''Folksgrupe'' ( yi, פאלקסגרופע, 'People's Group' in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

) was a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish Anti-Zionist political organization in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, founded at a meeting in

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

in March 1905. The organization proclaimed to work for establishing 'civil, political and national rights for the Jewish People in Russia'. The full name of the organization was the League for the Attainment of Full Rights for the Jewish People in Russia. Its followers were known as ''Dostizhentsi'' (from Достижение, ''dostizheniye'', 'attainment').Geifman, Anna.
Russia Under the Last Tsar: Opposition and Subversion, 1894-1917
'. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 1999. p. 68Dubnow, Simon, and Israel Friedlaender.
History of the Jews in Russia and Poland.
' Bergenfield: Avotaynu, 2000. p. 472 Led by three prominent lawyers,

Maxim Vinaver Maxim Moisseyevitsch Vinaver (russian: Макси́м Моисе́евич Вина́вер; 30 November Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._18_November.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style ...

Oscar Gruzenberg Oskar Osipovich Gruzenberg (in German transliteration - ''Grusenberg''; russian: Оскар Осипович Грузенберг; also known as Israel Gruzenberg he, ישראל גרוזנברג; 1866–1940) was a prominent defense attorney. Li ...

and Henrik Sliozberg, it assembled

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

elements from the

Cadet Party ) , newspaper = ''Rech'' , ideology = ConstitutionalismConstitutional monarchism Liberal democracyParliamentarism Political pluralism Social liberalism , position = Centre to centre-left , international = , colou ...

. The party demanded equal civic rights, abolishing laws imposing restrictions on Jews, linguistic rights (the right have access to Yiddish and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

schooling) and independence of religious institutions. However, it did not advocate national autonomy for the Jews.Pinkus, Benjamin.
The Jews of the Soviet Union: The History of a National Minority. Soviet and East European studies
'.

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

: Cambridge University Press, 1988. p. 45Gitelman, Zvi Y.
A Century of Ambivalence: The Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to the Present
'. Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 2001. p. 62 The central bureau of the group was located in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Half of the bureau was based in the city and the other half was based in the provinces.

Zionists Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

and the

Folkspartei The Folkspartei ( yi, ייִדישע פֿאָלקספּאַרטײַ, , Jewish People's Party) was founded after the 1905 pogroms in the Russian Empire by Simon Dubnow and Israel Efrojkin. The party took part in several elections in Poland and ...

leader

Simon Dubnow Simon Dubnow (alternatively spelled Dubnov, rus, Семён Ма́ркович Ду́бнов, Semyon Markovich Dubnov, sʲɪˈmʲɵn ˈmarkəvʲɪtɕ ˈdubnəf; yi, שמעון דובנאָװ, ''Shimen Dubnov''; 10 September 1860 – 8 Dece ...

came to accuse the group of favouring assimilation. Dubnow had belonged to the group at its initial stage, and formed part of its central bureau. The party was however able to find common ground and some cooperation with the Bund, in their opposition to Zionism.

References

{{Authority control Jewish anti-Zionism in Russia Jewish anti-Zionist organizations Jewish political parties Jews and Judaism in the Russian Empire Political parties established in 1905 Political parties of minorities in Imperial Russia 1905 establishments in the Russian Empire