Community and Integration. Soyuz russkikh evreev and Soyuz russkikh iuristov in Russian-Jewish Berlin

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Gertrud Pickhan
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2008 to 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 59983427

The main relief organization of the Russian Jews in Germany was the Union of Russian Jews (SRE, 1920-1935), with headquarters in Berlin. Two important actors of the SRE were the lawyers Jakov Teitel’, president of the Union, and Aleksei Gol’denveizer, its counselor. Both were also members of the Union of Russian lawyers abroad (SRI, founded 1920), 4/5 of whose members were Jewish. The SRE as well as the SRI represented intellectuals and the middle classes. Both were politically neutral, and of liberal orientation. The SRI was financed by its members and by donations. The SRE was mainly funded by Jewish organizations and the League of Nations. Both unions offered relief services. The SRE also organized a cultural program. The project will focus on the role of the SRE and SRI in the integration and community building of Russian Jewish migrants. Of special interest is the unions’ participation in debates on Russia, the revolution, and the Jews, as well as the organizations’ relations with national and socialist movements, and with the German state and society.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Russia
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Oleg Budnitskii