History of the Jews in Abkhazia
Total population | |
---|---|
Abkhazia: <150 (2013)[1][2] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Sukhumi | |
Languages | |
Hebrew, Abkhaz, Russian, Georgian | |
Religion | |
Judaism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Jews (Ossetian Jews, Georgian Jews) |
Number of Jews in Sukhumi[3][4] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Total | Georgian Jews | ||
1897 | 134 | |||
1915 | 356 | 80 | ||
1922 | 1,012 | |||
1926 | 916 | 201 | ||
1939 | 1,545 | |||
1959 | ≈3,000 | ≈2,000 | ||
1970 | 3,618 | |||
1979 | 1,640 | |||
1989 | 1,308 | |||
2009 | 150 |
The history of the Jews in Abkhazia dates back to the early 19th century. The Jewish population of Abkhazia consisted of Ashkenazi, Georgian and other Jews. It grew after the incorporation of Abkhazia into the Russian Empire in the middle of the 19th century. Most of the Jews left or were evacuated from Abkhazia as a result of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict of 1992–1993.
Modern history
A Russian garrison was installed in Sukhumi in the 1840s, as its fortress was part of the Black Sea defence line, and Jews from many regions of Georgia, particularly from Kulashi, settled in the town. As the 1897 census results indicate, there were also many Ashkenazi Jews in Sukhumi. A synagogue was built in the first decade of the 20th century.
In Soviet times, the Jewish population of Abkhazia increased greatly, but the
As the Soviet Union was disintegrating in the late 1980s, ethnic tensions began to grow in Abkhazia and the number of Jewish emigrants increased greatly. There were still many Jews in Abkhazia at the outbreak of the
As of 2009, there are about 150 Jews in Abkhazia, nearly all of them Ashkenazi. The community maintains a synagogue in Sukhumi.[10] The majority of them are elderly, with their average age being 72 in 2004.[1]
Rivka Cohen, Israel's ambassador to Georgia, visited Abkhazia in July, 2004.[10]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Edwards, Maxim (September 30, 2012). "Jewish Life Slowly Dying in Abkhazia". The Forward. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
- ^ "Georgia Virtual Jewish History Tour § Independence & Georgia Today". Jewish Virtual Library.
- ISBN 978-965-227-225-6.
- ^ Ethno-Caucasus. Population of Abkhazia
- ^ 1926 Census results, breakdown by ethnicities (in Russian)
- ISBN 0-7146-4619-9.
- ^ 1959, 1970, 1979 census results for Abkhazia, breakdown by mother tongues Archived 2008-09-18 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
- ^ Jewish Agency for Israel, Interview with Lev Shchegolyov, (in Russian)
- ^ Memorial (society), Положение беженцев из Абхазии в Краснодарском крае (Situation with the refugees from Abkhazia in Krasnodar Krai), December, 2000 (in Russian)
- ^ a b c d Leonid Landa, Еврейская община Абхазии в круговороте кавказских событий Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, (Jewish community of Abkhazia in the Caucasian whirl of events), 28.09.2004 (in Russian)