Jewish Emigration from the Russian Empire during WWI

• In Event: The Greater War as a Turning Point in East European Jewish History

Abstract

World War I dramatically changed Jewish lives in the Russian empire. Despite the proximity of the war front and the forced deportations, ordinary Jews from the Pale of Settlement demonstrated remarkable striving for normalcy, which included the fulfillment of the plans to leave the empire made before the outbreak of the war. This paper traces the footsteps of these people and, in contrast to the previous scholarship, argues that Jewish overseas migration continued even after the Great War began.

Author

• Anastasiia Strakhova, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign