JEWS AND JEWISH LIFE IN RUSSIA AND THE SOVIET UNION

Edited by Yaacov Ro'i

Leading experts of contemporary Jewish history present the first broad and penetrating assessment of Jewish life in Russia, the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia. The access gained to archives since the collapse of the USSR has enabled them to employ a wide array of documentary evidence in discussing politically sensitive issues such as Stalin's plan for the deportation of millions of Jews to Siberia, the extent of collaboration by Russians a nd Ukrainians during WWII and grassroots anti-Semitism. The new documents are further utilized by various contributors to illuminate the mechanism of Soviet control over religion and offer insights into Soviet policy making with regard to its Jewish popul ation and to Israel. The preoccupation of both tsarist and Soviet authorities with the Jewish question was extensive. This volume reveals the range of solutions which they proposed: from assimilation to repression and annihilation. It also demonstrates the remarkable ability of Russian Jewry to adapt itself to the twists and turns of Soviet policy and to maintain a high level of cultural and religious activity. Several authors maintain, however, that the stark reality of demographic trends places the future survival of the Ru ssian Jewish community in doubt.

CONTRIBUTORS: Eli Lederhendler * Shaul Stampfer * Naomi Blank * Igor Krupnik * Robert Weinberg * Iakov Etinger * Abraham Ascher * John D. Klier * Alexander Lokshin * Mordechai Altshuler * Allan L. Kagedan * David Roskies * John Garrard * Velvel Chernin * Dimitri Segal * David E. Fishman * Yaacov Ro'i * Lili Baazova * Iurii Strizhov * Nina Sementchenko and Sergei Mirokhin * Yosef Govrin * Minton Goldman * Mark Tolts * Steven Rosefielde * Rozalina Ryvkina * Fran Markowitz

...one of the most important new books in the field
East European Jewish Affairs