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104-840: The history of the Jews in the Soviet Union is inextricably linked to much earlier expansionist policies of the Russian Empire conquering and ruling the eastern half of the European continent already before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. "For two centuries – wrote Zvi Gitelman – millions of Jews had lived under one entity, the Russian Empire and [ its successor state ] the USSR . They had now come under

208-548: A New Roman Empire , based around the Mediterranean . Italy invaded Ethiopia as early as 1935, Albania in early 1938, and later Greece. Spazio vitale ("living space") was the territorial expansionist concept of Italian Fascism . It was analogous to Nazi Germany's concept of Lebensraum and the United States' concept of "Manifest Destiny". Fascist ideologist Giuseppe Bottai likened this historic mission to

312-497: A 2023 study, important historical instances of territorial expansion have frequently happened because actors on the periphery of a state have acted without authorization from their superiors at the center of the state. Leaders subsequently find it difficult to withdraw from the newly captured areas due to "sunk costs, domestic political pressure, and national honor." Every part of the world has experienced expansionism. The religious imperialism and colonialism of Islam started with

416-505: A city of many languages. Initially most of its residents spoke Ruthenian (which later developed into modern Belarusian ). However, after 1569 the official language was Polish . In the 19th-century Russian became the official language and by the end of that century it had become the language of administration, schools and newspapers. The Belarusian national revival increased interest in the Belarusian language – its use has grown since

520-523: A full invasion of Ukraine and annexed its southeastern provinces . Meanwhile, Russia has established domination over Belarus . The Russian state is also accused of neo-colonialism in Africa , mainly through the activities of the Wagner Group and Africa Corps . Turkey's foreign policy is characterized, especially since 2010s by an aggressive expansionism, irredentism and interventionism in

624-660: A list of cities enjoying certain privileges, and in 1499, during the reign of his son, Alexander I Jagiellon , Minsk received town privileges under Magdeburg law . In 1569, after the Union of Lublin , the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland merged into a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . By the middle of the 16th century, Minsk was an important economic and cultural centre in

728-677: A mosque. According to the 1897 Russian census , the city had 91,494 inhabitants, with some 47,561 Jews constituting more than half of the city population. In the early years of the 20th century, Minsk was a major centre for the worker's movement in Belarus. The 1st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party , the forerunner to the Bolsheviks and eventually the CPSU , was held there in 1898. It

832-644: A nation. Further expansion far beyond the American continent, in the Philippines , at the turn of the century which was driven by a paternalistic United States as McKinley's objectives, he declared in mid-1899, were fourfold: "Peace first, then a government of law and order honestly administered, full security to life, property, and occupation under the Stars and Stripes." However, the Philippines government

936-497: A number of Soviet administrative buildings became government centres. During the early and mid-1990s, Minsk was hit by an economic crisis and many development projects were halted, resulting in high unemployment and underemployment. Since the late 1990s, there have been improvements in transport and infrastructure, and a housing boom has been underway since 2002. On the outskirts of Minsk, new mikroraions of residential development have been built. Metro lines have been extended, and

1040-504: A religious destiny in the form of a Promised Land ), perhaps tinged with a self-interested pragmatism that targeted lands will eventually belong to the potential invader anyway. Ibn Khaldun wrote that newly established dynasties, because they have social cohesion or Asabiyyah , are able to seek "expansion to the limit." The Soviet economist Nikolai Kondratiev theorized that capitalism advances in 50-year expansion/stagnation cycles, driven by technological innovation. The UK, Germany,

1144-604: A riot caused by the Mexican War. Many in the Cheyennes , Comanches, Kiowas, and Pawnees tribes died from smallpox in 1839–1840, measles and whooping cough in 1845, and cholera in 1849, which had been brought by American settlers. The buffalo herds, sparse grasses, and rare waters were also depleted following the war as increased traffic by settlers moving to California during the Gold Rush . The People's Republic of China

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1248-515: A river name Měn (<  Mēnŭ ). The resulting form of the name, Minsk (spelled either Минскъ or Мѣнскъ), was taken over both in Russian (modern spelling: Минск) and Polish ( Mińsk ), and under the influence of Russian this form also became official in Belarusian. The direct continuation of the name in Belarusian is Miensk ( Менск , IPA: [ˈmʲɛnsk] ), which some Belarusian-speakers continue to use as their preferred name for

1352-521: A similar case). The Svislach River valley was the settlement boundary between two early East Slavic tribes – the Krivichs and Dregovichs . By 980, the area was incorporated into the early medieval Principality of Polotsk , one of the earliest East Slavic principalities of Kievan Rus' . Minsk was first mentioned in the name form Měneskъ (Мѣнескъ) in the Primary Chronicle for

1456-751: Is accused of expansionism through its operations and claims in the South China Sea , which are concurrently claimed in part by Vietnam , the Philippines , Brunei , Malaysia and the Republic of China . Israel was established on May 14, 1948, following the end of World War II and the Holocaust . Its government has occupied the West Bank , the Gaza Strip , the Golan Heights , and

1560-536: Is frequent, especially in the autumn and spring. Minsk receives 686 millimetres (27.0 in) of precipitation annually, of which one-third falls during the cold period of the year (as snow or rain) and two-thirds during the warm period. Throughout the year, winds are generally westerly or northwesterly, bringing cool and moist air from the Atlantic. The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Centre of Radioactive and Environmental Control. During 2003–2008

1664-518: Is open to visitors. Minsk has the highest crime rate in Belarus ;– 193.5 crimes per 10,000 citizens. 20–25% of all serious crimes in Belarus, 55% of bribes and 67% of mobile phone thefts are committed in Minsk. However, attorney general Grigory Vasilevich stated that the homicide rate in Minsk in 2008 was "relatively fine". The crime rate grew significantly in 2009 and 2010: for example,

1768-545: The Einsatzgruppen , the mobile killing units, were responsible for the mass murder of up to a million Ukrainian Jews . Following the atrocities of World War II , there was a lot of antisemitic violence in Ukraine, diminishing after the period known as Glasnost . The number of Jews in Ukraine has drastically decreased since the late 20th century. The 2001 census showed that 380,000 Jews left Ukraine since 1989, which

1872-527: The 2010 presidential election were imprisoned in the KGB jail along with other prominent politicians and civil activists. Ales Michalevic , who was kept in this jail, accused the KGB of using torture. On 15 November 2020, more than 1,000 protesters were arrested during an anti-government protest. Protesters took to the streets in the capital, Minsk, following the death of an opposition activist, Roman Bondarenko. The activist died after allegedly being beaten up by

1976-651: The British Mandate of Palestine . During the first years of Soviet occupation of Belarus, Jews were able to get managing positions in the country. In WWII, atrocities against the Jewish population in the German-conquered areas began almost immediately, with the dispatch of Einsatzgruppen (task groups) to round up Jews and shoot them. In the second half of the 20th century, there was a large wave of Belarusian Jews immigrating to Israel (see Aliyah from

2080-742: The Caucasus countries – Armenians , Azerbaijanis and Georgians each numbering about 2,000 to 5,000. They began migrating to Minsk in the 1970s, and more immigrants have joined them since. Many work in the retail trade in open-air markets. A small but prominent Arab community has developed in Minsk, primarily represented by recent economic immigrants from Syria , Lebanon , Egypt , Algeria , etc. (In many cases, they are graduates of Minsk universities who decide to settle in Belarus and bring over their families). A small community of Romani , numbering about 2,000, are settled in suburbs of north-western and southern Minsk. Throughout its history Minsk has been

2184-509: The Caucasus region were crushed. A Polish revolt in 1830 was ruthlessly crushed. Russian troops in 1848 crossed into Austria-Hungary to put down the Hungarian Revolt . Russification policies were implemented to weaken minority ethnic groups. Pan-Slavist solidarity led to further war with Turkey (the sick man of Europe ) in 1853 provoked Britain and France into invading Crimea . In Italy, Benito Mussolini sought to create

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2288-658: The Caucasus . Georgian Jews are one of the oldest communities in Georgia, tracing their migration into the country during the Babylonian captivity in 6th century BC. In 1801, the Russian Empire annexed Eastern Georgia . In the beginning of the 19th century, Ashkenazi Russian Jews were forced to move to Georgia by the Russian government. The Ashkenazi Jews and the Georgian Jews began establishing contact with each other, but relations were strained. Georgian Jews viewed

2392-678: The Eastern Mediterranean and the neighboring Cyprus , Greece , Iraq , Syria , as well as in Africa , including Libya , and Nagorno-Karabakh . Turkey has occupied foreign territories and stationed troops in them, following the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus , the Turkish occupation of northern Syria since 2016 and the Turkish presence in northern Iraq since 2018. In the 19th century, theories of racial unity evolved such as Pan-Germanism , Pan-Slavism , and Pan-Turkism and

2496-616: The Japanese Empire , and the Balkans countries of Albania ( Greater Albania ), Bulgaria ( Greater Bulgaria ), Croatia ( Greater Croatia ), Hungary ( Greater Hungary ), Romania ( Greater Romania ) and Serbia ( Greater Serbia ). In American politics after the War of 1812 , Manifest Destiny was the ideological movement during America's expansion West . The movement incorporated expansionist nationalism with continentalism, with

2600-547: The Mexican War in 1846–1848 being attributed to it. Despite championing American settlers and traders as the people whom the government's military would be aiding, the Bent, St. Vrain and Company stated to be the most influential Indian trading company prior to the Mexican War, underwent a decline because of the and of traffic from American settlers by Beyreis. The company also lost the partner Charles Bent on January 19, 1847, to

2704-652: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . It was also an important centre for the Eastern Orthodox Church . Following the Union of Brest , both the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Roman Catholic Church increased in influence. In 1655, Minsk was conquered by troops of Tsar Alexei of Russia. Russians governed the city until 1660 when it was regained by John II Casimir , Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland. By

2808-753: The Principality of Polotsk disintegrated into smaller fiefs. The Principality of Minsk was established by one of the Polotsk dynasty princes. In 1129, the Principality of Minsk was annexed by Kiev , the dominant principality of Kievan Rus' ; however in 1146 the Polotsk dynasty regained control of the principality. By 1150, Minsk rivalled Polotsk as the major city in the former Principality of Polotsk. The princes of Minsk and Polotsk were engaged in years of struggle trying to unite all lands previously under

2912-763: The Second Partition of Poland . From 1919 to 1991, after the Russian Revolution , Minsk was the capital of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic , which became a republic of the Soviet Union in 1922. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union , Minsk became the capital of the newly independent Republic of Belarus. The Old East Slavic name of the town was Мѣньскъ (i.e. Měnsk < Early Proto-Slavic or Late Indo-European Mēnĭskŭ ), derived from

3016-731: The Sinai Peninsula since the Six-Day War , although the Sinai was later returned to Egypt in 1982 and Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Israel also occupied southern Lebanon from February 1985 to May 2000. Iran , the largest Shi'ite state, has extended its influence across the entire Middle East, including Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan by arming local militias. Russia under Vladimir Putin has been described as expansionist, especially since

3120-430: The Soviet Union . To house the expanding population, Minsk spread beyond its historical boundaries. Its surrounding villages were absorbed and rebuilt as mikroraions , districts of high-density apartment housing. Throughout the 1990s, after the fall of Communism, the city continued to change. As the capital of a newly independent country, Minsk quickly acquired the attributes of a major city. Embassies were opened, and

3224-840: The early Muslim conquests , was followed by the religious Caliphate expansionisms, and ended with the Partition of the Ottoman Empire . In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Ottoman Empire entered a period of expansion . The Ottomans ended the Eastern Roman Empire with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed the Conqueror . The militarist and nationalistic reign of Russian Czar Nicholas I (1825–1855) led to wars of conquest against Persia (1826–1828) and Turkey (1828–1829) . Various rebel tribes in

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3328-508: The nation state evolved, especially in reference to the inherent rights of the governed, more complex justifications arose. State-collapse anarchy , reunification or pan-nationalism are sometimes used to justify and legitimize expansionism when the explicit goal is to reconquer territories that have been lost or to take over ancestral lands. Lacking a viable historical claim of this nature, would-be expansionists may instead promote ideologies of promised lands (such as manifest destiny or

3432-401: The 1569 Polish–Lithuanian union , the city became a destination for migrating Poles (who worked as administrators, clergy, teachers and soldiers) and Jews ( Ashkenazim , who worked in the retail trade and as craftsmen, as other opportunities were prohibited by discrimination laws). During the last centuries of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , many Minsk residents became polonised , adopting

3536-402: The 1830s, major streets and squares of Minsk were cobbled and paved. A first public library was opened in 1836, and a fire brigade was put into operation in 1837. In 1838, the first local newspaper, Minskiye gubernskiye vedomosti ("Minsk province news") went into circulation. The first theatre was established in 1844. By 1860, Minsk was an important trading city with a population of 27,000. There

3640-404: The 1890s, especially among the intelligentsia . In the 1920s and early 1930s Belarusian was the major language of Minsk, including use for administration and education (both secondary and tertiary). However, since the late 1930s Russian again began gaining dominance. A short period of Belarusian national revival in the early 1990s saw a rise in the numbers of Belarusian speakers. However, in 1994

3744-639: The 1960s and 1970s changed the ethnic composition further. By 1979 Belarusians made up 68.4% of the city's residents. Other ethnic groups included Russians (22.2%), Jews (3.4%), Ukrainians (3.4%), Poles (1.2%) and Tatars (0.2%). According to the 1989 census, 82% percent of Minsk residents have been born in Belarus. Of those, 43% have been born in Minsk and 39% – in other parts of Belarus. 6.2% of Minsk residents came from regions of western Belarus (Grodno and Brest Regions) and 13% – from eastern Belarus (Mogilev, Vitebsk and Gomel Regions). 21.4% of residents came from central Belarus (Minsk Region). According to

3848-454: The 1999 census, Belarusians make up 79.3% of the city's residents. Other ethnic groups include Russians (15.7%), Ukrainians (2.4%), Poles (1.1%) and Jews (0.6%). The Russian and Ukrainian populations of Minsk peaked in the late 1980s (at 325,000 and 55,000 respectively). After the break-up of the Soviet Union many of them chose to move to their respective mother countries, although some families had been in Minsk for generations. Another factor in

3952-451: The 2010s. Putin said that the dissolution of the Soviet Union had "robbed" Russia of territories and made Russians "the biggest ethnic group in the world to be divided by borders", calling this an "outrageous historical injustice". Russia occupies parts of three neighboring countries . In 2008 Russia invaded Georgia and occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia . In 2014 it occupied and then annexed Crimea from Ukraine. In 2022 it launched

4056-402: The 91,000 residents. Other substantial ethnic groups were Russians (25.5%), Poles (11.4%) and Belarusians (9%). The latter figure may be not accurate, as some local Belarusians were likely counted as Russians. A small traditional community of Lipka Tatars had been living in Minsk for centuries. Between the 1880s and 1930s, many Jews, as well as peasants from other backgrounds, emigrated from

4160-581: The Ashkenazim as godless and secular, while the Ashkenazim looked down on the Georgian Jews. Zionism was a uniting cause for the two groups. Beginning in 1863, groups of Jews began making aliyah , mostly for religious reasons. The Red Army invaded Georgia in February 1921, prompting a mass exodus from the region. Jews living in the Ukrainian SSR underwent Sovietization , together with

4264-580: The Byelorussian SSR, one of the founding republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . A programme of reconstruction and development was begun in 1922. By 1924, there were 29 factories in operation; schools, museums, theatres and libraries were also established. Throughout the 1920s and the 1930s, Minsk saw rapid development with dozens of new factories being built and new schools, colleges, higher education establishments, hospitals, theatres and cinemas being opened. During this period, Minsk

History of the Jews in the Soviet Union - Misplaced Pages Continue

4368-643: The Germans, especially at the beginning of the occupation, but by 1942, Minsk had become a major centre of the Soviet partisan resistance movement against the invasion, in what is known as the German-Soviet War . For this role, Minsk was awarded the title Hero City in 1974. Minsk was recaptured by Soviet troops on 3 July 1944 in Minsk Offensive as part of Operation Bagration . The city

4472-463: The Holocaust . From more than half the population of the city, the percentage of Jews dropped to less than 10% more than ten years after the war. After its limited population peaked in the 1970s, continuing anti-Semitism under the Soviet Union and increasing nationalism in Belarus caused most Jews to emigrate to Israel and western countries in the 1980s; by 1999, less than 1% of the population of Minsk

4576-596: The Sands portrays the threatening nature of the German Empire. Elspeth Huxley 's novel Red Strangers shows the effects on local culture of colonial expansion into Sub-Saharan Africa . Minsk Minsk ( Belarusian : Мінск [mʲinsk] ; Russian : Минск [mʲinsk] ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus , located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As

4680-477: The Soviet Union in 1941. Expansionist nationalism is an aggressive and radical form of nationalism that incorporates autonomous patriotic sentiments with a belief in expansionism. The term was coined during the late 19th century as European powers indulged in the Scramble for Africa , but it has been most associated with militarist governments during the 20th century including Fascist Italy , Nazi Germany ,

4784-444: The Soviet Union in the 1970s ), as well as to the United States. In 1979, there were 135,400 Jews in Belarus; a decade later, 112,000 were left. The collapse of the Soviet Union and Belarusian independence saw most of the community, along with the majority of the former Soviet Union's Jewish population, leave for Israel (see Russian immigration to Israel in the 1990s ). The 1999 census estimated that there were only 29,000 Jews left in

4888-486: The Soviet authorities on 14 June 1941. In WWII, 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. The four Estonians held most responsible for the murders at Kalevi-Liiva were accused at war crimes trials in 1961 . Two were later executed;

4992-676: The US, Japan and now China have been at the forefront of successive waves. Crane Brinton in The Anatomy of Revolution saw the revolution as a driver of expansionism in, for example, Stalinist Russia, the United States and the Napoleonic Empire. Christopher Booker believed that wishful thinking can generate a "dream phase" of expansionism such as in the European Union , which is short-lived and unreliable. According to

5096-435: The US, and Germany. Today only about 10,000 Jews live in Minsk. The traditional minorities of Poles and Tatars have remained at much the same size (17,000 and 3,000 respectively). Rural Poles have migrated from the western part of Belarus to Minsk, and many Tatars have moved to Minsk from Tatarstan . Some more recent ethnic minority communities have developed as a result of immigration. The most prominent are immigrants from

5200-680: The administrative centre of Generalbezirk Weißruthenien . Communists and sympathisers were killed or imprisoned, both locally and after being transported to Germany. Homes were requisitioned to house invading German forces. Thousands starved as food was seized by the German Army and paid work was scarce. Minsk was the site of one of the largest Nazi-run ghettos in the Second World War, temporarily housing over 100,000 Jews (see Minsk Ghetto ). Some anti-Soviet residents of Minsk, who hoped that Belarus could regain independence, did support

5304-730: The capital of the Byelorussian SSR , though later in 1919 (see Operation Minsk ) and again in 1920, the city was controlled by the Second Polish Republic during the course of the Polish-Bolshevik War between 8 August 1919 and 11 July 1920 and again between 14 October 1920 and 19 March 1921. Under the terms of the Peace of Riga , Minsk was handed back to the Russian SFSR and became the capital of

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5408-409: The capital of the Principality of Minsk , an appanage of the Principality of Polotsk , before being annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1242. It received town privileges in 1499. From 1569, it was the capital of Minsk Voivodeship , an administrative division of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . It was part of the territories annexed by the Russian Empire in 1793, as a consequence of

5512-423: The capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administrative centre of Minsk Region and Minsk District . As of 2024, it has a population of about two million, making Minsk the 11th-most populous city in Europe . Minsk is one of the administrative capitals of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). First mentioned in 1067, Minsk became

5616-495: The census, 41,288 Jews resided in Azerbaijan that year. Many Jewish émigrés from Azerbaijan settled in Tel-Aviv and Haifa . There are relatively large communities of Mountain Jewish expatriates from Azerbaijan in New York City and Toronto . Similar to many immigrant communities of the Czarist and Soviet eras in Azerbaijan , Ashkenazi Jews appear to be linguistically Russified . The majority of Ashkenazi Jews speak Russian as their first language with Azeri sometimes being spoken as

5720-534: The city grew rapidly as a result of massive industrialisation. Since the 1960s Minsk's population has also grown apace, reaching 1 million in 1972 and 1.5 million in 1986. Construction of Minsk Metro began on 16 June 1977, and the system was opened to the public on 30 June 1984, becoming the ninth metro system in the Soviet Union. The rapid population growth was primarily driven by mass migration of young, unskilled workers from rural areas of Belarus, as well as by migration of skilled workers from other parts of

5824-465: The city to the United States as part of a Belarusian diaspora . The high mortality of the First World War and the Second World War affected the demographics of the city, particularly the destruction of Jews under the Nazi occupation of the Second World War. Working through local populations, Germans instituted deportation of Jewish citizens to concentration camps, murdering most of them there. The Jewish community of Minsk suffered catastrophic losses in

5928-420: The city. When Belarus was under Polish rule, the names Mińsk Litewski ("Minsk of Lithuania ") and Mińsk Białoruski ("Minsk of Belarus") were used to differentiate this place name from Mińsk Mazowiecki 'Minsk in Masovia '. In modern Polish, Mińsk without an attribute usually refers to the city in Belarus, which is about 50 times bigger than Mińsk Mazowiecki; (cf. Brest-Litovsk and Brześć Kujawski for

6032-872: The country's Jewish population has shrunk to 750. Despite small numbers, a high intermarriage rate, and relative isolation, a great deal of enthusiasm exists to help the community meet its needs. There are about 100 Jews presently living in Armenia , mainly in the capital Yerevan . They are mostly of Ashkenazi origin and some are Mizrahi Georgian Jews . The History of the Jews in Azerbaijan ( Judeo-Tat : çuhuro / жугьуро / ז'אוּהאוּרו ; Yiddish : אַזערבייַדזאַניש יִידן ; Azerbaijani : cuhudlar, yəhudilər ; Russian: Азербайджанские евреи ) dates back to Late Antiquity . Historically Jews in Azerbaijan have been represented by various subgroups, mainly Mountain Jews , Ashkenazi Jews and Georgian Jews . After Sovietization all Zionism -related activities including those of cultural nature that were carried out in Hebrew were banned. In

6136-404: The country. However, local Jewish organizations put the number at 50,000, and the Jewish Agency believes that there are 70,000. About half of the country's Jews live in Minsk . Despite anti-semitic government policies, national Jewish organizations, local cultural groups, religious schools, charitable organizations, and organizations for war veterans and Holocaust survivors have been formed. Since

6240-446: The decisive role of American expansionism. The free land enabled economic independence (as opposed to political dominance by landlords in Europe) and popular democracy in America. The success of expansionism led to a deep belief in the superiority of the "American way of life," as shown by how it attracted tens of millions of immigrants. Economic success was supplemented by the confidence that Anglo Saxons were simply better at governing

6344-420: The deeds of the ancient Romans . After 1937, Nazi Germany under Hitler laid claim to Sudetenland , unification ( Anschluss ) with Austria in 1938 and the occupation of the whole of the Czech lands the following year. After war broke out, Hitler and Stalin divided Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union . In a Drang nach Osten aimed at achieving Lebensraum for the German people, Germany invaded

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6448-420: The early 1920s, a few hundred Mountain Jewish families from Azerbaijan and Dagestan left for Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv . The next aliyah did not take place until the 1970s, after the ban on Jewish immigration to Israel was lifted (see Refusenik ). Between 1972 and 1978 around 3,000 people left Azerbaijan for Israel. 1970 was the demographic peak for Azerbaijani Jews after World War II ; according to

6552-436: The early 19th century, Jews began arriving from Poland and Iran , creating Ashkenazic and Mizrahi communities in Yerevan . More Jews moved to Armenia during its period as a Soviet republic finding more tolerance in the area than in Russia or Ukraine . After World War II , the Jewish population rose to approximately 5,000. However, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union , many left due to inadequate services and today

6656-472: The end of the Polish-Russian War , Minsk had only about 2,000 residents and just 300 houses. The second wave of devastation occurred during the Great Northern War , when Minsk was occupied in 1708 and 1709 by the army of Charles XII of Sweden and then by the army of Peter the Great . The last decades of the Polish rule involved decline or very slow development, since Minsk had become a small provincial town of little economic or military significance. Minsk

6760-404: The end of the 19th century, many Belarusian Jews were part of the general flight of Jews from Eastern Europe to the New World due to conflicts and pogroms engulfing the Russian Empire and the anti-Semitism of the Russian czars . Millions of Jews, including tens of thousands of Jews from Belarus, emigrated to the United States of America and South Africa. A small number also emigrated to

6864-414: The end of the last Ice Age. There are six smaller rivers within the city limits, all part of the Black Sea basin. Minsk is in the area of mixed forests typical of most of Belarus. Pinewood and mixed forests border the edge of the city, especially in the north and east. Some of the forests were preserved as parks (for instance, the Chelyuskinites Park ) as the city grew. The city was initially built on

6968-511: The fact that in the late nineteenth century, men saw supporting the military as the ultimate test of being a man. As a result, expansionism was a way of projecting manliness onto the electorate and in to society. George Orwell 's satirical novel Animal Farm is a fictional depiction, based on Stalin 's Soviet Union, of a new elite seizing power, establishing new rules and hierarchies, and expanding economically while they compromise their ideals. Robert Erskine Childers 's novel The Riddle of

7072-454: The hills, which allowed for defensive fortifications, and the western parts of the city are the most hilly. In 5 km (3.1 mi) from the northwestern edge of city lies large Zaslawskaye reservoir , often called the Minsk sea. It is the second largest reservoir in Belarus, constructed in 1956. Minsk has a warm summer humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfb ), although its weather is oftentimes unpredictable, given its location between

7176-450: The jurisdiction of fifteen states, some of which had never existed and others that had passed out of existence in 1939." Before the revolutions of 1989 which resulted in the end of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe, a number of these now sovereign countries constituted the component republics of the Soviet Union . The history of the Jews in Armenia dates back more than 2,000 years. After Eastern Armenia came under Russian rule in

7280-426: The language of the dominant Poles and assimilating to its culture. After the second partition of Poland-Lithuania in 1793, Minsk and its larger region became part of the Russian Empire . The Russians dominated the city's culture as had the Poles in the earlier centuries. At the time of the 1897 census under the Russian Empire, Jews were the largest ethnic group in Minsk, at 52% of the population, with 47,500 of

7384-446: The mass immigration of the 1990s, there has been some continuous immigration to Israel. In 2002, 974 Belarusians moved to Israel, and between 2003 and 2005, 4,854 followed suit. The history of the Jews in Estonian SSR starts with individual reports of Jews in what is now Estonia 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

7488-541: The maximum normative concentration of formaldehyde and ammonia in air is exceeded in Zavodski District . Other major contaminants are Chromium -VI and nitrogen dioxide . Zavodski, Partyzanski and Leninski districts, which are located in the southeastern part of Minsk, are the most polluted areas in the city. During its first centuries, Minsk was a city with a predominantly Early East Slavic population (the forefathers of modern-day Belarusians ). After

7592-456: The newly elected president Alexander Lukashenko slowly reversed this trend. Most residents of Minsk now use Russian exclusively in their everyday lives at home and at work, although Belarusian is understood as well. Substantial numbers of recent migrants from the rural areas use Trasyanka (a Russo-Belarusian mixed language) in their everyday lives. There are no reliable statistics on the religious affiliations of those living in Minsk, or among

7696-545: The number of corruption crimes grew by 36% in 2009 alone. Crime detection level varies from 13% in burglary to 92% in homicide with an average 40.1%. Many citizens are concerned for their safety at night and the strongest concern was expressed by residents of Chizhovka and Shabany microdistricts (both in Zavodski District ). The SIZO-1 detention center, IK-1 general prison, and the KGB special jail called " Amerikanka " are all located in Minsk. Alexander Lukashenko 's rivals in

7800-493: The official right to enter the region by a statute of Russian Tsar Alexander II in 1865. This allowed the so-called Jewish 'Nicholas soldiers' (often former cantonists ) and their descendants, First Guild merchants, artisans , and Jews with higher education to settle in Estonia and other parts of the Russian Empire outside their Pale of Settlement . The "Nicholas soldiers" and their descendants, and artisans were, basically,

7904-528: The ones who founded the first Jewish congregations in Estonia. The Tallinn congregation, the largest in Estonia, was founded in 1830. The Tartu congregation was established in 1866 when the first fifty families settled there. Synagogues 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 . The life of

8008-579: The others avoided sentencing by having gone to exile. From 1944 until 1988 the Estonian Jewish community had no organisations, associations, or clubs. 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

8112-400: The overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons . The change from gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened the ecological situation. However, the majority of overall air pollution is produced by cars. Belarusian traffic police DAI every year hold operation "Clean Air" to prevent the use of cars with extremely polluting engines. Sometimes

8216-587: The population of Belarus generally. The majority of Christians belong to the Belarusian Orthodox Church , which is the exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus. There is a significant minority of Roman Catholics . As of 2006, there are approximately 30 religious communities of various denominations in Minsk. The only functioning monastery in the city is St Elisabeth Convent ; its large complex of churches

8320-409: The related Turanism . In each case, the dominant nation (respectively, Prussia ; the Russian Empire ; and the Ottoman Empire , especially under Enver Pasha ) used those theories to legitimise their expansionist policies. In terms of explaining the results of American expansion, this goes back to the 19th century when Frederick Jackson Turner produced his Frontier Thesis which made the case for

8424-501: The rest of the population of the Soviet Union . The Ukrainian Jews were targeted and murdered during the Holocaust when the Nazis occupied Ukraine. During the war, a total of 1.5 million Ukrainian Jews were killed, leaving only 40% of the Jewish population prior to the war. In 1941, when Western Ukraine was taken over by Germany , the Jews were put into ghettos and later sent to death camps where they were murdered. Additionally,

8528-602: The road system (including the Minsk BeltWay ) has been improved. In recent years Minsk has been continuously decentralizing, with a third line of the Minsk Metro opening in 2020. More development is planned for several areas outside the city centre, while the future of the older neighborhoods is still unclear. Minsk is located on the southeastern slope of the Minsk Hills, a region of rolling hills running from

8632-571: The rule of Polotsk. Minsk escaped the Mongol invasion of Rus in 1237–1239. In 1242, Minsk became a part of the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania . It joined peacefully and local elites enjoyed high rank in the society of the Grand Duchy. In 1413, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland entered into a union. Minsk became the centre of Minsk Voivodship (province). In 1441, as Grand Duke of Lithuania , Casimir IV included Minsk in

8736-498: The second. The number of Yiddish-speakers is unknown. The Jews in Belarus, then known as Byelorussian SSR were the third largest ethnic group in the country in the first half of the 20th century. Before World War II, Jews were the third among the ethnic groups in Belarus and comprised more than 40% of the population in cities and towns. The population of cities such as Minsk , Pinsk , Mahiliou , Babrujsk , Viciebsk , and Homiel

8840-424: The security forces. The protesters put flowers at the site where he was detained before succumbing to his injuries. Minsk is the economic capital of Belarus. It has developed industrial and services sectors which serve the needs not only of the city, but of the entire nation. Minsk's contributions form nearly 46% of Belarusian budget. According to 2010 results, Minsk paid 15 trillion BYR to state budget while

8944-410: The shifting demographics of the city was the changing self-identification of Minsk residents of mixed ancestry – in independent Belarus they identify as Belarusians. The Jewish population of Minsk peaked in the early 1970s at 50,000 according to official figures; independent estimates put the figure at between 100,000 and 120,000. Beginning in the 1980s, there has been mass-scale emigration to Israel,

9048-567: 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. Jewish businesses were nationalized. A relatively large number of Jews (350–450, about 10% of the total Jewish population) were deported into prison camps in Russia by

9152-457: The society or its symbols. The Society began by organising concerts and lectures. Soon the question of founding a Jewish school arose. 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. The Georgian Jews ( Georgian : ქართველი ებრაელები , romanized : kartveli ebraelebi ) are from Georgia , in

9256-461: The southwest (upper reaches of the river Nioman ) to the northeast – that is, to Lukomskaye Lake in northwestern Belarus . The average altitude above sea level is 220 metres (720 ft). The physical geography of Minsk was shaped over the two most recent ice ages . The Svislach River , which flows across the city from the northwest to the southeast, is in the urstromtal , an ancient river valley formed by water flowing from melting ice sheets at

9360-573: The strong influence of the moist air over the Atlantic Ocean and the dry air over the Eurasian landmass. Its weather is unstable and tends to change relatively often. The average January temperature is −4.2 °C (24.4 °F), while the average July temperature is 19.1 °C (66.4 °F). The lowest temperature was recorded on 17 January 1940, at −39.1 °C (−38 °F) and the warmest on 8 August 2015 at 35.8 °C (96 °F). Fog

9464-589: The whole income from all other regions was 20 trillion BYR. In the period January 2013 to October 2013, 70.6% of taxes in the budget of Minsk were paid by non-state enterprises, 26.3% by state enterprises, and 1.8% by individual entrepreneurs. Among the top 10 taxpayers were five oil and gas companies (including two Gazprom 's and one Lukoil 's subsidiaries), two mobile network operators ( MTS and A1 ), two companies producing alcoholic beverages (Minsk-Kristall and Minsk grape wines factory) and one producer of tobacco goods. In 2012, Gross Regional Product of Minsk

9568-528: The year 1067 in association with the Battle on the River Nemiga . 1067 is now widely accepted as the founding year of Minsk. City authorities consider the date of 3 March 1067 to be the exact founding date of the city, though the town (by then fortified by wooden walls) had certainly existed for some time by then. The origin of the name is unknown but there are several theories. In the early 12th century,

9672-421: Was 3 ⁄ 4 of the entire Jewish population. Expansionism In the classical age of conquest moral justification for territorial expansion at the direct expense of another established polity (who often faced displacement, subjugation, slavery, rape and execution) was often as unapologetic as "because we can" treading on the philosophical grounds of might makes right . As political conceptions of

9776-569: Was Jewish. In the first three decades of the post-war years, the most numerous new residents in Minsk were rural migrants from other parts of Belarus; the proportion of ethnic Belarusians increased markedly. Numerous skilled Russians and other migrants from other parts of the Soviet Union migrated for jobs in the growing manufacturing sector. In 1959 Belarusians made up 63.3% of the city's residents. Other ethnic groups included Russians (22.8%), Jews (7.8%), Ukrainians (3.6%), Poles (1.1%) and Tatars (0.4%). Continued migration from rural Belarus in

9880-583: Was a construction boom that led to the building of two- and three-story brick and stone houses in Upper Town . Minsk's development was boosted by improvements in transportation. In 1846, the Moscow- Warsaw road was laid through Minsk. In 1871, a railway link between Moscow and Warsaw ran via Minsk, and in 1873, a new railway from Romny in Ukraine to the Baltic Sea port of Libava ( Liepāja )

9984-550: Was also a centre for the development of Belarusian language and culture. Before the Second World War , Minsk had a population of 300,000 people. The Germans captured Minsk in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk , as part of Operation Barbarossa ; after it had been devastated by the Luftwaffe . However, some factories, museums, and tens of thousands of civilians had been evacuated to the east. The Germans designated Minsk

10088-419: Was also constructed. Thus Minsk became an important rail junction and a manufacturing hub. A municipal water supply was introduced in 1872, the telephone in 1890, the horse tram in 1892, and the first power generator in 1894. By 1900, Minsk had 58 factories employing 3,000 workers. The city also boasted theatres, cinemas, newspapers, schools and colleges, as well as numerous monasteries, churches, synagogues, and

10192-690: Was also one of the major centres of the Belarusian national revival , alongside Vilnius . However, the First World War significantly affected the development of Minsk. By 1915, Minsk was a battlefront city. Some factories were closed down, and residents began evacuating to the east. Minsk became the headquarters of the Western Front of the Russian army and also housed military hospitals and military supply bases. The Russian Revolution had an immediate effect in Minsk. A Workers' Soviet

10296-574: Was annexed by Russia in 1793 as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland . In 1796, it became the centre of the Minsk Governorate . All of the initial street names were replaced by Russian names, though the spelling of the city's name remained unchanged. It was briefly occupied by the Grande Armée during French invasion of Russia in 1812. Throughout the 19th century, the city continued to grow and significantly improve. In

10400-698: Was established in Minsk in October 1917, drawing much of its support from disaffected soldiers and workers. After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk , German forces occupied Minsk on 21 February 1918. On 25 March 1918, Minsk was proclaimed the capital of the Belarusian People's Republic . The republic was short-lived; in December 1918, Minsk was taken over by the Red Army . In January 1919 Minsk was proclaimed

10504-409: Was formed mainly by industry (26.4%), wholesale (19.9%), transportation and communications (12.3%), retail (8.6%) and construction (5.8%). GRP of Minsk measured in Belarusian rubles was 55 billion (€20 billion) or around 1/3 of Gross domestic product of Belarus. Minsk city has highest salaries in Belarus. As of December 2023 average gross salary in Minsk was 3,240 BYN per month (~ US$ 1,000). Minsk

10608-463: Was more than 50% Jewish. In 1897 there were 724,548 Jews in Belarus, or 13.6% of the total population. Some 800,000 Jews—90% of the Jewish population—were killed in Belarus during the Holocaust . According to the 2009 census, there were 12,926 Jews in Belarus (0.1% of the population). The Jewish Agency estimates the community of Jews in Belarus at 70,000. Marc Chagall , Mendele Mocher Sforim , Chaim Weizmann and Menachem Begin were born in Belarus. By

10712-507: Was shared with the local political elite, which called for independence. In Washington Democrats rejected McKinley-style expansionism and in 1934 set the Philippines on the path to independence, which was achieved in 1946. It has also been posited that American leaders were pressured under traditional gender roles, which in turn made expansionism more likely. By the end of the 19th century President McKinley had been accustomed to being evaluated in terms of his manliness. This also played in to

10816-454: Was the centre of German resistance to the Soviet advance and saw heavy fighting during the first half of 1944. Factories, municipal buildings, power stations , bridges, most roads, and 80% of the houses were reduced to rubble. In 1944, Minsk's population was reduced to a mere 50,000. The historical centre was replaced in the 1940s and 1950s by Stalinist architecture , which favoured grand buildings, broad avenues and wide squares. Subsequently,

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