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| Russian
Jewish Immigrants
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Contents
1. Introduction
2. Position of Jews in Russia and historical conditions of
their immigration
3. Russian Jews Immigrants in the USA
4. Conclusion
5. References
Introduction
Jewish people may be called the people of wanderers because
since ancient times they traveled round the world looking
for happiness and intending to return to their native land
but they could not always do so. The 20th century was not
an exception from this rule.
Furthermore, last century was probably the most terrible period
in Jewish history because it was marked by numerous tragic
events that referred to the whole Jewish people all over the
world. On mentioning Holocaust, every Jew as well as any other
normal person would be shocked.
Quite shocking was the position of Jews in Russia and later
in the Soviet Union. Even though the situation became better
Russian Jews continued to leave this country and they also
suffered significantly from Stalin’s repressions and
Purges. Actually, this paper aims at revealing the main causes
of Russian Jewish immigration and the position of Jews in
Russia and Soviet Union. Also it would be quite interesting
to analyze how the life of Jews has changed since they have
moved to other countries of the world, particularly the USA
and what attitude to Jews was there. Naturally, it would be
appropriate in terms of this analysis take into consideration
achievements of Jews in new ‘motherland’ and their
contribution to the development of local culture, science,
technology, etc.
Certainly, this research is extremely important, particularly
now. In the contemporary world when the process of globalization
overwhelmed practically al countries and all nations it is
extremely important to realize how Jewish people manages to
keep their national identity and culture, even despite the
fact that gradually a significant part of Jewish immigrant
is assimilated in local culture.
Position of Jews in Russia and historical conditions of their
immigration
From the very beginning it should be pointed out that the
position of Jews in Russia was extremely difficult. As soon
as they came to this country they became foreigners that had
different culture, traditions and religion. It is also noteworthy
that the policy of anti-Semitism was an official policy of
Russian Tsars. Particularly negative, the policy of Russian
rulers was during the reign of Alexander III and Nicholas
II, the last Tsar in Russian history.
Their reigning was characterized not only by an official policy
of anti-Semitism but also such a terrible thing as ‘pogroms’
that were also only official state policy under Alexander
III and his son, Nichols II. ‘Pogroms’ it is a
particular Russian term that means ‘like thunder’
and it traditionally refers to “the sudden attack on
the Jewish community resulting in death and destruction.”
(Falk 1997:135).
Naturally, the question about the causes of such policy, which
was so typical at the beginning of the 20th century, arises.
The answer may be found in the history of Russia the ruling
regime of this country, its traditions, aims and means of
ruling. Traditionally, Russian tsar was not only the head
of state but also the head of Russian church, consequently
he tended to control all spheres of life of his citizens including
religious.
Furthermore, Russia was a country with a strong monarch power.
Moreover, Russian tsar “was the only and unquestionable
leader of state and the church.” (Phillips 1998:211)
even if he was insane like it was in the case of Ivan the
Terrible. Luckily, Nicholas II was mentally healthy but it
did not change his attitude and his policy in relation to
Jews. It implied that the country should be as solid as possible
and for this Russia needed one culture, one language, one
religion.
Naturally, in such circumstances Jewish people could not be
smoothly integrated in Russian society since they lived according
their own traditions and moral and religious laws. Not surprisingly
that often they were treated as enemies of faith and consequently
the country at large.
As a result, Russian tsar at the beginning of the 20th century
supported the maxim proclaimed by his father “Autocracy,
Orthodoxy, Nationalism”. This maxim was cornerstone
of Russian internal and external policy and one of its victims
became Jews who were strangers for Russian people who had
different way of life, different mentality, different religion.
In this context, the attitude of Russian people to Jews seemed
to be natural. In the country where anti-Semitism is a state
policy and is ideologically supported by all means that are
at hand of the government than ‘pogroms’ are a
natural reaction of people on state propaganda.
Quite remarkable is the fact that peaks of extremely negative
relations and confrontation between Jews and the rest of the
population of Russian empire, often resulting in ‘pogroms’,
coincide with the most difficult periods in Russian history
at the beginning of the 20th century. For instance, during
the Japanese war and first Russian revolution of 1905 there
were some cases of pogroms.
It also should be pointed out that at this period of time,
i.e. at the beginning of the 20th century before the second
Russian revolution, Jews lived basically in their own ethnic
groups, mainly on the territory of Poland, Ukraine and some
other regions of Russia though Poland was the country where
the share of Jewish population was the highest in Europe.
Such compact ethnic environment permitted Jews to keep their
traditions and their national culture despite the fact that
very often they were not perceived as nation at all.
The first hope for better life appeared for Jews after the
second Russian revolution in 1917. However, this revolution
was accompanied by bloodiest pogroms in Russian Jewish history.
Still Bolsheviks came to power, Russian tsar and his family
were executed the ruling regime had been completely changed.
They proclaimed quite a democratic national policy that seemed
to be quite attractive for all national minorities though
a lot of Russian Jews were forced to leave the country because
they were terrified by pogroms that either occurred or could
be in the near future.
In order to understand Bolcheviks’ attitude to anti
Semitism it would be enough to have a look at sayings of their
leader Vladimir Lenin. So he estimated that “anti-Semitism
was an attempt to divert the hatred of the workers and peasants
from the exploiters toward the Jews.” (Philips 1998:275).
So, he explains a deprived position of Jews from the point
of view of class struggle and opposition between commanding
classes of exploiters and classes of workers and peasants
who were severely exploited in Russia.
At this respect, it is not surprising that “one of Lenin’s
first state addresses was to mark the emancipation of Jews
from tsarism.” (Falk 1997:107). At this period of time
Jews were allowed to settle anywhere in Russia according to
their will that was the first time in Russian history.
Moreover, Jews played quite an important role in the Central
Committee of Bolsheviks government. They constituted a significant
part of the Central Committee and this fact permitted to opponents
of Bolsheviks and to anti-Semites to call Bolsheviks “a
gang of marauding Jews” (Phillips 1998:345) that fully
characterized the former regime as extremely anti-Semitic.
At first years of new regime, namely by 1930, the situations
became a bit better for Russian Jews for anti-Semitism was
reduced but not wholly. There were some campaigns that aimed
at the improvement of general attitude to Jewish population
of Russia and later of Soviet Union such as Yevslektia and
others of that sort.
However, quite soon the situation began to deteriorate. During
the years of industrialization, urbanization and collectivization
many Jews moved from their traditional settlements and small
towns to larger ones along with a variety of other nations.
A great part of large cities was not acquainted with Jews
intimately and that is why very often people “were perhaps
more inclined to see [Jews] through tsarist era stereotypes
like the parasitic “Christ-killer” (Falk 1997:278).
Naturally, it did not improve everyday relations between representatives
of different nations on one hand and Jews on the other.
As a result, anti-Semitism has got a new source for development
in Russia that also made the situation for Jews unbearable
and they could not remain within such a country as the USSR
and looked for an opportunity to move in another more tolerant
country.
The situation was also deteriorated by forced collectivization
that was often presented, particularly in Nazi mass media,
as “allegedly Jewish squads were deporting Slavic peasants”
(Falk 1997:321), that was another source of inspiration of
anti-Semitism not only in Russia but in the whole Europe.
However, officially, anti-Semitism was proclaimed as a phenomenon
hostile to the Soviet Union and was formally forbidden. Such
official position of the Soviet government attracted many
Jews but in fact the position of Jews in the USSR remained
very hard.
Furthermore, the general effect of such policy, enforced by
rapid industrialization and urbanization, was quite negative
for Jews and for their national identity. Another problem,
Russian Jews faced was the lost of national identity and gradual
assimilation in large cities where Jews acquired not only
Russian language but Russian culture, lifestyle, etc.
After 1930s came probably the hardest challenge in Jewish
history the Holocaust and the World War II. Many Russian Jews
were physically destroyed but luckily a lot were rescued for
they moved from their traditional territories in Poland and
Ukraine to Russia. But after the World War many Russian Jews
remained in Europe and they had chosen not to return to the
USSR but to immigrate to the USA where the situation was obviously
much better than in the country they used to live in.
During the period of the Cold War the situation did not change
significantly. The attitude to Jews within Soviet society
was if not negative than not very good though the position
of the official government remained unchangeable. Officially,
anti-Semitism was still a sort of taboo. It is quite remarkably
that the USSR supported the idea of the creation of the Jewish
country, i.e. Israel, and the return of Jews to their historical
motherland.
But the fact that many Russian Jews preferred to leave the
USSR, when they had such an opportunity, particularly during
‘Perestroika’ period and in late 1980s –
early 1990s, is an evidence of those hardships the Jewish
community had to pass through in the Soviet Union.
Thus, it is obvious that during the 20th century the position
of Jews in Russia and later in the USSR was very difficult
and sometimes even unbearable. The official ideology of anti-Semitism
at the beginning of the century deep rooted a negative attitude
to Jews among the population of the country and resulted in
anti-Semitism in everyday life relations between Jews and
representatives of other nations of the USSR even despite
the official position of the state that was quite favorable
for Jews as well as for other nations and national minorities.
However, Jews could not help from being negatively perceived
by the population of the USSR as well as they had failed to
avoid pogroms at the beginning of the century and Stalin’s
purges during the Stalinism era in the Soviet Union. The natural
way out Jews could look for was immigration and if they could
they chose the United States as their new motherland, as a
new Promised Land.
Russian Jewish immigrants in the USA
Now it is necessary to dwell upon the alternative that Jews
had and compare whether the position of Jews in another country,
i.e. in the US was different from their position in Russia
and the USSR.
As it has been already mentioned, being deprived in Russia,
Jewish population of this country had to move to the US and
other countries of the world. Actually, it was in the entity
of this people to wander. They absorbed it with their religion,
culture and traditions. Actually, the US had obviously a number
of significant advantages compared to the USSR.
First of all, it was a democratic country and in the 20th
century it was well-developed and quickly progressing country.
The state, as well as ordinary people, was basically tolerant
in relation to other nations probably because a constituent
part of American population was immigrants from different
parts of the world.
At the same time, it would be a mistake to say that everything
was ideal in the US for Russian Jewish immigrants. They also
faced a number of problems in a new country that they had
to solve. For instance, during the Great Depression the immigration
legislation was quite severe and it was not so easy to move
to the US though it was even more difficult for Russian Jews
to leave the USSR at this period of time.
Anyway, Russian Jews arrived to the US and settled there.
New York was one of the largest centers where Jewish population
moved to and Briton Beach became the heart of Russian Jewish
immigration. In general, “New York State is the location
of both the oldest and largest Jewish community in North America.”
(). In site of the fact that there were other centers of Jewish
immigration in the USA but New York, and particularly Brooklyn,
was the main one. It seems to be quite natural because this
city is one of the largest ports and the first city the majority
of Russian Jews arrived to was New York.
Furthermore, it was always easier to survive in a new country
in a large city where there are a lot of opportunities for
an immigrant to earn money for living.
So, it is quite natural that nowadays the majority of major
Jewish organizations in the US maintain their offices in New
York. Probably that is the reason why New York is considered
to be a capital of Russian Jewish community in the US. It
is an undeniable fact that it is a cultural center of Jews
in the US and its Jewish community is the largest in the United
States.
Despite the fact that Jews had started to immigrate to the
US quite a long time ago, the 20th century had probably become
the most important period for the Jewish immigration at large
and Russian Jews immigrants in particular. It is quite a remarkable
fact that at the end of 1870s there were only 40.000 Jews
in the US while in over a forty year period from 1880 to 1920
more than a million Jews arrived to New York from Eastern
Europe a significant part of these immigrants constituted
Russian Jews who basically escaped from pogroms in 1905 and
especially in 1917, when in a revolutionary country they felt
themselves as if they were a kind of outcasts and could not
live normally as a community within friendly society. On the
contrary, the major part of Russian population during the
second Russian revolution and the years of ‘War Communism’
was very hostile and blamed Jews in many of their own problems.
On contrast, in the US they wanted to find a tolerant nation
that would accept them, their culture, religion, and their
traditions. Actually, that is what in fact happened to Russian
Jews in the US. They had managed to preserve their community
and their national identity, along with their cultural and
religious traditions.
So, at the beginning of the 20th century because of the problems
in Europe and in Russia Jewish population of New York grew
rapidly and counting both citizens of the US and newly arrived
immigrants the Jewish community of New York exceeded 1,5 million
people by 1920 a significant part of which was presented by
Russian Jews.
Naturally, the question arises: how did they live in the US
at large and in New York in particular. By the way, the latter
may be considered as a mirror of life of the whole Jewish
community in the US.
So, basically, Russian Jewish immigrants worked either in
the needle trades or tobacco industry. Very often new Russian
Jewish immigrants worked in companies established by other
Jews, basically of German origin. At the same time, it should
be pointed out that Russian Jews were often less qualified
than Jews from western European countries.
Probably due to this fact, or to the influence of Russian
revolution Yiddish culture in New York was rich and diverse.
The leading Yiddish theater district in the world developed
along Second Avenue in Manhattan. Russian Jews published their
own newspapers and magazines. One of the most famous Russian
Hew s immigrants, Sholem Aleichem, perhaps the greatest Yiddish
writer of all time, died in New York in 1916. His funeral
was one of the largest public Jewish events in New York Jewish
history. Relief from summer heat led to the development of
the "Borscht Belt" in Sullivan, Ulster and Orange
Counties in upstate New York. A number of Jewish organizations
and Americanization agencies also established summer camps
for urban Jewish youth beginning with the Educational Alliance's
program, Surprise Lake Camp, in Cold Spring, New York in Putnam
County in 1902. Jewish summer camping remained popular among
New York Russian Jews during the course of the entire 20th
century. Boxing and baseball were also very popular among
Jewish men.
Religious life among New York Russian Jews also became more
diverse as East European Jews immigrated to America. Already
in 1887, the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) was founded
in New York City as a traditional alternative to the Reform
movement's Hebrew Union College established in 1875 in Cincinnati.
JTS was reorganized in 1902 with the help of New York's German
Jewish elite and became the fountainhead of the emerging Conservative
movement in American Judaism. Headed by Solomon Schechter,
JTS spawned the United Synagogue of America in 1913. In 1915,
the Etz Chaim Yeshivah founded in 1886 and the Isaac Elhanan
Theological Seminary founded in 1897 merged and formed the
basis for the development of Yeshiva University, the vanguard
of modern Jewish orthodoxy in the United States.
In many ways, as it has already been mentioned, New York City
has served as the "capital" of the larger American
Jewish community throughout the 20th century. However, as
early as 1859, New York City Jewish leaders organized the
Board of Delegates of American Israelites, the first major
Jewish defense organization in the United States. The American
Jewish Committee, initially representing the interests of
powerful uptown German Jews, was organized in New York City
in 1906. Its founders, including Louis Marshall and Oscar
Straus, also helped create the American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee ("The Joint") to help Jews displaced by
fighting on the eastern front during the First World War.
In 1918, the American Jewish Congress has organized as an
alternative to the Committee and also focused some of its
efforts on the plight of Russian and Polish Jews in Europe
after the war. A 1908 attempt to reorganize the New York Jewish
community as a "Kehillah" lasted for 14 years and
was succeeded by the Jewish Federation in conjunction with
the United Jewish Appeal.
Jews also played an increasingly significant role in the general
cultural life of New York as the 20th century progressed.
Many of New York's leading entertainers, writers, artists
and art patrons were of Jewish origin, particularly after
1920. Jews influenced significantly American culture, including
music due to work of such people as Irvin Berlin and George
Gershwin. The Guggenheim family supported the arts in New
York. Jews also played a significant role in literature. Indeed,
American intellectualism was often closely associated with
the New York Jewish community.
Anti-semitism in New York began to intensify in the 1870s
in the wake of Jim Crow legislation and other "constitutional"
expressions of racism in the United States. Even leading New
York Jewish families such as the Seligmanns found themselves
excluded from posh resorts in Saratoga Springs, New York.
In 1908, an "official" New York City Kehillah, headed
by Judah L. Magnes, was formed in response to inflated police
charges that over 50% of crimes in New York City were committed
by Jews. The Kehillah included a "Bureau of Social Morals,"
among its many agencies. In 1913, the Anti-Defamation League
was organized in New York in response to the lynching of Leo
Frank in Georgia. At a local level, particularly in New York
City, Jewish-Irish relations were often tense and "blood
libel" charges briefly surfaced in Massena, New York,
in 1927.
Anti-semitism also contributed to the general rise in xenophobia
following the end of World War I resulting in immigration
restrictions which severely cut new Jewish settlement in the
United States. With the rise of Hitler, however, a small but
culturally significant group of German Jews began to settle
in New York, particularly in the Washington Heights section
of New York City. A German language newspaper, Aufbau, recorded
the everyday life of this immigrant community, from its office
on Broadway. Many of the new German Jewish immigrants were
distinguished in the Arts and Sciences. Both Henry Kissinger
and Ruth Westheimer were among the German Jewish children
displaced by Nazism who founded new homes in New York.
Following World War II, two forces reshaped the New York Jewish
community. Suburbanization resulted in a national redistribution
of the American Jewish population. In New York, fewer than
100,000 Jews lived in all the suburbs of New York City in
1940. By 1960, the Jewish population of Westchester County
was approximately 135,000 with another 270,000 Jews in Rockland
County on the west side of the Hudson River and over 330,000
in Long Island's Nassau County. Upstate Jewish communities
experienced similar spatial redistributions of population
after World War II. Moreover, several hundred thousand New
York Jews, including Russian Jews, relocated throughout the
country, particularly in southern California and Florida creating
a vast New York Jewish diaspora in many parts of the United
States.
Expansion into the suburbs resulted in widescale construction
of new synagogues and Jewish Community Centers. Jewish life
in the suburbs, however, accelerated the process of assimilation
and by the early 1960s, demographers correctly predicted soaring
rates of mix marriage. By 1990, the rate of mixed marriage
exceeded 42% nationally but was lower in many of New York's
more intensely Jewish neighborhoods.
A second major development in the post-War period involved
the transplanting of a number of highly traditional Jewish
religious communities from Europe to the United States. The
largest Orthodox group, the Satmar Hasidim, settled in Williamsburg
section of Brooklyn and later founded a town, Kiryas Joel,
in Orange County near Monroe, NY. In 1955, Rabbi Y. Twersky
founded New Square in Rockland County for his followers. A
large Orthodox community also developed in nearby Monsey.
Meanwhile, the Chabad Lubavitch movement rooted itself in
the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn and several other Hasidic
groups, including the Belzers helped transform Borough Park
into the most populous Jewish neighborhood in the United States.
Non-religious Jewish immigrants including thousands of Russian
Jews and Israelis settled in Brooklyn and Queens beginning
in the 1970s, a period which also saw the revival of Jewish
life in Manhattan's Upper West Side.
By the end of the twentieth century, New York Jewish life
was a curious mix of continuing acculturation, upstate decline
and revitalization. Charitable giving to Jewish causes and
full day Jewish education were both on the rise. Renewed immigration
and high fertility rates among the ultra-Orthodox had largely
checked demography losses, and the Jewish population in New
York essentially mirrored the general demography of the state
as a whole. In 1998, Charles Schumer was elected United States
Senator, continuing the tradition of Jewish political activism
in New York which included Herbert H. Lehman and Jacob K.
Javitz, as well as Congressional representatives Lucius N.
Littauer, Meyer London, Bella Abzug and, most recently, Gerald
Nadel. Both Abe Beam and Ed Koch have served as Mayor of New
York City and several Jewish New Yorkers have served as Justices
of the Supreme Court of the United States including Benjamin
N. Cardozo and Arthur Goldberg. In 1993, Ruth Bader Ginzburg,
a New Yorker, was the first American Jewish woman to be appointed
to the Supreme Court.
Conclusion
In every dimension, New York will most likely continue to
function as the vital center of the American Jewish community
during the 21st century. With one-third or more of all American
Jews, an expanding education system and a strong tradition
of philanthrophy, New York remains the outstanding Jewish
community of the entire Jewish Diaspora. Its continued success
is critical to the well being of the Jewish people for years
to come.
References:
1. Kasinitz, P et al. (Ed.). Becoming New Yorkers: Ethnographies
of the New Second Generation. New York: Touchstone, 1999.
2. Falk, G. Russian Jews Immigrants in the USA. New York:
Touchstone, 1997.
3. Falk, G. Jewish Immigration. New York: Touchstone, 1999.
4. Phillips, G. History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet
Union. New York: NEW Publishers, 1998.
5. Sussman, J. New York Jewish History. New York: Binghamton,
2001.
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