“Our New Soviet Zion”: Why the 1920`s Project of Soviet Jewish Autonomous Region in the Crimea was Unsuccessful

“Our New Soviet Zion”: Why the 1920`s Project of Soviet Jewish Autonomous Region in the Crimea was Unsuccessful

Crimea Project was a complex phenomenon and had several ideological sources. One of them is the Soviet Nationalities policy 1920-1930-s which recognized only territorial nations as equitable. Another one was Jewish Territorialism – a political movement, aimed at the creation of the autonomous Jewish state or region outside the Eretz-Israel. It also applied to the popular idea that the Jewish agriculture movement could resolve all social inequality between Jews and surrounding nations.
First proposed by Soviet Jewish journalist Abram Bragin in November 1923, it was published through the JTA and become well-known in Jewish and non-Jewish circles. However, Soviet Leaders did not support the political part of the project but gained some support through Jewish party members. One of them, Yurii Larin (Mikhail Lurie), a prominent figure of the Communist party, first president of the Society for Settling Toiling Jews on the Land (OZET or GEZERD). Nevertheless, because of controversies, the political part of the project was out of the public discussion. As the leader of the Society for Settling Toiling Jews on the Land (OZET) he defends the idea of the creation of Jewish national territory in northern Crimea, Kerch peninsula, and Azov coast of the Kuban region.
Jewish autonomous region had to emerge as soon as Jewish agricultural colonization create a large indiscreet Jewish settlement area. In 1925, Yurii Larin proposed it to Politburo and in 1926 it was approved after disputes. It was one of the main themes at the OZET congress, November 1926. Due to the controversies of the Crimea Project, as national and administrative tensions, lack of free territories and shunning of Soviet leaders, and other reasons,
future Jewish territory was relocated to Russian Far East into the Birobidzhan region.