Jews in the Soviet Union: a History

Recounts the transformation of Soviet Jewish life between the Six-Day War and the USSR's collapse

At the beginning of the twentieth century, more Jews lived in the Russian Empire than anywhere else in the world. After the Holocaust, the USSR remained one of the world's three key centers of Jewish population, along with the United States and Israel. Yet while a great deal is known about the history and experiences of the Jewish people in the US and in Israel in the twentieth century, much less is known about the experiences of Soviet Jews. Jews in the Soviet Union, a new multi-volume history, is an unprecedented undertaking. This groundbreaking work draws on rare access to documents from the Soviet archives, allowing for the presentation of a sweeping history of Jewish life in the Soviet Union from 1917 through the early 1990s.

This sixth and final volume in the series covers the social, economic, demographic, political, cultural, and religious aspects of Jewish life in the period between the Six Day War in 1967 and the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. This period saw a change from the Soviet regime's confrontational approach to the Western world to increasing openness during the perestroika years. By the late 1980s, it became possible to establish Jewish cultural and communal organizations, launch publications, and establish free contacts with Jews in Israel, the United States, and other countries.

David Engel and Gennady Estraikh pay attention to the Soviet Jewish emigration movement and its broad international support. They also look closely at the majority of Soviet Jews who found various roles for themselves in a changing economic and cultural environment. At once insightful and comprehensive, The Final Years offers an intricate and multifaceted analysis of the complex relationship between Soviet Jews, the Jewish state, and world Jewry.