Santa Cruz Jewish Genealogy Society 

Events: Jews of Belarus, History and Heritage

Sunday, October 23, 2022 , 11am Pacific Time

Speakers: Dr. Leon Gershovich, PhD, Professor

Guest RSVP: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=E27GWQFTYSQJL

Description:  Come learn about the history of the Jews of  Belarus (previously known as Jews of Raysen)? Where did they come from? How did they live? What was their identity? How had their life and identity transformed through periods of time? What was their historical experience during the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth, Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and post-soviet Belarus? What was their fate during the Shoah?  How did the Soviet state transform their Jewish identity, during the pogroms, 1917 and the collapse of the USSR.  How many immigrated and where? What are their attitudes towards the current regime in Belarus as well as the Russian-Ukrainian war? 

Dr. Gershovich shares an impressive handout list with publications and historical video links in preparation for his presentation. 

Bios:  Dr. Leonid (Leon) Gershovich was born in Gomel, Belarus (then USSR) and made Aliyah at age 9 in 1991. He lives in Shlomi, on the Lebanese border, and works as an educator. Recently he earned his PhD in Tel-Aviv University after defending his work titled "Jews and Jewish life in south-east Belarus (Gomel and surroundings) during the interwar period (1917-1941)". His academic interests include the history of pre-soviet, soviet and post-soviet Jewish Life, Sloviet Zionism, world wide Jewish struggle to free Soviet Jews, aspects of Jewish identity and identification, history of the Holocaust, modern antisemitism, Zionist ideology.  

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co-sponsor- Chadeish Yameinu

Leah Kushner, President  SCJGS  president@...

Visit our website: https://scjgs.org

Subscribers:  If you already registered for this event via PayPal, you are on our  RSVP list and will receive the Zoom link the week of the event.