Becoming Soviet Jews: The Bolshevik Experiment in Minsk

by Elissa Bemporad

Minsk, the present capital of Belarus, was a heavily Jewish city in the decades between the world wars. Recasting our understanding of Soviet Jewish history, Becoming Soviet Jews demonstrates that the often violent social changes enforced by the communist project did not destroy continuities with prerevolutionary forms of Jewish life in Minsk. Using Minsk as a case study of the Sovietization of Jews in the former Pale of Settlement, Elissa Bemporad reveals the ways in which many Jews acculturated to Soviet society in the 1920s and 1930s while remaining committed to older patterns of Jewish identity, such as Yiddish culture and education, attachment to the traditions of the Jewish workers' Bund, circumcision, and kosher slaughter. This pioneering study also illuminates the reshaping of gender relations on the Jewish street and explores Jewish everyday life and identity during the years of the Great Terror.

Genres: History, Judaism, Nonfiction

292 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Elissa Bemporad holds the Ungar Chair in East European Jewish History and the Holocaust and is Professor of History at Queens College and the CUNY Graduate Center. She is a two-time winner of the National Jewish Book Award.

Reviews

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would give this book 5 stars if it wasn't for some of the author's opinions in some areas (such as putting "" quotes around "fascism" whenever talking about fascist Poland, and related liberalism). The book has lots of very valuable history of Judaism and Jewish culture in Minsk and Belarus in 1920-1930s, If you're interested in that topic, I would definitely recommend reading this.

[Cassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting and I learned quite a bit. I discovered this book because I like reading books about different cultures, religions, and history and this seemed a unique perspective and topic. However, I was not this book's intended audience as it was just too dense for me. I ended up skimming through it and focusing on sections that held my interest more. Normally I would rate a book I couldn't finish lower, but since I know I am not the intended audience that didn't seem fair.