Jewish regiment (Russian Civil War)

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The Jewish regiment was an infantry regiment formed in February 1919 during the Russian Civil War 1917-1922 as a part of forces of ataman Grigory Semyonov which acted in Transbaikal region.

Contents 1 Background 2 Formation 3 Actions and aftermath 4 References

[edit] Background

Main article: History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union

In the early 20th century, Russian Jews were active in a variety of political movements. While many joined revolutionary movements such as Esers, Mensheviks and Bolsheviks, others turned to counter-revolution.

The staffers and soldiers of the regiment were Jews from various social classes, from craftsmen to traders' sons. Some Jews were reluctant to accept the Soviet regime after being eyewitness of the Red Terror, instability, and upsurge of crime of 1918.

[edit] Formation

Ataman of Transbaikal Cossack Host was not a supporter of national Jewish movements, and only after Kolchak's defeat and seeking financial support in Chita, Semyonov changed his mind and allowed Jews to participate in his anti-Soviet activities.

The regiment was formed by Chita Jewish community. Soldiers and staffers celebrated all Jewish holidays and randomly fought on Saturdays. There were 170 soldiers, 7 sergants, 4 low rank officers, and 2 captains. Most of soldiers were from Chita and Nerchinsk.

[edit] Actions and aftermath

The Jewish regiment took part in many actions against local partisans. The most significant achievement of the regiment was participation in defeating of the internationalist partisan battalion (150 strong) camped on the northeastern village Tupik. The partisans, mostly Hungarians, were former prisoners of war (POW) who were sent to Transbaikal region during World War I.

The regiment was one of the last military units to self-disband in October 1920 after ataman Semyonov lost the Chita region and fled to China. Part of the Jewish regiment joined him and afterwards Jewish soldiers settled in Manchuria and Harbin. The rest of the regiment emigrated between 1921-1924 to China. Afterwards the borders were locked by the Soviet authorities and about 20 former soldiers in the late 1930s were purged by the NKVD.

[edit] References

This article includes materials from the Chita Oblast Archives and local newspapers.^{[citation needed]}