20, 30 Years Of The 20th Century, The Soviet Jewish Agricultural Reclamation Movement Studies

The Soviet Jewish agricultural colonization movement is a series of colonization activitiescarried out by Soviet Jews in1920s and1930s in Soviet Crimea, southern Ukraine andBirobidzhan with the help of foreign Jewish philanthropies and the support of the Sovietgovernment. The Soviet Jewish agricultural colonization movement originated in the economiccrisis of soviet Jews living in the former pale of settlement in the early1920s. Under thedestructions of incessant wars and the economic policy of the Soviet government devoting toeliminate the bourgeois elements of Soviet society step by step, one third soviet Jews weredeprived of their civil rights, and consequently lost their means of living. In order to pull theSoviet Jews out of their economic predicaments, the German, French and American Jewishphilanthropies devoted their energy to the Soviet famine relief, and meanwhile began to assist inthe spontaneous agricultural pursuits of the Soviet Jews. Under the initiative of American JewishJoint Distribution Committee, the international Jewish philanthropies concluded agreements withthe Soviet government and turned the small, spontaneous colonization activities of the Soviet Jewsinto a big, organized agricultural colonization movement. In order to attract foreign capital andtechnology, and furthermore change the backward state of the Soviet countryside, the Sovietgovernment welcomed the entry of the international Jewish philanthropies. Not only did it provideadequate activity space for the Jewish philanthropies, but it also granted them the authority todirect the colonization work and handle the local affairs. In the rural areas where Soviet rule wasstill weak, the foreign Jewish philanthropies had ever become the surrogate of the centralgovernment.At the beginning, the main colonization areas were Crimea and Southern Ukraine. Whereas,the government issued a proclamation in1928, which entitled the Jews all over the world tocolonize Birobidzhan in the Soviet Far East and established their political entity like other sovietnationalities. Before the mid-1930s, the Soviet Jewish colonization movement gained greatachievements. With the help of the Soviet government and the Jewish philanthropies, nearly250000Jews were transformed from traders and artisans discriminated by the government intofarmers respected by the whole society. In consequence of the enlargement of Jewish settlements,the Soviet government established five Jewish autonomous districts in Crimea and SouthernUkraine between1927and1935. Moreover, it upgraded the Jewish district of Birobidzhan toJewish Autonomous Oblast. However, the rise of Jewish national status couldn't withhold thedecline of Jewish colonization movement, which was largely brought about by theindustrialization and agricultural collectivization of the Soviet Union. Although the influence ofcollectivization on the Jewish settlements in Crimea and Southern Ukraine was limited, it dealt ahuge blow to the surrogate status of the Jewish philanthropies in the Soviet countryside. After theimplementation of collectivization, the government workers entered into the rural areas and theactivities of Jewish philanthropies were severely marginalized. Comparatively speaking, theindustrialization of the Soviet Union exerted greater influence on the Jewish colonizationmovement. With the development of the Soviet industry, the Jewish colonists were constantlyattracted to the urban area, to make the situation worse, there were less and less Jews willing towork on the soil. Therefore, the Jewish kolkhozes began to face with the labor shortage problems.It was the invasion of the Nazi army and the official anti-Semitism of the Soviet government in the late1940s that put an end to the Jewish colonization movement in Crimea and Southern Ukraine.The Nazi army destroyed the Jewish settlements and the Soviet government's anti-Semiticstandpoint extinguished every hope to rebuilt Jewish kolkhozes in Crimea and Southern Ukrainein the wake of the second War.Compared with the colonization activities of Soviet Jews in Crimea and Southern Ukraine,what happened in Birobidzhan was a little different. First, it was chosen as the official Jewishcolony when the Jewish colonization activities in other two places were in their prosperity. Due toits long distance from Jewish living quarters, Birobidzhan never got enough colonists to populateits barren land. Second, putting aside the government assistance, the investment of Jewishphilanthropies in the development of Birobidzhan was very limited. With the shift of thegovernment's priorities, Birobidzhan was reduced to a Jewish Autonomous Oblast where Jewsnever achieved a majority.Although the agricultural colonization movement of Soviet Jews ended in failure, it providedus with some valuable lessons. First, through the Jewish colonization practices, we are able todiscern the evolvement of Soviet ethnic policies from supporting ethnic building to implementingethnic cleansing, from encouraging national development to combating nationalism, in either case,Soviet Jewish colonization movement is the perfect embodiment of the changeability of Sovietethnic policy. Second, through the study of Soviet Jewish colonization movement, we can find theprerequisites for the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Although the Soviet Jewish colonizationmovement had the support of the government, a large pool of potential colonists and theencouragement of the government to develop their nationhood, it failed in the end despite thesesuperiorities. The main reason for its failure is the changeability of government policy. Without astable policy and the consistent support of Soviet government, the Soviet Jewish colonizationmovement would likewise be overshadowed by the industrialization trend, just like what happenedto other Jewish colonization projects in the contemporary world.