Supporting Community

Beyond Relief: JDC in Interwar Ukraine and Crimea

Supporting Community

Many Russian Jews had been long denied government-funded social services; Jewish community facilities had been destroyed during years of pogroms. Beyond secure livelihoods, Jews in the Ukraine and Crimea needed medical and other institutions to sustain health and make life as vibrant as possible. Agro-Joint accomplished this by subsidizing Jewish mutual aid societies, which in turn supported hundreds of hospitals, medical clinics, homes for orphans and the elderly, and schools.

As soon as Jewish colonies were established, settlers wanted education for their children. Agro-Joint- supported schools had Jewish teachers and classes taught in Yiddish, the official language of the colonies. Russian and Ukrainian language classes were introduced in the higher grades. Colonists in the Krivoy Rog district proudly celebrated the cornerstone laying for a new school. Ukraine, 1927, <em>NY_43352 (from YIVO)</em>.

[video_lightbox_youtube video_id="MeM_ATJxko8" width="640" height="480" anchor="http://archives.jdc.org.php7-34.lan3-1.websitetestlink.com/assets/images/exhibits/beyond-relief/p-5.jpg" description="One hundred and sixteen new schools were opened for children in the colonies."]

Although government policy did not outlaw religion in the Soviet Union, its observance and outside cultural influence was truncated. Colonists prayed together in Tagancha, in the Krivoy Rog district. Ukraine, c. 1929, <em> NY_00652</em>.

Life Worth Living

Jews living in the Ukraine and Crimea depended on more than bread. Agro-Joint assumed JDC's role of cultural and educational support for the region.

Food, shelter, and attendant care for poor elderly Jews were provided by local relief societies, as in Aleksandria, with funds from Agro-Joint. Ukraine, mid-1920’s, <em>NY_42263 (from YIVO)</em>.

One such organization was the Poltava Relief Committee, organized in 1923, which received funds directly from JDC until Agro-Joint took over that role. Ukraine, c. 1925, <em>NY_00461</em>.

Mutual Aid

In addition to services within the settlements, Agro-Joint supported close to 60 Jewish mutual aid societies in cities and small towns throughout the Ukraine. As long as Jews had the status of non-citizens, these groups served a critical function, providing services at a community level.

The Paul Nathan Hospital in the Smidovitch settlement, Larindorf, was a well-equipped and staffed facility. Crimea, c. 1925, <em>NY_00674</em>.

Agro-Joint organized programs on the principal of self-sufficiency and mutual support as far as possible. The shops it set up to train skilled workers produced the medical equipment used by its health clinics. Dental equipment made in a Kiev school-factory provided clinics with tools and financed medical aid for Jewish déclassés. Children in Odessa got check-ups through this ambulatory dental program. Ukraine, c. 1925, <em>NY_00456</em>.

Like most of Agro-Joint's medical institutions, this hospital in Dnepropetrovsk had been taken over by the Commissariat of Public Health and Russian Red Cross by the fall of 1934. An agreement insured equal treatment to the remaining déclassés. Ukraine, c. 1929, <em>NY_42848 (from YIVO)</em>.

Health Care for Jews

Fifty-four medical-aid societies were organized throughout the region. Refugee doctors expelled from Nazi Germany, found positions through Agro-Joint's Medical Department (with cooperation from the Soviet Ministry of Public Health). By fall 1934, most of Agro-Joint's medical institutions had been absorbed into the Ukrainian Red Cross. The German Jewish doctors had a worse fate.

Supporting Community

Beyond Relief: JDC in Interwar Ukraine and Crimea

Supporting Community

Life Worth Living

Mutual Aid

Health Care for Jews

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