Jerusalem on the Amur

Birobidzhan and the Canadian Jewish Communist Movement, 1924-1951

Henry Felix Srebrnik

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780773534285
• eBook ISBN: 9780773577817
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Sociology

The Canadian Jewish Communist movement, an influential ideological voice within the Canadian left, played a major role in the politics of Jewish communities in cities such as Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg, as well as many smaller centres, between the 1920s and the 1950s. Jerusalem on the Amur looks at the interlocking group of left-wing Jewish organizations that shared the political views of the Canadian Communist Party and were vocal proponents of policies perceived as beneficial to the Jewish working class. Focusing on the Association for Jewish Colonization in Russia, known by its transliterated acronym as the ICOR, and the Canadian Ambijan Committee, Henry Srebrnik uses Yiddish-language books, newspapers, pamphlets, and other materials to trace the ideological and material support provided by the Canadian Jewish Communist movement to Birobidzhan.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Abbreviations and Acronyms
• Preface
• 1 Introduction: Jewish Radicalism, the World Communist Movement, and Birobidzhan
• 2 ICOR as an “Inclusive” Organization, 1924–29
• 3 The Sectarian Years, 1929–35
• 4 Canadian ICOR Branches: The First Decade,
• 5 An All-Canadian Organization, 1935–39
• 6 Reuben Brainin: A Maskil for Birobidzhan
• 7 The Jewish Communists in the Second World War
• 8 The Postwar Period and the Formation of the Canadian Birobidjan Committee
• 9 Conclusion: The Cold War and the End of a Dream
• Appendix
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index