Krasnaya Sloboda

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Krasnaya Sloboda is a small town located across the Qudiyalçay River (or Kudyal River) from the larger town of Quba, Azerbaijan. The town is the primary settlement of Azerbaijan's population of Mountain Jews, who make up the population of approximately 4,000. It is the world's only Jewish town outside of Israel.

While the Mountain Jews had been in the area around Quba since at least the 13th century, the formal creation Krasnaya Sloboda traces to the 18th century, when in 1742 the khan of Quba gave the Jews permission to set up a community free of persecution across the river from the city of Quba. Originally referred to as Yevreiskaya Sloboda (Jewish Settlement), under Soviet rule the name was changed to the current name, translated as "Red Settlement".

The town has had an influx of financial support from relatives living in Israel and features the new Bet Knesset Synagogue. However, after Azeribaijan's independence in 1991, many residents emigrated to Israel, the United States and Europe and the population dropped from the roughly 18,000 that lived there during the era of Communism. Although it maintains friendly relations with its Muslim neighbors, the communities long-term viability remains in question.

[edit] References

Inga Saffron, "The Mountain Jews of Guba", Azerbaijan International, (6.2) Summer 1998, Accessed on May 1, 2006
Tom Parfitt, "Life drains away from lost tribe of Mountain Jews", The Daily Telegraph, April 27, 2003, Accessed on May 1, 2006
Amiram Barkat, "The village people", Haaretz September 29 2006, Accessed on September 31 2006