, 2.5 million were Jews.5 New hopes arose for Soviet Jews after Stalin’s death. The first of these was the removal of obstacles to the publication of newspapers and magazines in Hebrew (Idish) again. As a matter of fact, by 1961, Jews had the right to publish a magazine under the name of Sovetish Heymland (Soviet Homeland).6 The ban on Jewish travel abroad was also partially lifted, and a certain number of immigrations to Israel were approved. Jews again began to be influential in education and the arts. The existing restrictions on the fulfillment of religious duties in the resurgent synagogues were also eliminated. Only the ban regarding circumcision continued, which was carried out in the homes accompanied by rabbi. In summary, Jews have been subjected to pressure and monitoring and, in some cases, to slaughter, because of their beliefs among the communities they have lived throughout history.7 However, it is possible to say that political reasons are at the forefront rather than religious sensibilities in the Soviet Union, on the basis of the Jews oppression or monitoring. While the Jews’ influence at various levels of the State disturbed the Russian society and thus the politicians, Israel’s Westernoriented policies and Russian Jewish immigration demands to Israel prompted the Soviet administration to take some measures. Therefore, Jews who were oppressed for religious reasons during the Tsarist Russia were subjected to monitoring in Soviet Russia due to their attachment to Israel.
