Yevsektsiya (alternative spelling: Yevsektsia), Russian: ЕвСекция, the abbreviation of the phrase "Еврейская секция" (Yevreyskaya sektsiya, lit. "Hebrew Section") was the Jewish section of the Soviet Communist party. Yevsektsiya was established to popularize Marxism and encourage loyalty to the Soviet regime among Russian Jews. The founding conference of Yevsektsiya took place on October 20, 1918.[1] For most of its existence, the Yevsektsya was headed by Semyon Dimanstein.
Yevsektsiya was entirely subordinate to leadership of the Soviet Communist party. Yevsektsiya members were people of Jewish origin, but they were hostile to traditional Jewish culture and instead sought to assimilate Jews into the new Soviet society. In line with official Soviet doctrine, Yevsektsiya was deeply opposed to Bundism and Zionism, labeling them forms of "bourgeois nationalism".
The Yevsektsia was disbanded in 1929. Many leading members perished in the Great Purge. Dimanstein was arrested and received death sentence in 1938 and was executed. He was rehabilitated posthumously in 1955, 2 years after the death of Joseph Stalin.