![EU-Estonia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/EU-Estonia.svg)
The history of Jews in Estonia starts with reports of the presence of individual
Jews
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""The ...
in what is now
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
from as early as the 14th century.
Jews were settled in Estonia in the 19th century, especially following a statute of
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
Tsar
Alexander II in 1865 allowed the so-called Jewish "Nicholas soldiers" (often former ''
cantonist
Cantonists (Russian language: кантонисты; more properly: военные кантонисты, "military cantonists") were underage sons of conscripts in the Russian Empire. From 1721 on they were educated in special "canton schools" (К ...
s'') and their descendants, First Guild merchants,
artisan
An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...
s, and Jews with
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
to settle outside the
Pale of Settlement
The Pale of Settlement (russian: Черта́ осе́длости, '; yi, דער תּחום-המושבֿ, '; he, תְּחוּם הַמּוֹשָב, ') was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 19 ...
. These settlers founded the first Jewish congregations in Estonia. The
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
congregation, the largest in Estonia, was founded in 1830. The
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
congregation was established in 1866 when the first fifty families settled there.
Synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
s were built, the largest of which were constructed in Tallinn in 1883 and Tartu in 1901. Both of these were destroyed by fire during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
The Jewish population spread to other Estonian cities where houses of prayer (at
Valga,
Pärnu
Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...
and
Viljandi
Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu ...
) were erected and cemeteries were established. Schools were opened to teach
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
, and elementary schools were organised in Tallinn in the 1880s. The majority of Jews at that time consisted of small tradesmen and artisans; very few knew science, hence Jewish cultural life lagged. This began to change at the end of the 19th century when several Jews entered the
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
and later contributed significantly to enliven Jewish culture and education. In 1917 the Jewish Drama Club was founded in Tartu.
Jewish autonomy in independent Estonia
Approximately 200 Jews fought in combat in the
Estonian War of Independence
The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westwa ...
(1918–1920) for the creation of the
Republic of Estonia
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
. 70 of these fighters were volunteers.
The creation of the Republic of Estonia in 1918 marked the beginning of a new era in the life of Jews. From the independence of Estonia as a state, Estonia showed tolerance towards all ethnic and religious minorities. This set the stage for energetic growth in the political and cultural activities of Jewish society. Between 11 and 16 May 1919, the first Estonian Congress of Jewish congregations was convened to discuss the new circumstances Jewish life was confronting. This is where the ideas of
cultural autonomy
Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group.
Civil-rights movements oft ...
and a Jewish Gymnasium (secondary school) in Tallinn were born. Jewish societies and associations began to grow in numbers. The largest of these new societies was the H. N. Bjalik Literature and Drama Society in Tallinn founded in 1918. Societies and clubs were established in
Viljandi
Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu ...
,
Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...
, and elsewhere.
1920s
In 1920, the
Maccabi Sports Society was founded and became well known for its endeavours to encourage sports among Jews. Jews also took an active part in sporting events in Estonia and abroad.
Sara Teitelbaum was a 17-time champion in Estonian athletics and established no fewer than 28 records. In the 1930s there were about 100 Jews studying at the
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
: 44 studied jurisprudence and 18 medicine. In 1934, a chair was established in the School of Philosophy for the study of Judaica. There were five Jewish student societies in Tartu Academic Society: the Women's Student Society Hazfiro, the Corporation Limuvia, the Society Hasmonea and the Endowment for Jewish Students. All of these had their own libraries and played important roles in Jewish culture and social life.
Political organisations such as
Zionist
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 ...
youth organisations ''Hashomer Hazair'' and ''Beitar'' were also established. Many Jewish youths travelled to
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
to establish the Jewish State. The
kibbutzim
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming ha ...
of
Kfar Blum
Kfar Blum ( he, כְּפַר בְּלוּם, ''lit.'' Blum Village) is a kibbutz in the Hula Valley part of the Upper Galilee in Israel. Located about southeast of the town of Kiryat Shmona, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regio ...
and
Ein Gev
Ein Gev ( he, עֵין גֵּב) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee near the ruins of the Greco-Roman settlement of Hippos, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In it ...
were set up in part by Estonian Jews.
On 12 February 1925, the Estonian government passed a law on the
cultural autonomy
Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group.
Civil-rights movements oft ...
of minorities. The Jewish community quickly prepared its application for cultural autonomy. Statistics on Jewish citizens were compiled. They totalled 3,045, fulfilling the minimum requirement of 3,000 for cultural autonomy. In June 1926 the Jewish Cultural Council was elected and Jewish cultural autonomy was declared. The administrative organ of this autonomy was the Board of Jewish Culture, headed by Hirsch Aisenstadt until it was disbanded following the
Soviet occupation of Estonia
The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
in 1940. When German troops occupied Estonia in 1941, Aisenstadt evacuated to Russia. He returned to Estonia when the Germans had left but was arrested by the Soviet authorities in 1949.
The cultural autonomy of minority peoples is an exceptional phenomenon in European cultural history. Therefore, Jewish cultural autonomy was of great interest to the global Jewish community. The Jewish National Endowment ''Keren Kajamet'' presented the Estonian government with a certificate of gratitude for this achievement.
This cultural autonomy allowed full control of education by the community. From 1926,
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 ...
began to replace Russian in the Jewish public school in Tallinn, while in 1928 a rival
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
language school was founded.
From the very first days of its existence as a state, Estonia showed tolerance towards all the peoples inhabiting its territories. In 1925, the Act of Cultural Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities was enacted in Estonia, giving minority groups consisting of at least 3,000 individuals the right to self-determination in cultural matters. Financial support was provided by the state. Thus, in 1926, Jewish cultural autonomy was declared. For its tolerant policy towards Jews, a page was dedicated to the Republic of Estonia in the Golden Book of Jerusalem in 1927.
1930s
![Grande syna Tallinn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Grande_syna_Tallinn.jpg)
In 1934, there were 4381 Jews living in Estonia (0.4% of the population). 2203 Jews lived in
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
. Other cities of residence included
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
(920),
Valga (262),
Pärnu
Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...
(248),
Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...
(188) and
Viljandi
Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu ...
(121). 1688 Jews contributed to the national economy: 31% in commerce, 24% in services, 14.5% as artisans, and 14% as labourers. There were also large businesses: the leather factory Uzvanski and Sons in Tartu, the Ginovkeris' Candy Factory in Tallinn, furriers Ratner and Hoff, and forest improvement companies such as Seins and Judeiniks. There was a society for tradesmen and industrialists. Tallinn and Tartu boasted Jewish co-operative banks. Only 9.5% of the Jewish population worked freelance. Most of these were physicians, over 80 in all (there was also a society for Jewish physicians). In addition there were 16 pharmacists and 4 veterinarians. 11% of the Jewish population had received higher education, 37% secondary education and 33% elementary education. 18% had only received education at home.
The Jewish community established its own social welfare system. The Jewish Goodwill Society of the Tallinn Congregation made it their business to oversee and execute the ambitions of this system. The Rabbi of Tallinn at that time was Dr. Gomer. In 1941 during the German occupation he was ruthlessly harassed and finally murdered. In Tartu the Jewish Assistance Union was active, and welfare units were set up in Narva, Valga and Pärnu.
In 1933 the influence of
National Socialism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...
on
Baltic Germans
Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declin ...
began to be a concern. Nazism was outlawed as a movement contrary to social order, the German Cultural Council was disbanded, and the National Socialist Viktor von Mühlen, the elected member of the Baltic German Party, was forced to resign from the
Riigikogu
The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Jus ...
. All materials ridiculing Jews, including the National Socialist magazine "Valvur" (Guard) were banned by order of the
State Elder
The Head of State of Estonia or State Elder ( et, riigivanem) was the official title of the Estonian head of state from 1920 to 1937. He combined some of the functions held by a president and prime minister in most other democracies.
According t ...
Konstantin Päts
Konstantin Päts (; – 18 January 1956) was an Estonian statesman and the country's president in 1938–1940. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, and during the two decades pri ...
as materials inciting hatred.
In the same year a faculty of Jewish Studies was established at
Tartu University
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
.
Lazar Gulkowitsch, a former professor at
Leipzig University
Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...
was appointed the university's first Professor and Chair of Jewish Studies and began teaching in 1934.
In 1936, the British-based Jewish newspaper ''
The Jewish Chronicle
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
'' reported after a visit to
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
by one of its journalists:
"Estonia is the only country in Eastern Europe where neither the Government nor the people practice any discrimination against Jews and where Jews are left in peace.... the cultural autonomy granted to Estonian Jews ten years ago still holds good, and Jews are allowed to lead a free and unmolested life and fashion it in accord with their national and cultural principles."
In February 1937, as anti-semitism was growing elsewhere in Europe, the vice president of the Jewish Community
Heinrich Gutkin was appointed by Presidential decree to the Estonian upper parliamentary chamber, the
Riiginõukogu
The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Jus ...
.
Throughout the 1930s, Zionist youth movements were active, with pioneer training being offered on Estonian farms by
HeHalutz
HeHalutz or HeChalutz ( he, הֶחָלוּץ, lit. "The Pioneer") was a Jewish youth movement that trained young people for agricultural settlement in the Land of Israel. It became an umbrella organization of the pioneering Zionist youth moveme ...
, while the leading cultural institute Bialik Farein performed plays and its choir toured and performed on radio.
Soviet Occupation in 1940
The life of the small Jewish community in Estonia was disrupted in 1940 with the
Soviet occupation of Estonia
The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
. Cultural autonomy together with all its institutions were 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
Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
into
prison camps in Russia by the Soviet authorities on 14 June 1941, where most perished.
[Weiss-Wendt, Anton (1998)]
The Soviet Occupation of Estonia in 1940–41 and the Jews
. ''Holocaust and Genocide Studies
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hist ...
'' 12.2, 308–325.[Berg, Eiki (1994)]
The Peculiarities of Jewish Settlement in Estonia
''GeoJournal
''GeoJournal'' is a peer-reviewed international academic journal on all aspects of geography founded in 1977. Twelve issues (three volumes) a year were published by Springer Netherlands (formerly Kluwer) until December 2009 and can be accessed via ...
'' 33.4, 465–470.
World War II
The Holocaust
![Map used to illustrate Stahlecker's report to Heydrich on January 31, 1942](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Map_used_to_illustrate_Stahlecker%27s_report_to_Heydrich_on_January_31%2C_1942.jpg)
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. They included Estonia's only Rabbi; the professor of Jewish Studies at the
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
; Jews who had left the Jewish community; the mentally disabled; and a number of veterans of the
Estonian War of Independence
The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westwa ...
. Fewer than a dozen Estonian Jews are known to have survived the war in Estonia.
Round-ups and killings of Jews began immediately following the arrival of the first German troops in 1941, who were closely followed by the extermination squad
Sonderkommando 1a under
Martin Sandberger
Martin Sandberger (17 August 1911 – 30 March 2010) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era and a convicted Holocaust perpetrator. He commanded Sonderkommando 1a of Einsatzgruppe A, as well as the Sicherheitspolizei and SD in E ...
, part of
Einsatzgruppe A
(, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the im ...
led by
Walter Stahlecker
Franz Walter Stahlecker (10 October 1900 – 23 March 1942) was commander of the SS security forces (''Sicherheitspolizei'' (SiPo) and the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) for the ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'' in 1941–42. Stahlecker commanded '' Ei ...
. Arrests and executions continued as the Germans, with the assistance of local collaborators, advanced through Estonia. Unlike German forces, Estonians seem to have supported the anti-Jewish actions on the political level, but not on a racial basis. The standard excuse used for the "cleansing" operations was arrest 'because of Communist activity'. This equation of Jews with Communism evoked a positive Estonian response, and attempts were made by Estonian police to determine whether an arrested person indeed supported Communism. Estonians often argued that their Jewish colleagues and friends were not communists and submitted proof of pro-Estonian conduct in the hope of being able to get them released.
[ Birn, Ruth Bettina (2001), Collaboration with Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe: the Case of the Estonian Security Police. '']Contemporary European History
''Contemporary European History'' is an international peer-reviewed academic history journal, published by Cambridge University Press quarterly since 1992 and covering the history of Europe from 1918 onwards. Currently its editors are Dr Ludivine ...
'' 10.2, 181–198. Anton Weiss-Wendt
Anton Weiss-Wendt (born 1973) is a Norwegian academic and historian. He has a PhD in Jewish history from Brandeis University and has worked at the Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities
The Center for Studies of the Holocaust ...
in his dissertation "Murder Without Hatred: Estonians, the Holocaust, and the Problem of Collaboration" concluded on the basis of the reports of informers to the occupation authorities that Estonians in general did not believe in Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda and by majority maintained positive opinion about Jews. Estonia was declared ''
Judenfrei
''Judenfrei'' (, "free of Jews") and ''judenrein'' (, "clean of Jews") are terms of Nazi origin to designate an area that has been "cleansed" of Jews during The Holocaust.
While ''judenfrei'' refers merely to "freeing" an area of all of its ...
'' quite early, at the
Wannsee Conference on 20 January 1942, as the Jewish population of Estonia was small (about 4,500), and the majority of it managed to escape to the Soviet Union before the Germans arrived.
Virtually all the remainder (921 according to Martin Sandberger, 929 according to Evgenia Goorin-Loov and 963 according to Walter Stahlecker) were killed. The Nazi regime also established 22 concentration and labor camps in Estonia for foreign Jews, the largest being Vaivara concentration camp
Vaivara was the largest of the 22 concentration and labor camps established in occupied Estonia by the Nazi regime during World War II. It had 20,000 Jewish prisoners pass through its gates, mostly from the Vilna and Kovno Ghettos, but also ...
. Several thousand foreign Jews were killed at the Kalevi-Liiva
Kalevi-Liiva are sand dunes in Jõelähtme Parish in Harju County, Estonia. The site is located near the Baltic coast, north of the Jägala, Estonia, Jägala village and the former Jägala concentration camp. It is best known as the execution sit ...
camp. An estimated 10,000 Jews were killed in Estonia after having been deported there from Eastern Europe.
There were two Estonians who have been honoured with The Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...
: Uku Masing
Uku Masing (born Hugo Albert Masing, 11 August 1909 – 25 April 1985) was an Estonian philosopher. He was a significant figure in Estonian religious philosophy. Masing also wrote poetry, mostly on religious issues. Masing authored one novel, ''R ...
and his wife Eha.
Soviet period
Four Estonians held most responsible for the murders at Kalevi-Liiva were tried at war crimes trials in 1961. Two were later executed, while the others avoided sentencing by going into exile.
About 1,500 Jews from Tallinn returned after the war, and by 1959 there were 3,714 Jews in the city. After the Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
, 400 Jews from Tallinn emigrated to Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. From 1944 to 1988, there were no Jewish organisations, associations, or clubs in Estonia.
Current situation
In March 1988, as Estonia was regained its independence, the Jewish Cultural Society was established in Tallinn, the first of its kind in the former Soviet Union. Unlike in other parts of the Soviet Union, there were no problems with registering 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.
Jewish culture clubs, affiliated with the Cultural Society, started in Tartu, Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...
, and Kohtla-Järve
Kohtla-Järve is a city and municipality in northeastern Estonia, founded in 1924 and incorporated as a town in 1946. The city is highly industrial, and is both a processor of oil shales and is a large producer of various petrochemical products ...
. Other organisations followed: the sports society Maccabi, the Society for the Gurini Goodwill Endowment and the Jewish Veterans Union. Life returned to Jewish congregations. Courses in Hebrew were re-established. A relatively large library was opened with assistance from Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i and Jewish communities in other countries.
The gamut of cultural activities kept on growing. The Jewish Cultural Society is a founding member of ''Eestimaa Rahvuste Ühendus'' (Union of the Peoples of Estonia), which was founded at the end of 1988. The restoration of Estonian independence in 1991 brought about numerous political, economic and social changes. The Jews living in Estonia could now defend their rights as a national minority. The Jewish community was officially recognized with the approval of its charter on 11 April 1992. Estonia resumed its traditional regard of its Jews with friendship and accommodation. In support of this a new Cultural Autonomy Act, based on the original 1925 law, was passed in Estonia in October 1993, which grants minority communities, including Jewish, a legal guarantee to preserve their national identities.
On 16 May 2007 a new synagogue in Tallinn was opened. It houses a sanctuary, mikvah
Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity.
Most forms of ritual impurity can be purifi ...
and restaurant
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
.
Historical demographics
Estonia always had a relatively small Jewish population. In contrast to many other European countries, Estonia's Jewish population peaked only after World War II, at almost 5,500 people in 1959. It then began a steady decline, with an especially sharp decline in the 1990s after the fall of Communism
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
as many Estonian Jews emigrated to other countries, especially to Israel and the United States.
Current demographics
* Total population (2007): 1,900
* Live births (2006): 12
* Total deaths (2006): 51
* Birth rate: 6.32 per 1000
* Death rate: 26.84 per 1000
* Net growth rate: −2.05% per year.
/ref>
See also
* List of Estonian Jews
Before the Holocaust, Jews were a significant part of the population in Lithuania where they numbered around 240,000, including approximately 100,000 in Vilnius, or about 45% of that city's pre-World War II population (Vilnius was also once known ...
* Tallinn Synagogue
* History of the Jews during World War II
The history of the Jews during World War II is almost synonymous with the persecution and murder of Jews which was committed on an unprecedented scale in Europe and European North Africa (pro-Nazi Vichy-North Africa and Italian Libya). The mass ...
* Judenfrei
''Judenfrei'' (, "free of Jews") and ''judenrein'' (, "clean of Jews") are terms of Nazi origin to designate an area that has been "cleansed" of Jews during The Holocaust.
While ''judenfrei'' refers merely to "freeing" an area of all of its ...
* Klooga concentration camp
Klooga concentration camp was a Nazi forced labor subcamp of the Vaivara concentration camp complex established in September 1943 in Harju County, during World War II, in German-occupied Estonia near the village of Klooga. The Vaivara camp comple ...
* Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany
During World War II, in the course of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany invaded Estonia in July–December 1941, and occupied the country until 1944. Estonia had gained independence in 1918 from the then warring German and Russian Empires. How ...
* Reichskommissariat Ostland
The Reichskommissariat Ostland (RKO) was established by Nazi Germany in 1941 during World War II. It became the civilian occupation regime in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the western part of Byelorussian SSR. German planning documents initia ...
References
External links
* Berg, Eiki (1994)
The Peculiarities of Jewish Settlement in Estonia
''GeoJournal
''GeoJournal'' is a peer-reviewed international academic journal on all aspects of geography founded in 1977. Twelve issues (three volumes) a year were published by Springer Netherlands (formerly Kluwer) until December 2009 and can be accessed via ...
'' 33.4, 465–470.
* Birn, Ruth Bettina (2001)
Collaboration with Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe: the Case of the Estonian Security Police
''Contemporary European History
''Contemporary European History'' is an international peer-reviewed academic history journal, published by Cambridge University Press quarterly since 1992 and covering the history of Europe from 1918 onwards. Currently its editors are Dr Ludivine ...
'' 10.2, 181–198.
* Sander, Gordon F. 2009
Estonia Lost and Found: The Rebirth of a Community (Or: Mazel Tov Estonia!).
Retrieved 2011-08-06.
* Verschik, Anna (1999). The Yiddish language in Estonia: Past and present. ''Journal of Baltic Studies
The Journal of Baltic Studies, the official journal of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS), is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary academic journal founded in 1970 and published quarterly by Routledge, dedicated to the poli ...
'' 30.2, 117–128.
* Weiss-Wendt, Anton (1998)
The Soviet Occupation of Estonia in 1940–41 and the Jews
''Holocaust and Genocide Studies
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hist ...
'' 12.2, 308–325.
The Jewish Community of Estonia
Factsheet: Jews in Estonia
* ttp://eja.pri.ee/ Estonian Jewish Museum
Estonia
article at the YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe
''The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe'' is a two-volume, English-language reference work on the history and culture of Eastern Europe Jewry in this region, prepared by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and published by Yale Univ ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:History of the Jews in Estonia
Ethnic groups in Estonia