Book Cover
E-book
Author Smilovit︠s︡kiĭ, Leonid, 1955- author.

Title Jewish life in Belarus : the final decade of the Stalin regime, 1944-53 / Leonid Smilovitsky
Published Budapest-New York : Central European University Press, [2014]

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Description 1 online resource
Series Publications of the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center ; book 188
Contents Cover -- Title page -- Table of Contents -- List of Abbreviations -- List of Tables -- Preface -- 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 Stateof Israel -- 9 The Policy of State Anti-Semitism -- State Action Against Judaism and Jewish Culture -- State Action Against Individual Jews -- Rehabilitation -- Conclusion -- Appendix 1: Documents -- Appendix 2: Tables -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index -- Back cover
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
Analysis Belarus, Ethnic relations, History, Jewish studies, Jews, Political studies, Religion, Soviet Union
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Jews -- Belarus -- History -- 20th century
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Discrimination & Race Relations.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Minority Studies.
HISTORY -- Jewish.
Ethnic relations
Jews
Politics and government
SUBJECT Soviet Union -- Politics and government -- 1936-1953. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85125847
Belarus -- Ethnic relations
Subject Belarus
Soviet Union
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9789633860267
9633860261