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{{Short description|Jewish Section of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Expand Russian|Евсекция|date=November 2010}}
{{Expand Russian|Евсекция|date=November 2010}}
A '''Yevsektsiya'''<ref>Also [[Romanization of Russian|romanized]] '''Evsektsiya'''.</ref> ({{lang-rus|Евсекция<ref>A [[syllabic abbreviation]] for ''Jewish section'' ({{lang-ru|'''Ев'''рейская '''секция'''}}).</ref>|p=jɪfˈsʲektsɨjə}}; {{lang-yi|יעווסעקציע}}) was a [[Jew]]ish section of the [[Soviet Communist Party]]. These sections were established in fall of 1918 with consent of [[Vladimir Lenin]] to carry communist revolution to the Jewish masses.<ref name="Pipes">[[Richard Pipes|Pipes, Richard]], Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime, New York: Vintage Books, Random House Inc., 1995, {{ISBN|0-394-50242-6}}, page 363</ref> The Yevsektsiya published a [[Yiddish]] periodical, [[Der Emes|der ''Emes'']].<ref name=Shindler />
A '''Yevsektsiya'''<ref>Also [[Romanization of Russian|romanized]] '''Evsektsiya'''.</ref> ({{lang-rus|евсекция<ref>A [[syllabic abbreviation]] for ''Jewish section'' ({{lang-ru|'''Ев'''рейская '''секция'''}}).</ref>|p=jɪfˈsʲektsɨjə}}; {{lang-yi|יעווסעקציע}}) was a [[Jew]]ish section of the [[Soviet Communist Party]]. These sections were established in fall of 1918 with consent of [[Vladimir Lenin]] to carry communist revolution to the Jewish masses.<ref name="Pipes">[[Richard Pipes|Pipes, Richard]], Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime, New York: Vintage Books, Random House Inc., 1995, {{ISBN|0-394-50242-6}}, page 363</ref> The Yevsektsiya published a [[Yiddish]] periodical, [[Der Emes|der ''Emes'']].<ref name=Shindler />


==Mission==
==Mission==
The stated mission of these sections was the "destruction of traditional Jewish life, the [[Zionist]] movement, and [[Hebrew]] culture".<ref>Pipes, page 363, quoted from book by Nora Levin, ''The Jews in the Soviet Union since 1917'', New York, 1988, page 57</ref> The Yevsektsiya sought to draw Jewish workers into the revolutionary organisations; chairman [[Semyon Dimanstein]], at the first conference in October 1918, pointed out that, "when the October revolution came, the Jewish workers had remained totally passive ... and a large part of them were even against the revolution. The revolution did not reach the Jewish street. Everything remained as before".<ref>Gilboa, Jehoshua A. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=8RaS7tCRt20C A Language Silenced: The Suppression of Hebrew Literature and Culture in the Soviet Union]''. Rutherford [N.J.]: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1982. p. 282</ref>
The Yevsektsiya sought to draw Jewish workers into the revolutionary organisations; chairman [[Semyon Dimanstein]], at the first conference in October 1918, pointed out that, "when the October revolution came, the Jewish workers had remained totally passive ... and a large part of them were even against the revolution. The revolution did not reach the Jewish street. Everything remained as before".<ref>Gilboa, Jehoshua A. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=8RaS7tCRt20C A Language Silenced: The Suppression of Hebrew Literature and Culture in the Soviet Union]''. Rutherford [N.J.]: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1982. p. 282</ref>


==History==
==History==
The Yevsektsiya remained fairly isolated from both the Jewish intelligentsia and working class.<ref name=Shindler>{{cite book|last1=Shindler|first1=Colin|title=Israel and the European Left|date=2012|publisher=Continuum|location=New York|page=30}}</ref> The sections were staffed mostly by Jewish ex-members of the [[General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia|Bund]], which eventually joined the Soviet Communist Party as the ''Kombund'' in 1921,<ref name="Pipes"/> and the [[United Jewish Socialist Workers Party]].<ref name = "levin" />
The Yevsektsiya remained fairly isolated from both the Jewish intelligentsia and working class.<ref name=Shindler>{{cite book|last1=Shindler|first1=Colin|title=Israel and the European Left|date=2012|publisher=Continuum|location=New York|page=30}}</ref> The sections were staffed mostly by Jewish ex-members of the [[General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia|Bund]], which eventually joined the Soviet Communist Party as the ''Kombund'' in 1921,<ref name="Pipes"/> and the [[United Jewish Socialist Workers Party]].<ref name = "levin" />


The Yevsektsiya deemed Russian [[Zionist]] organisations to be counter-revolutionary, and agitated for them to be shut down. Delegates to a Zionist congress in March 1919 complained about administrative harassment of their activities - not from government agencies, but from Jewish communists.<ref name = "levin" /> At the Yevsektsiya's second conference in July 1919, it demanded that the Zionist organizations be dissolved.<ref name = "levin">{{cite book| author = Nora Levin| title = Jews in the Soviet Union Since 1917: Paradox of Survival| url = https://books.google.com/?id=7emcMgEACAAJ&pg=PA61| date = 1991-01-01| publisher = NYU Press| isbn = 978-0-8147-5051-3| page = 89 }}</ref> After an appeal from the Zionists, the [[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] issued a decree in that the Zionist organisation was not counter-revolutionary and its activities should not be disrupted.<ref name=Shindler /> The campaign continued, however. In 1920, the first [[All-Russian Zionist Congress]] was disrupted by members of the [[Cheka]] and a female representative of the Yevsektsiya.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rafaeli (Tsentsiper) |first=, Aryeh |title=במאבק לגאולה Ba-ma’ava·k li-ge’ulah: sefer ha-Tsiyonut ha-Rusit mi-mahpekhat 1917 ad yamenu, In the Struggle for Redemption: Book of Russian Zionism from. 1917 until our times ] |year=1956 |publisher=Hotsaat Dvir ve-Iyonot, [[Tel Aviv]]|pages=211}}</ref> At its third conference in July 1921, the Yevsektsiya demanded the "total liquidation" of Zionism.<ref name = "levin" />
Former elements of the Bund and Faraynigte were historically hostile to Zionism. As they later joined Yevsektsiya, they deemed Russian [[Zionist]] organisations to be counter-revolutionary, and critiqued them. Delegates to a Zionist congress in March 1919 complained about administrative harassment of their activities - not from government agencies, but from Jewish communists.<ref name = "levin" /> At the Yevsektsiya's second conference in July 1919, it demanded that the Zionist organizations be dissolved.<ref name = "levin">{{cite book| author = Nora Levin| title = Jews in the Soviet Union Since 1917: Paradox of Survival| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7emcMgEACAAJ&pg=PA61| date = 1991-01-01| publisher = NYU Press| isbn = 978-0-8147-5051-3| page = 89 }}</ref> After an appeal from the Zionists, the [[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] issued a decree in that the Zionist organisation was not counter-revolutionary and its activities should not be disrupted.<ref name=Shindler /> The campaign continued, however. In 1920, the first [[All-Russian Zionist Congress]] was disrupted by members of the [[Cheka]] and a female representative of the Yevsektsiya.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rafaeli (Tsentsiper) |first=Aryeh |title=במאבק לגאולה Ba-ma'ava·k li-ge'ulah: sefer ha-Tsiyonut ha-Rusit mi-mahpekhat 1917 ad yamenu, In the Struggle for Redemption: Book of Russian Zionism from. 1917 until our times ] |year=1956 |publisher=Hotsaat Dvir ve-Iyonot, [[Tel Aviv]]|pages=211}}</ref> At its third conference in July 1921, the Yevsektsiya demanded the "total liquidation" of Zionism.<ref name = "levin" />


According to [[Richard Pipes]], "in time, every Jewish cultural and social organization came under assault". Acting together with local Soviet authorities, Evsektsii organized seizures of synagogues in Gomel, Minsk and Kharkov, which were subsequently converted to clubs or Communist centers.<ref name="Pipes"/> They particularly fought against the sixth [[Chabad]] Rebbe [[Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn]] who urged his followers to resist to their last drop of blood attempts to uproot religion which went against [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist]] ideology, causing many of them to be arrested and sometimes killed, eventually causing the arrest of the Rebbe himself in 1927.
According to [[Richard Pipes]], "in time, every Jewish cultural and social organization came under assault".<ref name="Pipes"/> The section in [[Rostov-on-Don]] persecuted local Jewish leaders, both Zionist and religious, and especially the sixth [[Chabad]] rebbe [[Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn]]<ref>https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Rostov-on-Don "With the establishment of Soviet authority, the local Yevsektsiia in the 1920s promoted the closure of Jewish institutions; it also persecuted Zionist and religious leaders, above all, Yosef Yitsḥak Shneerson."</ref>


The Yevsektsiya attempted to use its influence to cut off state funds to [[Habima Theatre]], branding it counter-revolutionary.<ref name=Shindler /> The theatre left Russia to go on tour in 1926, before settling in [[Mandatory Palestine]] in 1928 to become [[Israel]]'s national theatre.<ref name="commentarymagazine.com">Politzer, Heinz (August 1948). "[https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/habimah-in-new-yorka-great-theater-enters-a-new-period Habimah in New York: A Great Theater Enters a New Period]". ''Commentary Magazine''. Retrieved 2017-03-06.</ref>
The Yevsektsiya attempted to use its influence to cut off state funds to [[Habima Theatre]], branding it counter-revolutionary.<ref name=Shindler /> The theatre left Russia to go on tour in 1926, before settling in [[Mandatory Palestine]] in 1928 to become [[Israel]]'s national theatre.<ref name="commentarymagazine.com">Politzer, Heinz (August 1948). "[https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/habimah-in-new-yorka-great-theater-enters-a-new-period Habimah in New York: A Great Theater Enters a New Period]". ''Commentary Magazine''. Retrieved 2017-03-06.</ref>
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* [[Jewish Communist Party (Poalei Zion)]]<ref>Leon, A., "The Jewish Question" 1970, Pathfinder Press, New York, p. 1 - 26</ref><ref>Trotsky, L., "The Russian Revolution," 1959, Doubleday, New York</ref>
* [[Jewish Communist Party (Poalei Zion)]]<ref>Leon, A., "The Jewish Question" 1970, Pathfinder Press, New York, p. 1 - 26</ref><ref>Trotsky, L., "The Russian Revolution," 1959, Doubleday, New York</ref>
* [[Bundism]]
* [[Bundism]]
*[[Central Bureau of the Lithuanian Sections of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)]]


==References==
==References==
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{{Communist Party of the Soviet Union}}
{{Communist Party of the Soviet Union}}
{{Jews in the Soviet Union}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Anti-Judaism]]
[[Category:Anti-Judaism]]
[[Category:Anti-Orthodox Judaism sentiment]]
[[Category:Bodies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Bodies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:History of Zionism]]
[[Category:History of Zionism]]
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[[Category:Jewish atheism]]
[[Category:Jewish atheism]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Secular Jewish culture in Russia]]
[[Category:Secular Jewish culture in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Soviet phraseology]]
[[Category:Soviet phraseology]]

Latest revision as of 23:00, 10 January 2024

A Yevsektsiya[1] (Russian: евсекция[2], IPA: [jɪfˈsʲektsɨjə]; Yiddish: יעווסעקציע) was a Jewish section of the Soviet Communist Party. These sections were established in fall of 1918 with consent of Vladimir Lenin to carry communist revolution to the Jewish masses.[3] The Yevsektsiya published a Yiddish periodical, der Emes.[4]

Mission

[edit]

The Yevsektsiya sought to draw Jewish workers into the revolutionary organisations; chairman Semyon Dimanstein, at the first conference in October 1918, pointed out that, "when the October revolution came, the Jewish workers had remained totally passive ... and a large part of them were even against the revolution. The revolution did not reach the Jewish street. Everything remained as before".[5]

History

[edit]

The Yevsektsiya remained fairly isolated from both the Jewish intelligentsia and working class.[4] The sections were staffed mostly by Jewish ex-members of the Bund, which eventually joined the Soviet Communist Party as the Kombund in 1921,[3] and the United Jewish Socialist Workers Party.[6]

Former elements of the Bund and Faraynigte were historically hostile to Zionism. As they later joined Yevsektsiya, they deemed Russian Zionist organisations to be counter-revolutionary, and critiqued them. Delegates to a Zionist congress in March 1919 complained about administrative harassment of their activities - not from government agencies, but from Jewish communists.[6] At the Yevsektsiya's second conference in July 1919, it demanded that the Zionist organizations be dissolved.[6] After an appeal from the Zionists, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee issued a decree in that the Zionist organisation was not counter-revolutionary and its activities should not be disrupted.[4] The campaign continued, however. In 1920, the first All-Russian Zionist Congress was disrupted by members of the Cheka and a female representative of the Yevsektsiya.[7] At its third conference in July 1921, the Yevsektsiya demanded the "total liquidation" of Zionism.[6]

According to Richard Pipes, "in time, every Jewish cultural and social organization came under assault".[3] The section in Rostov-on-Don persecuted local Jewish leaders, both Zionist and religious, and especially the sixth Chabad rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn[8]

The Yevsektsiya attempted to use its influence to cut off state funds to Habima Theatre, branding it counter-revolutionary.[4] The theatre left Russia to go on tour in 1926, before settling in Mandatory Palestine in 1928 to become Israel's national theatre.[9]

Dissolution

[edit]

The Yevsektsia were disbanded as no longer needed in 1929. Many leading members were murdered during the Great Purge of the late 1930s, including Chairman Dimanstein.[3] Executed in 1938, he was posthumously rehabilitated in 1955, two years after the death of Joseph Stalin.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Also romanized Evsektsiya.
  2. ^ A syllabic abbreviation for Jewish section (Russian: Еврейская секция).
  3. ^ a b c d Pipes, Richard, Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime, New York: Vintage Books, Random House Inc., 1995, ISBN 0-394-50242-6, page 363
  4. ^ a b c d Shindler, Colin (2012). Israel and the European Left. New York: Continuum. p. 30.
  5. ^ Gilboa, Jehoshua A. A Language Silenced: The Suppression of Hebrew Literature and Culture in the Soviet Union. Rutherford [N.J.]: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1982. p. 282
  6. ^ a b c d Nora Levin (1 January 1991). Jews in the Soviet Union Since 1917: Paradox of Survival. NYU Press. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-8147-5051-3.
  7. ^ Rafaeli (Tsentsiper), Aryeh (1956). במאבק לגאולה Ba-ma'ava·k li-ge'ulah: sefer ha-Tsiyonut ha-Rusit mi-mahpekhat 1917 ad yamenu, In the Struggle for Redemption: Book of Russian Zionism from. 1917 until our times ]. Hotsaat Dvir ve-Iyonot, Tel Aviv. p. 211.
  8. ^ https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Rostov-on-Don "With the establishment of Soviet authority, the local Yevsektsiia in the 1920s promoted the closure of Jewish institutions; it also persecuted Zionist and religious leaders, above all, Yosef Yitsḥak Shneerson."
  9. ^ Politzer, Heinz (August 1948). "Habimah in New York: A Great Theater Enters a New Period". Commentary Magazine. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  10. ^ Leon, A., "The Jewish Question" 1970, Pathfinder Press, New York, p. 1 - 26
  11. ^ Trotsky, L., "The Russian Revolution," 1959, Doubleday, New York

Further reading

[edit]
  • Gitelman, Zvi. Jewish Nationality and Soviet Politics: The Jewish Sections of the CPSU, Princeton, 1972.
  • Dubnow, Simon. History of the Jews in Russia and Poland from the earliest times until the present day in three volumes, updated by author in 1938.
  • Дубнов, Семён Маркович. Новейшая история еврейского народа (1789—1914) в 3х томах. (С эпилогом 1938 г.). Иерусалим-Москва, Мосты культуры, 2002. (in Russian)
  • Костырченко, Геннадий. Тайная политика Сталина. Власть и антисемитизм. Москва, 2001.
  • Евреи в Советской России (1917—1967). Иерусалим, Библиотека-Алия, 1975. (in Russian)
[edit]
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