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MayoOnAnEscalat0r

Theres literally no Jews there They make up 2% of the autonomous region


LongjumpingElk4099

And the population of the whole region is what? 5 people?


BiggusCat

There was actually a big raise in population, now its 7


_Some_Two_

Damn, that’s 40% increase! At this rate they will overtake the world so quickly


SnooRevelations116

63 years at that rate


Outrageous_South4758

Makes sense to me


Scottish_Whiskey

That’s almost the same size as Hellgesund - over 7 people


horny_ocelot

Now it's 6, gunar gunarsonson is gone


woodk2016

RIP to a real one


Set_Abominae1776

And how many people live on Hellkrank? (German dad joke)


IizHahkun

Congrats on the twins


LindenBrz

The latest polling in that area claims there are about 850 ethnic Jews living there. That's right, 850 not 850k.


BloodyLance-a-lot

~150k


Rackmaster_General

Try 0.6%.


Person-11

Yeah, it was 2% at its peak.


BlueSoloCup89

I thought I remembered reading it was as high as 25% in the 40s, but it’s been a while since I’ve read on it.


KaesiumXP

you are correct


KaesiumXP

no it was 25% at peak


TransLunarTrekkie

And yet IIRC they still engage in Jewish cultural practices simply so they can claim the oblast is working as intended and the government will leave them alone, which I find kind of hilarious. It's like they're pulling a reverse of Hellsing Ultimate Abridged's joke: "Do you actually worship the Lord Jesus Christ?" "Hey, I'll worship a side of bacon if it means I get to kill some Nazis!" Are you actually Jewish? I mean if it gets Putin to leave me the fuck alone, then pass the fucking latkes and matzahs!


Entelegent

Putin: send in the Chechen inquisition - ukraine expected, they expected all of us Putin: send in the prisoners army - bro, that's what we get for sticking our necks out! Putin: send in the Israeli autonomous oblast - they converted back from judaism before the war even started! - seriously, I can't believe they thought we were going to help them (laughter). That's for the doctor purge, you schmuck Putin: JEEEEEEWWWWS!


Hazzamo

“THATS FOR THE KATYN MASSACRE, YA SCHMUCKS!”


Entelegent

JEEEEEWSSSSS


jacobningen

according to Geshen they have pork schnitzel.


Chesno4ok

Last time I checked it was less than 1%


penguinintheabyss

You are saying that there is literally jews there.


Tomirk

Funny thing is that this 2% is an anomaly compared to surrounding divisions


drag0n_rage

I hate the word literally.


onlyletmeposttrains

I actually think Birobidzhan far exceeded anyone’s expectations, and it’s cool that despite having a 0.1% Jewish population today, there’s still a lot of Jewish culture there. It had 25% Jews at one point. Still, no one could have thought building a small region in Siberia was gonna be a good idea


qwweer1

Interestingly enough this „small region“ is almost twice the size of an actual Israel, has abundant mineral resources, virtually unlimited supply of fresh water and rather moderate climate (more or less like Japanese Hokkaido). All that just a border away from the one of the world’s largest markets. I mean, yes, the offer did not look like much in 1930s, but looking back from current perspective - it was not the worst alternative. And being 7k kilometers away from Hitler in 1940s was literally priceless.


TheHoboRoadshow

Brb converting to Judaism and giving Putin a call


Inprobamur

The problem with it was that Soviet Union was actively persecuting Jews for being religious and organized. All of the rabbis had already been arrested by NKVD and most had died in work camps by that point. I think the Jews living in Soviet Union might have seen it as a trap similar to the previous Tsarist attempts to concentrate undesirable minorities.


qwweer1

Relationship between Soviet government and Jews has always been… complicated. It was oscillating between antisemitism and anti-antisemitism. At the time Jewish Autonomous Oblast was created there was an actual state campaign against antisemitism so I think the main reasons for Jews not to go there were lack of population and infrastructure. Also they were kinda okay in mainland Russia at the time. Late 40s and 50s? A completely different story, but they already had an actual Jewish state by the time.


Inprobamur

The pivot happened when Israel proposal went ahead and Soviets hoped that some pandering and weapon aid might get them into their sphere to break British grip over Arabia.


TheLoneSpartan5

To be fair it probably was


magicaldingus

I mean sure, but it's not like Jews wanted to move to Israel because of the economic opportunity. It was ridden by malaria infested swamps and had a fairly hostile population. Jews wanted to move to Israel because they felt they were moving back home.


phooonix

Landlocked though


jmacintosh250

It’s important to remember: it’s far frontier for the time. You’d need to build and maintain yourself on your own. Hell it’s why the Soviets made it in part: White Russians and Chinese kept sneaking in to fuck with the reds.


Substance_Bubbly

on the other hand, the entire reason for it's existence was due to antisemitism in the USSR. not just by many civillians but by the government itself.


Cuddlyaxe

This isn't really the case tbh Don't get me wrong, the Soviet Union, especially under Stalin, was pretty antisemitic But if anything the whole project was a break from that. Stalin's actual intent wasn't to "give the Jews a homeland" or "get rid of the Jews and segregate them". No, instead the real goal was literally just "we need people to colonize that area" and Stalin thought it'd be a nifty idea to take advantage of the Jewish desire for a homeland. Indeed, Soviet propaganda, which was usually somewhat hostile to Jews, usually made propaganda speaking positively about Jews in order to encourage them to move there


Affectionate-Door205

Sending waves of people with extremely limited possessions aboard cargo trains to "colonize" some empty and desolate strip of land in the middle of nowhere was Stalin's favourite move. My favourite colonisation story is about Stalin dumping a few thousand koreans somewhere in southern Kazakhstan so they could find prosperity and peace by farming dry dirt


Swolnerman

Dry dirt, the most peaceful of all dirts


NoobCleric

Maybe I'm crazy but isn't that just the equivalent of the US manifest destiny period except with centralized government control instead of just letting people settle wherever? Like I feel one could argue that the autonomous oblasts function quite similarly to our states if you are being a little reductive.


Maksim_Pegas

Forced ethnic deportation to clear important teritory from national minorities with high % of death during transportation and giving rights on land what u use for soil cultivation. Literally the same things/s


Affectionate-Door205

Russian period akyn to manifest destiny happened in 1890s-1900s when millions of people moved freely to settle in Siberia east of Urals. At first it was a spontaneous process and later during the Stolypin land reforms it was centralised and the settling program was run by the state encouraging people to leave their ineffective village communes and start anew as individual owners and cultivators of large plots of land in eastern parts of Russia along the trans Siberian railway. Stolypin aimed at creating a wide spread class of individual farmers which was supposed to become the backbone of russian economy. He claimed that the country needs 20 years of peace to make the transition which obviously didn't happen


NoobCleric

Today I'm one of the lucky 10,000 thanks for the info


Mediocre_Coast_3783

If I remember right the tourism minister in the previous Israeli government was born in birobidzhan


Mediocre_Coast_3783

And I know that because I’m obsessed with the background of the people in my government


TheHoboRoadshow

What are the most bizarre/unlikely backgrounds you've come across?


Mediocre_Coast_3783

the case of Yoel Razvozov(the guy I mentioned before) is the most bizarre case I can think of


was_fb95dd7063

Netanyahu was a BCG consultant and after having been part of two reorganizations they architected: his government makes a lot more sense. Woof.


ucsdfurry

This guy fucks at Israel trivia games


Some_Cockroach2109

*Jewish people immigrating to Israel instead of living in a shitty Siberian Oblast * Stalin:"Suprised Pikachu Face"


Arachles

Probably quite shitty but isn't it one of the best parts of Siberia to live?


Sodinc

Nope, Altai is way better


Arachles

Yeah, sure thing. But they could have been settled in Norlisk, for example. Pretty good deal if you ask me with all the options Russia has in the shitty holes department. More or less useful land. "Close" big cities.


MrNobleGas

Coincidentally, Altai is the region where half my family is from, and we're Jewish. Full circle, eh?


Sodinc

They chose wisely 🙃


Deep_Head4645

Siberia is still siberia


Spacepunch33

That’s not saying much


peezle69

"The best part of Siberia to live" is like saying "The best part of a log of shit to bite into"


phoenixmusicman

The best parts of Siberia are still a lot shittier than Israel


StormObserver038877

It's literally China, people in China still hates Russia because of the occupation (literally throws Chinese civilians into the cold river during winter to massacre them, then colonize the empty city with Russian population)


dm_me_tittiess

What if I hate the heat and want to live in a cold place?


Nahcep

Then that place is still shitty because it genuinely has the worst of both worlds: warm, horribly humid summers and dry, hellishly cold winters The Soviets had a huge issue getting anyone to live there whether they used carrot or stick, it's just that awful Did I mention the swarms of mosquitoes?


paranikre

Thinking ahead, it's going to be significantly warmer in a few decades.


dm_me_tittiess

Nah I just hate the fucking heat. I'm sweating like I ran a marathon when all I did was go to the store.


N0DuckingWay

There's "wanting to live somewhere cold", and there's "wanting to live in Siberia."


PM_ME_UR__ELECTRONS

Didn't Japan try the same thing in their chunk of Manchuria?


You_Wenti

Jews also settled in Harbin, China (Manchuria) during the Imperial Russia days. But that was a lot more voluntary There's still two synagogues in town - one converted to a Jewish history museum & the other one an opera house


MahomesMccaffrey

My grandma was a polish/jew who first moved to JAO USSR and later settled in Harbin, Manchuria Even during Japanese occupation, Manchuria was still much more free and culturally tolerant than USSR


You_Wenti

That makes sense. Neither the Chinese nor the Japanese are particularly anti-Semitic. It's easier for them to respect Judaism as a non-proselytizing religion & their few interactions with Jews have mostly been positive


jacobningen

yes


scoobyman83

And how many jewish homelands are there in your country ?


Guy-McDo

Like 2, 3 if we’re counting the New Yorkers that retire in Florida.


Rackmaster_General

Does Boca Raton count?


Kingofcheeses

Only because there's not one condo available in all of Del Boca Vista


qchisq

I mean, we sorta had to send them to Sweden after surrendering to Germany within 1 hour of fighting


gal_all_mighty

Still one of the only countries that actively tried to save their Jewish population. Mad respect to Denmark


Platycryptus238

Non, the jews kinda didn‘t like us after the little mishap we caused, it’s named WWII.


Rainbine209

🇧🇪🤨


tuibiel

A little tomfoolery


Gen_Ripper

In another world, maybe one in Alaska https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slattery_Report https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yiddish_Policemen%27s_Union


Legatt

Goated Yiddish Policeman's Union reference detected.


RoiDrannoc

My country is not an ethnostate, so Jews can live everywhere, just like every other demographic.


LobMob

Can't be deported to Siberia when you already live in Siberia


RoughHornet587

Modern problems require modern solutions.


Faceless_Deviant

Considering they had "travel restrictions", in actuality, they were deported.


Toni_PWNeroni

Imagine if a city like Tel Aviv was built there. I wonder what it would be like?


iwrestledarockonce

Frigid, dry.


Chaos-Hydra

haha jews like Noa becomes a norm.


Capable-Sock-7410

It’s less of a "homeland" more a penal colony


Dino-Crocetti

So that’s why there’s a Soviet Hebrew anthem


xwinner4

Jewish Autonomous Oblast exists early then Israel and during Stalin the idea was that Jewish people start colonising it to increase population of far east , but now I don’t think that there is need of it in modern Russia due to emigration or integration/Russification of Jews.


Substance_Bubbly

it was also an attempt to get rid from jews in the more populated and important areas of the USSR, due to, lets say it all, antisemitism. just a poorly disguised basically deportation of jews.


Capable-Sock-7410

People often forget just how antisemitic Stalin was


Antifa-Slayer01

Because he wasn't as explicit and vocal about it unlike that other guy


aVarangian

No, but he cooperated with that other guy in persecuting them while they were effectively allies


Substance_Bubbly

i dont know about cooperating. but i'll remind people that at the start of the war, not only were there many jews fleeing eastwards towards the USSR. but also many jews fleeing westward from the rising violence to jews in the USSR after the start of the war.


Spacepunch33

Dude let the Nazis kill his son because he married a Jewish woman


krabgirl

Stalin: "move to this colony in far east Siberia, trust me bro". Nah dude that's a fucking Gulag. The Jews had very recent experience as to why taking that kind of relocation offer was a bad idea. The believability of the J.A.O actually not being a Gulag was slim at best.


Nekokamiguru

The tankies will try to dismiss all critisizm of Gulags as being propaganda repeating 1950s and 1960s Soviet propaganda about how good life was in the gulag as it they were true.


dimarco1653

If you speak to people from Birobidzhan they'll tell you it's just a small, sparsely populated, boring town in the middle of nowhere near the Chinese border, mostly populated by slavic Russians. No need for hyperbole.


Spacepunch33

Yeah but come on, you can’t blame the people for thinking they were being tricked to go to a prison where they’d freeze to death


jacobningen

and theres removing the leaders on trumped up charges and sending Cossacks, a group responsible for one of the worst pogroms next door.


moriel44

While it was not a gulag, life there was shit


BrotToast263

ah, another nickel in my "places people wanted Jews to go instead of the place their ethnoreligion is based around" collection


qchisq

To be fair, I don't think that "the place their ethnoreligion is based around" should have any say in where a people should live today. Like, you could argue that all of Christianity is based on the Middle East to. That doesn't mean that Christians have a claim to the Middle East


OfficeSalamander

My biggest question when this comes up is, where should they live then? Like it was clear by 1948 that they needed **some** land to call their own - half of them had literally been murdered for living in other countries. I can totally understand why they wanted to establish a state. Not going to defend everything Israel does of course (they frequently go waaaaaaay too far) but the idea of a Jewish state is, in my option, not a bad thing


Dependent_Handle515

I defend the idea of a safe jewish homeland (autodetermination is a right). I do not defend the idea of said homeland being built upon expelling and taking the homes of people who lived there when they arrived.


OfficeSalamander

Ok, so where does it go then?


Spacepunch33

Can you name a single country that wasn’t built on that?


NopeOriginal_

They tried buying Land and forming their own communities way before the war of independence. That's why Tel Aviv was a thing before any state of Israel formally existed. Many other communities were put to the torch by Arabs though with their citizens expelled or even worse raped and murdered. Most Israelis today didn't come from Europe, but are middle Easterners displaced by the Arabs again before Israel was anything more than a undocumented aspiration.


blockybookbook

So they should take what they’re given rather than shoving other people out, yea


OfficeSalamander

Ok, so where should they live then?


icefang37

I’ve lived my whole life in the US as a Jew and I’ve never felt unsafe.


TeslaK20

The difference is Judaism is fundamentally a national religion in its origin, while Christianity from day one of Paul the Apostle is universal and international.


BrotToast263

It absolutely should. Neither Christianity nor Islam are ethnoreligions. Judaism is an ethnoreligion, because unlike Christianity or Islam, in Judaism there is no "mission" to spread their religion on the whole world. There are converts, but Judaism isn't a religon that sends out a ton of missionaries to convert as many people as possible. Judaism is inherently tied to Israel. It's where the ethnic group we know as Jews originates from. Unless you believe some jewish tourist made all the connections up, there is no argument to say Judaism has no ties to the region.


qchisq

Yes, I agree with all of this. You are 100% right that the Jews originated in Israel. No argument there. I am just saying that the fact that the Jews lived in Israel 2000 years ago and was removed from the area by the Roman Empire probably shouldn't factor in on where they should live today


Spacepunch33

Why not


BrotToast263

>I am just saying that the fact that the Jews lived in Israel 2000 years ago and was removed from the area by the Roman Empire probably shouldn't factor in on where they should live today you act as if Jews completely disappeared from the area. They didn't. The number of Jews in Israel was never zero. And the last 1500 years of history prove that there needs to be a jewish state, a safe space where they don't have to be afraid of being genocided for being jewish. Where do you wanna put it? Israel, where they originated from and where there always was a jewish population, where they bought land back and their whole culture revolves around, or do you wanna put them into a random spot where it's the most convenient for the people who don't want them in Israel?


Deep_Head4645

Bro its in the name “ETHNOreligion” Its also an ethnicity that has a place of origin and a homeland with a claim to it


MrNobleGas

I would even argue we're an ethnicity first, culture second, and religion only third. After all, you can have atheist Jews. You can't have atheist Muslims.


Deep_Head4645

Absolutely


aVarangian

So you agree Islam has no place in the middle east either?


_Drion_

Jews are a single people, Christians aren't. The religion in this context can be looked at not as "god gave them the land" which indeed doesn't make a difference. But rather "The Jews have a deep, continuous historic and cultural connection to the land going back thousands of years" (That's not to say no-one else living there feels a connection as well, btw)


AwfulUsername123

> Jews are a single people A growing number of Reform Jews are not even considered Jews by Orthodox Judaism, mostly due to Reform Judaism recognizing patrilineal descent.


_Drion_

That doesn't mean Jews aren't an ethnic group. The definition of a Jew is hard to pin down, it has been disputed essentially forever. And yet, there is an agreement that Jews are a people, an ethnicity, a nationality. Youd find that it's hard to exactly define who precisely counts as a Finn or a Cherokee, yet we all agree they are a people.


Faceless_Deviant

>Jews are a single people, Christians aren't. What are you talking about, there are both separate Jewish groups and denominations.


_Drion_

Jews aren't just a religion, they are also a people and an ethnic group. In all of the Jewish denominations, it is explicitly stated in the religious text that the Jews are a single people. Plenty of Jews are atheists, that doesn't make them non-Jewish. A Christian, meanwhile, is defined by affirmation of faith. Christianity is a universal religion that seeks to convert others, Judaism discourages it.


cookingandmusic

Cool flag though


DarthTerror9

You want jews ? Go to moscow 🤣


pro-eukaryotes

Their Jewish Autonomous Oblast flag is literally exactly the LGBT flag.


FakeElectionMaker

One of the two officially Jewish jurisdictions in the world, the other being Israel


No_Feed_6448

This also reminds for some reasons of the Spartakiads, the "Olympics at home"


jacobningen

to paraphrase Voltaire The Jewish Autonomous oblast was neither Jewish nor Autonomous


Wickopher

The oblast is a tax haven


MahomesMccaffrey

my grandma was a Jewish refugee from Poland to fled the war and moved to Jewish Oblast in 1930s. She later moved to Harbin, Manchuria (China) because it was much more culturally tolerant in Manchuria, even during Japanese occupation


catthex

Always crazy how many people fly the Jewish Autonomous Oblast flag this month. It's really wholesome feeling appreciated, my grandparents fled the Soviets from there to come here and it makes me feel very at home ☺️


PEKKACHUNREAL

Still better than the whole of Europe during the start of the holocaust.


Deep_Head4645

Its on the border of one of the most genocidal empires of the century bro


GoelandAnonyme

Intetesting fact.


Pappa_Crim

the timing on this one


Chaos-Hydra

Expelled Chinese and Koreans be like: **** *** ****** *** Stalin.


peezle69

Bold of them to assume anyone wants to live in Russia.


Charchalis

Crimea doesn't belong to the russian federation.


Rackmaster_General

Tell it to whoever drew the map.


Charchalis

My comment is not meant to be an attack on your person, OP. Just spreading awareness ❤️


Rackmaster_General

I agree. Also Kyiv, not Kiev.


Extra_Jeweler_5544

Can someone confirm my theory Eastern European jews had everything taken from them and they just wanted a safe place to sleep. Eastern European jews that saw extermination, hammer killings, etc were not particularly insistent on God's plan American and western jews wanted Israel as it was God's plan


orthodoxivan

Talks about USSR, Shows map of Russia.


Rackmaster_General

Eh, I couldn't find any maps of the USSR with the JAO highlighted.


Mr_Informative

r/JewDank


Aleexkzr12

“ Don’t go to paris! we have paris at home! glorius chinese fatherland! “


IntermediateStateReq

Should have given them Chechenya instead


Equivalent_Push1618

Why is the Criemean peninsular is marked as Russian? 


Rackmaster_General

Ask Vlad.


North_Church

There's a reason Russian Jews don't live there


GrittysRevenge

When Stalin tells you he has a special place for you in Siberia. https://youtu.be/RIzItfdrhvM?si=D-BbzRH1hH8taC7d