Project Category: Beyond Relief: JDC in Interwar Ukraine and Crimea

Urban Opportunities Beyond Relief: JDC in Interwar Ukraine and Crimea Exhibit Gallery In Depth Beyond Relief (Introduction) Tumultuous Times - Great Needs Seeking New Horizons Living off the Land Supporting Community Great Expectations Urban Opportunities Urban Opportunities In the late 1920’s, the Soviet Union began a relentless drive to reshape its primarily agrarian culture into one dominated by industry. The push towards rapid industrialization placed greater difficulties on farmers, but it opened up fresh job possibilities in the cities. The growing need for trained workers lifted the masses of Jews previously relegated to the deprived classes into full citizens....

Great Expectations Beyond Relief: JDC in Interwar Ukraine and Crimea Exhibit Gallery In Depth Beyond Relief (Introduction) Tumultuous Times - Great Needs Seeking New Horizons Living off the Land Supporting Community Great Expectations Urban Opportunities Great Expectations By 1934, many of Agro-Joint's existing colonies had become financially self-sustaining or absorbed by COMZET, the Soviet agency overseeing Jewish agricultural development. Agro-Joint narrowed its direct involvement to electrification, dam, and irrigation projects for the colonies. Its agronomists remained on the scene in advisory roles. These services were funded with income from products and services sold within the colonies. For all the...

Supporting Community Beyond Relief: JDC in Interwar Ukraine and Crimea Exhibit Gallery In Depth Beyond Relief (Introduction) Tumultuous Times - Great Needs Seeking New Horizons Living off the Land Supporting Community Great Expectations Urban Opportunities 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,...

Living off the Land Beyond Relief: JDC in Interwar Ukraine and Crimea Exhibit Gallery In Depth Beyond Relief (Introduction) Tumultuous Times - Great Needs Seeking New Horizons Living off the Land Supporting Community Great Expectations Urban Opportunities Living off the Land Agro-Joint provided the financing, training, seeds, and modern American tractors for the colonists. In the first four years, 5,646 families had moved from small shtetls to more than a hundred colonies in the Ukraine and Crimea. By 1936, some 70,000 Jews had turned from tradesmen into successful pioneers, working the land and managing livestock in 215 collectively-run settlements....

Seeking New Horizons Beyond Relief: JDC in Interwar Ukraine and Crimea Exhibit Gallery In Depth Beyond Relief (Introduction) Tumultuous Times - Great Needs Seeking New Horizons Living off the Land Supporting Community Great Expectations Urban Opportunities Seeking New Horizons The Soviets offered free parcels of long-idle land to new farmers as one way to increase food production. Jews could now pursue a way of life previously denied them. As an internationally renowned agronomist, Dr. Rosen recognized this window of opportunity. JDC threw financial, advisory, and legal support behind the Back to the Soil movement. In 1924, it formally established...