Russia

Jews are documented in connection with Moscow during the fifteenth century, although this does not represent a continuously established Jewish community. Jewish settlement in Muscovy was subsequently heavily restricted. A permanent community developed much later, particularly during the nineteenth century, and Moscow became Russia's largest Jewish population centre after the abolition of residence restrictions in 1917.

Individual Jews were present in Saint Petersburg around the beginning of the nineteenth century, although permanent Jewish residence remained heavily restricted. During the nineteenth century legally permitted merchants, professionals, artisans and former soldiers gradually established an organized community. Saint Petersburg became one of the principal intellectual, political and cultural centres of Russian Jewry.

An organized Jewish community developed in Rostov-on-Don during the nineteenth century. A Jewish prayer house existed by the late 1840s and a synagogue was established in 1855. The community expanded rapidly alongside the city's growth as a major commercial centre. By 1939 approximately 27,000 Jews lived in Rostov-on-Don. Most Jews remaining during German occupation were murdered, including thousands at Zmievskaya Balka in August 1942.

Jewish settlement in the Smolensk region developed during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, influenced by the city's position near western territories acquired by the Russian Empire. The community expanded substantially thereafter. Approximately 14,000 Jews lived in Smolensk by 1939, and Jews remaining during German occupation were subjected to ghettoization and mass murder.

An organized Jewish population developed in Bryansk during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and expanded further through Soviet-era internal migration. The year 1800 is used as a broad nineteenth-century benchmark rather than a precise community founding date. German occupation during the Second World War resulted in the destruction of Jews who had not evacuated.

An organized Jewish population developed in Pskov during the nineteenth century despite imperial restrictions on residence outside the Pale of Settlement. The year 1800 is retained as a broad nineteenth-century benchmark rather than a precise founding date. The community grew after residence restrictions ended in 1917, while German occupation in 1941 resulted in the murder of Jews who had not evacuated.

A permanent Jewish presence developed in Saratov during the nineteenth century, initially associated in part with Jewish soldiers serving under the imperial conscription system introduced in 1827. Former soldiers, merchants, artisans and professionals contributed to the development of the community, which expanded further during the Soviet period.

An organized Jewish community developed in Samara around the middle of the nineteenth century despite imperial restrictions on residence outside the Pale of Settlement. Legally permitted merchants, artisans, former soldiers and professionals formed the basis of the community, which expanded substantially during the Soviet period.

Kazan's permanent Jewish population developed primarily during the nineteenth century, particularly through Jewish soldiers and former soldiers permitted to reside outside the Pale of Settlement. Merchants, artisans and professionals subsequently enlarged the community, which continued through the Soviet period.

Jewish settlement in Yekaterinburg developed during the nineteenth century among residents legally permitted to live outside the Pale of Settlement. The year 1850 is a broad mid-nineteenth-century benchmark rather than a precise founding date. The community expanded dramatically after 1917 and during Soviet industrialization.

A Jewish community developed in Khabarovsk during the settlement and economic expansion of the Russian Far East in the late nineteenth century. The year 1885 is used as a broad late-nineteenth-century benchmark rather than an exact founding date. Jewish merchants, soldiers, professionals and migrants contributed to local life, and by 1939 approximately 5,400 Jews lived in the city.

Birobidzhan became the centre of a Soviet project to establish a territorial Jewish homeland in the Russian Far East. Organized Jewish settlement began in 1928, and the Jewish Autonomous Region was formally established in 1934. Yiddish received official status and supported schools, publishing, theater and other cultural institutions. Harsh conditions, limited migration, departures and Stalinist repression prevented the region from becoming the demographic centre of Soviet Jewish life.