Jewish life in Belarus : the final decade of the Stalin regime, (1944-53) / Leonid Smilovitsky.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smilovit︠s︡kiĭ, Leonid, 1955- author.

Series:

Pirsume ha-Merkaz le-ḥeḳer ha-tefutsot ʻa. sh. Goldshṭain-Goren ; Book 188.

Publications of the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center ; Book 188

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--Belarus--History--20th century.

Jews.

Soviet Union--Politics and government--1936-1953.

Soviet Union.

Belarus--Ethnic relations.

Belarus.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 327 pages)

Place of Publication:

Budapest, Hungary ; New York, New York : Central European University Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English.

Summary:

Jewish life in Belarus after World War II was an inaccessible subject - officially regarded as being completely non-existent - and in the ideological atmosphere of the time research into the subject was impossible. Jewish community life had been wiped out by the Nazis, and its unreasonable attempt to come back to life was given short shrift by the communists. For more than half a century the truth about Jewish life during this period was sealed in archives to which researchers had no access. The Jews of Belarus preferred to keep silent rather than expose themselves to the spleen of the authorities. Although the fate of Belarusian Jews before and during the war has lately been amply studied, this book is one of the first attempts to study Jewish life in Belarus during the last decade of Stalin's rule. In addition to archival materials, the present research is based on data collected from a questionnaire submitted to Jews who had been residents of Belarus and are now citizens of Israel, as well as information from periodicals, collections of documents, statistical reports and monographs.

Contents:

Introduction: Belarusian Jewry Prior to the Revolution and Until World War II

1. The Demography of the Jews of Belarus

The Resettlement of Jewish Survivors

Profiles of Jewish Congregations

2. Soviet Policy Toward the Practice of Judaism in the Postwar Period

Soviet Policy Toward Religion at the End of the War and the Creation of the CARC

CARC Activity in Belarus

3. The Decline of the Synagogue

Synagogues in the USSR in the Postwar Period

The Destruction and the Re-allocation of Belarusian Synagogues

The Registration Procedure for Synagogues

The Financial Difficulties in Maintaining Jewish Communities

4. Religious life

The Sabbath, the Jewish Holidays, and the Problem of Matzot for Passover

The Shtiebel, the Mikveh, and the Cemetery

Kashrut, Circumcision, Jewish Weddings, and the Giving of Charity

Religious Officiants

5. In the Aftermath of the Holocaust

Commemoration

Burial Sites and Monuments

6. Cultural Life

Jewish Literature

The Yiddish Theater in Minsk

The Yiddish Language

7. Jews in the Reconstruction of the Economy and Cultural Life

In Administration, the Economy, and Science

In Secondary and Higher Education

8. International Contacts

Ties with Abroad

Belarusian Jewry and the Establishment of the State of Israel

9. The Policy of State Anti-Semitism

State Action Against Judaism and Jewish Culture

State Action Against Individual Jews

Rehabilitation

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-321) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-003-72032-3

963-386-026-1

9781003720324

OCLC:

886540339