History of the Jews in Estonia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The history of the Jews in Estonia starts with individual reports of Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

in what is now Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

from as early as the 14th century. However, the process of permanent Jewish settlement in Estonia began in the 19th century, especially after they were granted the official right to enter the region by a statute of Russian

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

Tsar Alexander II

Alexander II of Russia

Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...

in 1865. This allowed the so-called Jewish ‘Nicholas soldiers’ (often former cantonist
Cantonist
Cantonists were underage sons of Russian conscripts who from 1721 were educated in special "canton schools" for future military service .-Cantonist schools during the 18th and early 19th centuries:Cantonist...

s) and their descendants, First Guild merchants, artisan

Artisan

An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...

s and Jews with higher education

Higher education

Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

to settle in Estonia and other parts of the Russian Empire outside their pale of settlement

Pale of Settlement

The Pale of Settlement was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia, in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed, and beyond which Jewish permanent residency was generally prohibited...

. The "Nicholas soldiers" and their descendants, and artisans were, basically, the ones who founded the first Jewish congregations in Estonia. The Tallinn

Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

congregation, the largest in Estonia, was founded already in 1830. The Tartu

Tartu

Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...

congregation was established in 1866 when the first fifty families settled there. Synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

s were built, the largest of which were constructed in Tallinn in 1883 and Tartu in 1901. Both of these were subsequently destroyed by fire in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

The Jewish population spread to other Estonian cities where houses of prayer (at Valga, Pärnu

Pärnu

Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...

and Viljandi

Viljandi

Viljandi is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 19,150 . It is the capital of Viljandi County. The town was first mentioned in 1283, upon being granted its town charter by Wilhelm von Endorpe....

) and cemeteries were erected. As Jews sought to establish their own network of education in Estonia, boys' schools were established for the teaching of the Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

, and elementary schools were organised in Tallinn in the 1880s. The majority of the Jewish population at that time consisted of small tradesmen and artisans, very few knew science , hence Jewish cultural life lagged. A change to this was brought about at the end of the 19th century when several Jews entered the University of Tartu

University of Tartu

The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. University of Tartu is the national university of Estonia; it is the biggest and highest-ranked university in Estonia...

and later contributed significantly to enliven Jewish culture and education. 1917 even saw the founding of the Jewish Drama Club in Tartu.

Jewish autonomy in independent Estonia

Approximately 200 Jews fought in combat in the Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920) for the creation of the Republic of Estonia. 70 of these men were volunteers. The creation of the Republic of Estonia in 1918 marked the beginning of a new era in the life of the Jews.

From the very first days of her existence as a state, Estonia showed tolerance towards all ethnic and religious minorities. This set the stage for energetic growth in the political and cultural activities of Jewish society. Between 11–16 May 1919, the first Estonian Congress of Jewish congregations was convened to discuss the new circumstances Jewish life was confronting. This is where the ideas of cultural autonomy and a Jewish Gymnasium (secondary school) in Tallinn were born. Jewish societies and associations began to grow in numbers. The largest of these new societies was the H. N. Bjalik Literature and Drama Society in Tallinn founded in 1918. Societies and clubs were established in Viljandi

Viljandi

, Narva

Narva

Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...

, and elsewhere.

1920s

In 1920, the Maccabi

Maccabi (sports)

Maccabi may refer to:* The Maccabi World Union, Maccabiah Games or any one of the following sport organizations around the world:...

Sports Society was founded and became well-known for its endeavours to encourage sports among Jews. Jews also took an active part in sporting events in Estonia and abroad. Sara Teitelbaum was a 17-time champion in Estonian athletics and established no less than 28 records. In the 1930s there were about 100 Jews studying at the University of Tartu

University of Tartu

, 44 studied jurisprudence and 18 medicine. In 1934, a chair was established in the School of Philosophy for the study of Judaica. There were five Jewish student societies in Tartu Academic Society, the Women’s Student Society Hazfiro, the Corporation Limuvia, the Society Hasmonea and the Endowment for Jewish Students. All of these had their own libraries and played important roles in Jewish culture and social life.

Political organisations such as Zionist youth organisations Hasomer Hazair and Beitar were also established. Many Jewish youth travelled to Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

to establish the Jewish State. The kibbutzim of Kfar Blum

Kfar Blum

Kfar Blum is a kibbutz in the Hula Valley part of the Upper Galilee in Israel. Located about southeast of the town of Kiryat Shmona, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council. In 1994 the population was 615.-History:...

and Ein Gev were set up in part by Estonian Jews.

On 12 February 1925, the Estonian government passed a law on the cultural autonomy of minorities. The Jewish community quickly prepared its application for cultural autonomy. Statistics on Jewish citizens were compiled. They totalled 3045, fulfilling the minimum requirement of 3000 for cultural autonomy. In June 1926 the Jewish Cultural Council was elected and the Jewish cultural autonomy declared. The administrative organ of this autonomy was the Board of Jewish Culture, headed by Hirsch Aisenstadt until it was disbanded following the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940. When the German troops occupied Estonia in 1941, Aisenstadt evacuated to Russia. He returned to Estonia when the Germans had left, but was arrested by the Soviet authorities in 1949.

The cultural autonomy of minority peoples is an exceptional phenomenon in European cultural history. Therefore Jewish cultural autonomy was of great interest to global Jewish community. The Jewish National Endowment Keren Kajamet presented the Estonian government with a certificate of gratitude for this achievement.

This cultural autonomy allowed full control of education. From 1926, Hebrew began to replace Russian in the Jewish public school in Tallinn while in 1928 a rival Yiddish language school was founded.

1930s

In 1934, there were 4381 Jews living in Estonia (0.4 percent of the population). 2203 Jews lived in Tallinn. Other cities of residence included Tartu (920), Valga (262), Pärnu (248), Narva (188) and Viljandi (121). 1688 Jews contributed to the national economy: 31% in commerce, 24% in services, 14.5% were artisans, and 14% were labourers. There was also large business: the leather factory Uzvanski and Sons in Tartu, the Ginovkeris’ Candy Factory in Tallinn, furriers Ratner and Hoff and forest improvement companies such as Seins, Judeiniks etc. There was a society for tradesmen and industrialists. Tallinn and Tartu boasted Jewish co-operative banks. Only 9.5% of the Jewish population worked freelance. Most of these were physicians, over 80 in all (there was also a society for Jewish physicians). In addition there were 16 pharmacists and 4 veterinarians. 11% of the Jewish population had received higher education, 37% secondary education and 33% elementary education. 18% had only received home education.

The Jewish community established its own social welfare system. The Jewish Goodwill Society of the Tallinn Congregation made it their business to oversee and execute the ambitions of this system. The Rabbi of Tallinn at that time was Dr. Gomer. In 1941 during the German occupation he was ruthlessly harassed and finally murdered. In Tartu the Jewish Assistance Union was active, and welfare units were set up in Narva, Valga and Pärnu.

In 1933 the influence of National Socialism on Baltic Germans began to become a concern. Nazism were outlawed as a movement contrary to social order, the German Cultural Council was disbanded and the National Socialist Viktor von Mühlen was forced to resign from the Riigikogu

Riigikogu

The Riigikogu is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. All important state-related questions pass through the Riigikogu...

as the elected member of the Baltic German Party. All materials ridiculing Jews, including the National Socialist magazine "Valvur" (Guard) were banned by order of the State Elder Konstantin Päts

Konstantin Päts

Konstantin Päts VR I/1 and III/1 was the most influential politician of interwar Estonia. He was one of the first Estonians to become active in politics and started an almost 40-year political rivalry with Jaan Tõnisson, first through journalism with his newspaper Teataja, later through politics...

as materials inciting hatred.

In the same year a faculty of Jewish Studies was established at Tartu University. Lazar Gulkowitsch

Lazar Gulkowitsch

Lazar Gulkowitsch was an eminent Jewish Studies scholar.-Life:Born in Zirin , Belarus as the son of a merchant, he attended school in Baranavichy and then the famous Mir Yeshiva...

, a former professor at Leipzig University was appointed the university's first Professor and Chair of Jewish Studies and began teaching in 1934.

In 1936, the British based Jewish newspaper The Jewish Chronicle

The Jewish Chronicle

The Jewish Chronicle is a London-based Jewish newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world.-Publication data and readership figures:...

reported after a visit to Tallinn

Tallinn

by one of its journalists:

"Estonia is the only country in Eastern Europe where neither the Government nor the people practice any discrimination against Jews and where Jews are left in peace.... ...the cultural autonomy granted to Estonian Jews ten years ago still holds good, and Jews are allowed to lead a free and unmolested life and fashion it in accord with their national and cultural principles"

During 1937, as anti-semitism was growing in Europe, the first Jewish representative Heinrich Gutkin was elected to the Estonian parliament, Riigikogu

Riigikogu

The Riigikogu is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. All important state-related questions pass through the Riigikogu...

.

Throughout the 1930s, Zionist youth movements were active, with pioneer training being offered on Estonian farms by HeHalutz

Hehalutz

Hechalutz was an association of Jewish youth whose aim was to train its members to settle in the Land of Israel, which became an umbrella organization of the pioneering Zionist youth movements....

, while the leading cultural institute Bialik Farein performed plays and its choir toured and performed on radio.

World War II

The life of the small Jewish community in Estonia was disrupted in 1940 with the Soviet occupation of Estonia. Cultural autonomy together with all its institutions was liquidated in July 1940. In July and August of the same year all organisations, associations, societies and corporations were closed. The Jews' businesses were nationalized. A relatively large number of Jews (350-450, about 10% of the total Jewish population) were deported

Soviet deportations from Estonia

As the Soviet Union had occupied Estonia in 1940 and retaken it from Nazi Germany again in 1944, tens of thousands of Estonia's citizens underwent deportation in the 1940s...

into prison camps

Gulag

The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...

in Russia by the Soviet authorities on 14 June 1941.

The Holocaust

More than 75% of Estonia's Jewish community, aware of the fate that otherwise awaited them, managed to escape to the Soviet Union; virtually all the remainder (between 950 and 1000 men, women and children) had been killed by the end of 1941. They included Estonia's only rabbi; the professor of Jewish Studies at Tartu University; Jews who had left the Jewish community; the mentally disabled; and a number of veterans of the Estonian War of Independence. Less than a dozen Estonian Jews are known to have survived the war in Estonia.

Round-ups and killings of Jews began immediately following the arrival of the first German troops in 1941, who were closely followed by the extermination squad Sonderkommando 1a under Martin Sandberger

Martin Sandberger

Martin Sandberger was an SS Standartenführer and commander of Sonderkommando 1a of the Einsatzgruppe, as well as commander of the Sicherheitspolizei and SD in Estonia. He played an important role in the mass murder of the Jews in the Baltic states...

, part of Einsatzgruppe A led by Walter Stahlecker. Arrests and executions continued as the Germans, with the assistance of local collaborators, advanced through Estonia. Unlike German forces, Estonians seem to have supported the anti-Jewish actions on the political level, but not on a racial basis. The standard form used for the cleansing operations was arrest 'because of communist activity'. The equation between Jews and communists evoked a positive Estonian response, and attempts were made by Estonian police to determine whether the arrested person indeed supported communism. Estonians often argued that their Jewish colleagues and friends were not communists and submitted proofs of pro-Estonian conduct in hope to get them released. Anton Weiss-Wendt in his dissertation "Murder Without Hatred: Estonians, the Holocaust, and the Problem of Collaboration" concluded on the basis of the reports of informers to the occupation authorities that Estonians in general did not believe in Nazi antisemitic propaganda and by majority maintained positive opinion about Jews.
Estonia was declared Judenfrei
Judenfrei
Judenfrei was a Nazi term to designate an area free of Jewish presence during The Holocaust.While Judenfrei referred merely to "freeing" an area of all of its Jewish citizens, the term Judenrein was also used...

quite early, at the Wannsee Conference

Wannsee Conference

The Wannsee Conference was a meeting of senior officials of the Nazi German regime, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on 20 January 1942. The purpose of the conference was to inform administrative leaders of Departments responsible for various policies relating to Jews, that Reinhard Heydrich...

on 20 January 1942, as the Jewish population of Estonia was small (about 4,500), and the majority of it managed to escape to the Soviet Union before the Germans arrived. http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/text/x07/xr0707.html Virtually all the remainder (921 according to Martin Sandberger, 929 according to Evgenia Goorin-Loov and 963 according to Walter Stahlecker) were killed.http://www.rel.ee/eng/communism_crimes.htm#F6 The Nazi regime also established 22 concentration and labor camps in Estonia for foreign Jews, the largest, Vaivara concentration camp and several thousand foreign Jews were killed at the Kalevi-Liiva

Kalevi-Liiva

Kalevi-Liiva are sand dunes in Jõelähtme Parish in Harju County, Estonia. The site is located near the Baltic coast, north of the Jägala village an the former Jägala concentration camp...

camp. An estimated 10,000 Jews were killed in Estonia after having been deported to camps there from Eastern Europe.http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/text/x07/xr0707.html Four Estonians most responsible for the murders at Kalevi-Liiva were accused at war crimes trials in 1961

Holocaust trials in Soviet Estonia

A number of Holocaust trials in Soviet Estonia were held in the 1960s.The best-known trial was brought in 1961, by the local Soviet authorities against Estonian collaborators who had participated in the execution of the Holocaust during the Nazi German occupation...

. Two were later executed, two other avoided sentencing in exile.

Soviet period

From 1944 until 1988 the Estonian Jewish community had no organisations, associations nor even clubs.

Modern Estonia

In March 1988, as the process towards regaining Estonia's independence was beginning, the Jewish Cultural Society was established in Tallinn. It was the first of its kind in the late Soviet Union. Unlike in other parts of the Soviet Union, there were no problems with registering either the society or its symbols. The Society began by organising concerts and lectures. Soon the question of founding a Jewish school surfaced. As a start, a Sunday school was established in 1989. The Tallinn Jewish Gymnasium on Karu Street was being used by a vocational school. In 1990, a Jewish School with grades 1 through 9 was established.

Jewish culture clubs, which remained under the wing of the Cultural Society, were started in Tartu, Narva

Narva

Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...

, and Kohtla-Järve

Kohtla-Järve

Kohtla-Järve is a city and municipality in north-eastern Estonia, founded in 1924 and incorporated as a town in 1946. The city is highly industrial, and is both a processor of oil shales and is a large producer of various petroleum products. The city is also very diverse ethnically: it contains...

. Other organisations followed; the sports society Maccabi, the Society for the Gurini Goodwill Endowment and the Jewish Veterans Union. Life returned to the Jewish congregation. Courses in Hebrew were re-established. Thanks to the Jewish communities of Israel and other countries, a relatively large library was opened.

The gamut of cultural activities kept on growing. The Jewish Cultural Society is a founding member of Eestimaa Rahvuste Ühendus (Union of the Peoples of Estonia) which was founded at the end of 1988. The restoration of Estonian independence in 1991 brought about numerous political, economic and social changes. The Jews living in Estonia could now defend their rights as a national minority. The Jewish Community was established in 1992, and its charter was approved on 11 April 1992. Estonia has traditionally regarded its Jews with friendship and accommodation. To illustrate this a new Cultural Autonomy Act, based on the 1925 law, was passed in Estonia in October 1993. This law grants minority peoples, such as Jews, a legal guarantee to preserve their national identities.

On 16 May 2007 a new synagogue

Tallinn Synagogue

Tallinn Synagogue, , also known as Beit Bella Synagogue, is located in Estonia’s capital city. The privately funded synagogue in central Tallinn was inaugurated on May 16, 2007. The building is an ultramodern, airy structure, which can seat 180 people with additional seating for up to 230 people...

was opened in Tallinn. It houses a sanctuary, mikvah

Mikvah

Mikveh is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism...

and restaurant

Restaurant

A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

.

There are two Estonians who have been honoured with The Righteous Among the Nations

Righteous Among the Nations

Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....

: Uku Masing

Uku Masing

Uku Masing was an Estonian philosopher, translator, theologist and folklorist. He developed Estonian analytical philosophy. Masing also wrote poetry, mostly on religious issues...

and his wife Eha.

Demographics

Total Pop (2007): 1,900
Live Births (2006): 12
Total Deaths (2006): 51
Birth Rate: 6.32 per 1000
Death Rate: 26.84 per 1000
NGR: -2.05% per year.http://pub.stat.ee/px-web.2001/Dialog/Saveshow.asp http://pub.stat.ee/px-web.2001/Dialog/Saveshow.asp http://pub.stat.ee/px-web.2001/I_Databas/Population/03Vital_events/04Births/04Births.asp

Notable Jews of Estonia

Moses Wolf Goldberg
Moses Wolf Goldberg
Dr Moses Wolf Goldberg was an Estonian-Jewish chemist who, along with Leo Henryk Sternbach, developed a process for the synthesis of biotin in 1949.-Biography:...
Louis Kahn
Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn was an American architect, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935...
Eri Klas
Eri Klas
Eri Klas, is an Estonian conductor.Klas is of Jewish ancestry. Klas graduated as an opera and concert conductor in both Tallinn and Leningrad , beginning his conducting career at the Estonia Theatre in Tallinn and at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow...
Yuri Lotman
Yuri Lotman
Yuri Mikhailovich Lotman – a prominent Soviet literary scholar, semiotician, and cultural historian. Member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences...

External links

Berg, Eiki (1994). The Peculiarities of Jewish Settlement in Estonia. GeoJournal
GeoJournal
GeoJournal is a peer-reviewed international academic journal on all aspects of geography founded in 1977. Twelve issues a year were published by Springer Netherlands until December 2009 and can be accessed via SpringerLink...

33.4, 465-470.
Birn, Ruth Bettina (2001). Collaboration with Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe: the Case of the Estonian Security Police. Contemporary European History
Contemporary European History
Contemporary European History is an international peer-reviewed academic history journal, published by Cambridge University Press quarterly since 1992 and covering the history of Europe from 1918 onwards. Currently its editors are Dr. Neville Wylie , Prof. Mary Vincent , Prof. John Connelly and Dr...

10.2, 181-198.
Sander, Gordon F. 2009. Estonia Lost and Found: The Rebirth of a Community (Or: Mazel Tov Estonia!). Retrieved 2011-08-06.
Verschik, Anna (1999). The Yiddish language in Estonia: Past and present. Journal of Baltic Studies
Journal of Baltic Studies
The Journal of Baltic Studies, the official journal of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies , is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary academic journal founded in 1970 and published quarterly by Routledge, dedicated to the political, social, economic, and cultural life of the Baltic...

30.2, 117-128.
Weiss-Wendt, Anton (1998). The Soviet Occupation of Estonia in 1940-41 and the Jews. Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Holocaust and Genocide Studies is an international peer-reviewed academic journal addressing the issue of the Holocaust and other genocides. It has been published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum since 1987 with varying frequency . The journal's...

12.2, 308-325.
The Jewish Community of Estonia
Factsheet: Jews in Estonia
Encyclopedia about Estonia: Ethnic religious minorities
Estonian Jewish Museum
Estonia article at the YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Jewish autonomy in independent Estonia

1920s

1930s

World War II

The Holocaust

Soviet period

Modern Estonia

Demographics

Notable Jews of Estonia

See also

External links