The events of 1917–1921 (often referred to as the ‘Ukrainian Revolution’) transformed Jewish life in Ukraine. The official dismantling of the Pale of Settlement opened new routes for Ukrainian Jews to migrate to central Russian governorates, particularly Saint-Petersburg (then Petrograd) and Moscow. The proclamation of national-personal autonomy by the Central Rada and the joining of Jewish parties to the legislative and executive bodies of the Ukrainian People’s Republic revitalized Jewish political life in Ukraine.

At the same time, waves of brutal pogroms were followed by mass migrations from the shtetl to the cities of Ukraine, Europe and the United States. Although the pogroms were carried out largely by Ukrainian insurgent movements and forces loyal to the Russia White Army and Ukrainian Directory, antisemitism was widespread among the soldiers and officers of all armies in Ukraine. Imagery used in the antisemitic propaganda of the time – including, for example, the pernicious ‘Judeo-Bolshevik’ construct – would later be recycled by European far-right groups in the decade that followed.

This period of revolution and unprecedented pogromist violence caused deep political divisions within the broad Jewish socialist movement. Parties such as the Bund, Poale Zion and Fareynikte, for example, all underwent a process of ‘Bolshevization’ and rapprochement with the Soviet state. Simultaneously, leaders of the right wing factions of the Poale Zion party such as Solomon Goldelman emigrated abroad, where they worked closely with Ukrainian political émigrés.

The primary objective of this special issue is to offer a fresh discussion on the history of the Jews in Ukraine in 1917–1921. We are interested in all aspects of Jewish social, cultural, and political life in Ukraine during this period. Themes of the Special Issue include, but are not limited to: responses to the tumultuous events of 1917–1921 in Jewish literature and art; Jewish political parties during the revolutionary period; antisemitism and pogromist violence; relations between Jewish communities in Ukraine and the Jewish diaspora overseas; the response of Jewish organizations in West to the pogroms etc.

We invite all those who are interested in submitting a paper to contact the editors by email. Papers must follow JU Instructions for Contributors. For more information, please visit http://judaicaukrainica.ukma.edu.ua/content/instructions-contributors

Manuscripts will go through the regular JU peer-review process. The Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement of the JU can be found at:

http://judaicaukrainica.ukma.edu.ua/content/publication-ethics