«Miniones» (minians) as illegal jewish communities in Vinnytsia region in 1945-1952. (based on materials from the reports of the regional council on affairs of religious cults)

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to reveal the activities of “minions” (minyans) as illegal Jewish communities in Vinnytsia region in 1945-1952 based on the analysis of materials from reports of the Council for Religious Cults in Vinnytsia region; to characterize the features of the relationship between Jewish religious associations and Soviet authorities at various levels through the prism of Stalin’s policy of anti-Semitism in the first post-war decade. The research methodology is based on a combination of general scientific and historical methods, the main ones being generalization, problem-chronological, historical-systemic, and comparative-historical. Special attention is paid to statistical analysis when tracking the dynamics of the number of unregistered communities during the studied period in Vinnytsia region and content analysis of the texts of reports of the Commissioner of the Council for Religious Cults in Vinnytsia region. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that, based on the first-ever released archival materials of the reports of the Commissioner of the Council for Religious Cults under the USSR Council of People's Commissars for Vinnytsia Region, the activities of illegal Jewish communities in Vinnytsia in 1945-1952 were analyzed. Conclusions. The activities of "minions" (minyans) in Vinnytsia in the first post-war decade should be considered in the context of the policy of state anti-Semitism. Religion, which even during the Nazi occupation played a consolidating role in the life of the traditional Jewish community, underwent significant changes after the war. The Soviet authorities tried to restrain and control the activities of Jewish communities, whose activity revived in 1948 against the background of the growth of the national consciousness of the Jewish population in connection with the formation of the State of Israel. Such actions of the Bolshevik government caused a wave of repressive measures (searches, arrests, deregistration, closing of synagogues, taxation, etc.), which led to the development of anti-Semitic sentiments among the population. But despite the harsh pressure of the totalitarian Stalinist regime on illegal Jewish formations, they continued to operate underground and maintain the integrity of the Jewish community. In 1945 - 1952, Vinnytsia was among the leaders in illegal Jewish formations.