Jewish Organizations of Western Siberia during the First World War and the Civil War and the Problem of Jewish Refugees

Abstract

The measures to improve the situation of Jewish refugees in Western Siberia in the conditions of social and political cataclysms of the beginning of the XX century are discussed in the article. It is noted that legislative documents clearly regulated issues related to the migration of Jews, so not all settlements in Siberia were available for their residence. It is emphasized that due to a number of factors, including the economic plan, forced migrants preferred to settle in Western Siberia. It is indicated that, in addition to state authorities, support for arriving refugees was provided by local Jewish communities: a branch of the Petrograd society, the Jewish Committee for Assistance to War Victims (JCAWV), was opened in the Tomsk province; there was a branch under the auspices of JCAWV in Mariinsk, Novonikolaevsk and Kainsk; in Omsk, the All-Russian Union of Cities supported the creation of national committees. Based on the involvement of a wide range of sources, the following areas of activity of Jewish organizations in helping co-religionists were characterized: providing housing, teaching the Russian language, employment, medical support, etc. It is concluded that for a number of reasons, not all of the tasks assigned to organizations were implemented, primarily due to the lack of stable sources of funding.