History of the Jews in South Ossetia
Encyclopedia
Much of the early Jewish history in South Ossetia
is similar to that of other Jewish communities in the Georgian
region. At the same time, the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali
was known for its sizable Georgian Jewish
population, where the community had its own quarter.
In 1891, an Ashkenazi rabbi Avraham Khvolis moved to Tskhinvali from Lithuania. In Tskhinvali, Khvolis founded a school and synagogue, and he taught European rabbinical thought to Georgian Jews. Today, the synagogue Khvolis founded sits abandoned on a desolate street with what appears to be a hole from an artillery shell in its facade. On Sundays, Baptist services are held there.
According to the Soviet censuses of 1926 and 1939 there were about 2000 Jews in South Ossetia, all but a few in Tskhinvali. As late as 1926 almost a third of the town's inhabitants were Jews. Their number declined later as they moved to bigger cities of Soviet Union or emigrated
.
Most of the Jewish population fled South Ossetia for Georgia proper and Israel during the first Ossetian War in 1991. The remainder fled in advance of the 2008 war
. Today, only one Jew remains in Tskhinvali, a single elderly woman.
"Last Jew in S. Ossetia" Russia Today Sept. 15, 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS-7xYzrU7M
"Jews will come back to S. Ossetia" Russia Today Sept. 26, 2008 http://www.russiatoday.com/ossetianwar/news/30985
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
is similar to that of other Jewish communities in the Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
region. At the same time, the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali , is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, and is regarded by Georgia and the rest of the world as part of the Shida Kartli region within Georgian sovereign territory.It is located...
was known for its sizable Georgian Jewish
Georgian Jews
The Georgian Jews are from the nation of Georgia, in the Caucasus...
population, where the community had its own quarter.
In 1891, an Ashkenazi rabbi Avraham Khvolis moved to Tskhinvali from Lithuania. In Tskhinvali, Khvolis founded a school and synagogue, and he taught European rabbinical thought to Georgian Jews. Today, the synagogue Khvolis founded sits abandoned on a desolate street with what appears to be a hole from an artillery shell in its facade. On Sundays, Baptist services are held there.
According to the Soviet censuses of 1926 and 1939 there were about 2000 Jews in South Ossetia, all but a few in Tskhinvali. As late as 1926 almost a third of the town's inhabitants were Jews. Their number declined later as they moved to bigger cities of Soviet Union or emigrated
Aliyah from the Soviet Union in the 1970s
In the 1970s a major immigration wave of Soviet Union Jews went to Israel.-Background:A mass emigration was politically undesirable for the Soviet regime. In the wake of Israel's victory in the Six-Day War in 1967, the USSR broke off the diplomatic relations with the Jewish state...
.
Most of the Jewish population fled South Ossetia for Georgia proper and Israel during the first Ossetian War in 1991. The remainder fled in advance of the 2008 war
2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....
. Today, only one Jew remains in Tskhinvali, a single elderly woman.
Sources and references
"Georgia's Jewish heritage imperiled with talk of war" Matt Siegel. Jewish Telegraphic Agency Feb. 27, 2008"Last Jew in S. Ossetia" Russia Today Sept. 15, 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS-7xYzrU7M
"Jews will come back to S. Ossetia" Russia Today Sept. 26, 2008 http://www.russiatoday.com/ossetianwar/news/30985