Founded Decades Before “Israel”: The Republic of “Birobidjan,” The First Jewish Homeland in Russia

While the Israeli military continues to commit massacres against Palestinian civilians in various parts of the Gaza Strip, analysts suggest that settlers are now more eager than ever to expand their state, potentially including the Gaza Strip once again.

These aspirations bring to mind a Jewish state project that predated the Zionist efforts to Judaize Palestine by several decades—this project was the “Birobidjan” Republic, located in the former Soviet Union. Its area was nearly the size of Switzerland, but the Jewish population rejected it and abandoned it in the 1930s.

The First Jewish Autonomous Region

Birobidjan, or Birobidzhan, is the colloquial name of an oblast (region) in Russia, officially known as the “Jewish Autonomous Region” (Yevreyskaya Avtonomnaya Oblast). It was part of the Soviet Far Eastern Krai, and it is bordered by the Amur River to the west, south, and southeast, which served as the boundary between the former Soviet Union and China.

The region spans approximately 36,000 square kilometers. By January 1, 1961, its population had reached 179,000, with the capital city, Birobidjan, housing 49,000 people. Its industries included agricultural machinery, transformers, textiles, clothing, and furniture.

Birobidjan also had abundant mineral resources, though most of them were not commercially exploited, with the exception of tin ores, which were essential for the major national metalworks. The region was also used for growing grains, legumes, potatoes, vegetables, and other crops. However, at the time Jewish settlement began, the area was marked by neglect, poverty, a lack of infrastructure, and poor living conditions, with harsh climatic conditions and unhealthy environments.

Reasons for Choosing Birobidjan as a Homeland for the Jews

The Soviet decision to establish Jewish settlement in Birobidjan was influenced by several factors, with the primary reason being the desire to strengthen the security of the Soviet Far East, given its proximity to Japan and the threat of Chinese influence. Birobidjan became particularly important to the Soviet Union after Japan’s occupation of China in 1931-1932.

The establishment of Jewish settlements in Birobidjan also aimed to garner financial support from Jews abroad, thus facilitating the allocation of Soviet resources for this purpose.

Furthermore, this settlement appeared to offer a partial solution to the economic difficulties faced by Soviet nationalities. Birobidjan was viewed as an ideological alternative to the Zionist idea.

The first official step toward establishing this state was sending a scientific delegation to Birobidjan in the summer of 1927 to assess the feasibility of establishing an agricultural settlement there. Their recommendations led to a decision by the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union on March 28, 1928, assigning the Committee for Jewish Settlements (Komzet) to oversee Jewish settlement in the region.

By May 1934, the “Birobidjan Province,” officially established in 1930, was granted the status of a “Jewish Autonomous Region” by a formal decree.

Weak Immigration to the First Jewish Republic

Jewish immigration to Birobidjan began in April 1928 and continued at fluctuating rates over the years. However, the inadequate facilities and harsh climatic conditions had a significant impact on the number of immigrants who settled in the region permanently.

Between 1928 and 1933, more than half of the potential settlers who arrived in Birobidjan left.

The Alternative Homeland to the Zionist Project

The Birobidjan project sparked debate among Jewish settlement activists in the Soviet Union. Among the critics were Mikhail Larin and Abraham Bragin, both activists in the Jewish settlement movement. Larin argued that other areas of the Soviet Union, especially the Crimean Peninsula, were far more suitable for settlement.

Birobidjan found enthusiastic support in Mikhail Kalinin, the first honorary president of the Soviet Union. During a reception for Moscow workers and Yiddish press representatives in May 1934, he proposed that creating a Jewish regional center in Birobidjan would be the only way to normalize the national situation of Soviet Jews. He also expressed his hope that “Birobidjan would become, within a decade, the most important and possibly the only stronghold of Jewish socialist-national culture.” He considered the transformation of the region into a republic to be merely a matter of time.

The fact that Jewish settlement in Birobidjan coincided with the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany contributed to the idea’s popularity among Jews outside the Soviet Union. However, it was opposed by nearly all sectors of the Zionist movement. Jewish organizations supporting Birobidjan were located in Canada, Western Europe, South America, and other regions. These organizations campaigned for the creation of a Jewish republic for Jews abroad, leading to about 1,400 Jewish immigrants arriving from outside the Soviet Union in the early 1930s, coming from the United States, South America, Europe, Palestine, and elsewhere.

The Failure of the Project Within Years

The post-World War II wave of immigration to Birobidjan resulted in a one-third increase in the local Jewish population. By the end of 1948, the Jewish population was estimated at around 20,000, the largest number of Jews to ever settle in the region.

However, the revival of Birobidjan as a Jewish center came to an end by the end of 1948, due to Soviet policies of suppressing Jewish activities throughout the Soviet Union, and targeting those involved. Stalin initiated a campaign against Jewish culture, executed the head of the regional government, burned books written in Yiddish, and closed Jewish synagogues in the region.

Moreover, the vast distances between Birobidjan and other Soviet cities, estimated to be thousands of kilometers, limited the flow of residents. Reaching Birobidjan from Moscow in 1987 took 12 hours by modern aircraft, while the train journey took much longer and involved considerable hardship.

As a result, Jewish immigration to Birobidjan soon halted, and the Jewish population dwindled significantly. Even the post-Stalin era did not bring substantial changes to Jewish life in Birobidjan. By 1959, Jews made up less than one-tenth of the total population of the region.

The direct cause of the failure of the Jewish republic was that Stalin’s targeting campaigns, in 1936-1937 and again in 1948-1949, brought an end to the brief periods of independent Jewish life in the republic. By the 1990s, most of the remaining Jews had emigrated to Palestine and other Western countries.

Ultimately, only a few Jews remained in the region, most of whom were elderly. According to the 2010 census, the total population of the region was about 170,000, with the Jewish population numbering just around 1,600 people.