Soviet Union: Whether synagogues in Leningrad were open and functioning during the 1960s
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 27 October 2000 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SUN35893.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Soviet Union: Whether synagogues in Leningrad were open and functioning during the 1960s, 27 October 2000, SUN35893.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4bead20.html [accessed 7 October 2021] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
In 25 October 2000 correspondence with the Research Directorate, a senior researcher
of Russian Jewish History in the Department of Jewish History, in the Institute of Jewish
Studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, states:
1. According to the census of 1959 the Jewish population of Leningrad numbered 169,000. There was only one synagogue – the Great Choral synagogue open in the 1960s in the city. It had some 1,200 seats. Its rabbi was Avraham Lubanov. This synagogue has never been closed. Though the great majority of the Leningrad Jews were not religious, several thousand of them used to visit the synagogue on great holidays, mostly on Simchat Torah. Not many people came on regular Sabbaths (Saturdays). As Jewish Orthodox do not drive or use transportation on the Sabbath and holidays, those whom lived far from the synagogue could not come there on Sabbaths. Some of them were organized in a number of illegal or semi-legal groups (minyanim) to pray in private apartments in their neighborhood.
2. The authorities hindered religious life and even persecuted religious activity. In 1961 the chairman of the synagogue council Hillel Pechersky was framed [and received] up to 12 years of prison. In 1962-64 the authorities banned the baking of matzot. During the 1960s they closed the only Jewish cemetery for burial. Several Jewish youths were arrested in 1962 and also in 1964, near the synagogue on the eve of Simchat Torah. The local paper Vechernii Leningrad published an article (Oct. 27, 1962) condemning the synagogue activity.
There was no religious or Hebrew education for children or the young. Jewish prayer books were hardly available, anyway the younger generation could not use them, as they did not know how to pray or even read in Hebrew. Synagogues were prevented from taking part in charitable activity. The life of the synagogue was under constant surveillance of different informers.
In general, at the beginning of the 1960s an official campaign against Jewish religion intensified. Dozens of synagogues in the USSR were closed (not in Leningrad). Many synagogue activists were imprisoned. The number of publications against Judaism increased.
Under those circumstances younger Jews (also in Leningrad) who cared about their career in Soviet society did not dare to arrange a religious wedding (Huppah) for themselves, or a circumcision, or a Bar-Mitzvah for their sons.
Sources:
1. "Leningrad", The Shorter Jewish Encyclopaedia (in Russian), Jerusalem, 1988, Vol. 4, col. 779-780.
2. "Leningrad", Encyclopaedia Judaica, Jerusalem, Vol.11, coll. 18-19.
3. Benjamin Pinkus, Russian and Soviet Jews: Annals of a National Minority (in Hebrew), Ben-Gurion University, 1986, pp. 432-441.
4. My own experience. I lived in Leningrad since my birth in 1950 through 1987.
A 7 January 1997 Jewish Telegraph Agency article states that "Although the Communist regime kept open the city's [Leningrad] Great Choral Synagogue as part of its lip service to supporting national culture, most elderly Jews returned in force only in the late 1980s with the rise of tolerance among Soviet authorities."
However, a closure of the Great Choral Synagogue is mentioned at the Website of Beyond the Pale: The History of Jews in Russia; page 63 displays a photo accompanied by the words "The great synagogue of Leningrad is barricaded by the authorities to prevent the celebration of Simcha Tora (Rejoicing of the Law) in 1964," and another photo with the words "Jews of Leningrad celebrating Simcha Tora in 1964 in spite of the wooden barricade closing of the synagogue."
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Beyond the Pale: The History of Jews in Russia. 1995.
Hebrew University, Jerusalem. 25 October 2000. Correspondence with a senior researcher of Russian Jewish History, Department of Jewish History, Institute of Jewish Studies.
Jewish Telegraph Agency. 7 January 1997. Rachel Katz. "Old Jews of St. Petersburg Find Solace in Gatherings.
Additional Sources Consulted
Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union Report: 1995-1997. UCSJ.
IRB databases.
Religious Minorities in the Soviet Union. 1984. MRG.
LEXIS-NEXIS
Unsuccessful attempts to contact oral sources.
Internet sites including:
History of the Russian Federation
Hokudai University Slavic Centre
Jewish Community Centre of St. Petersburg
Judaic Community of St. Petersburg
Russian Religion News
World Jewish Congress
World News Connection
