Figure 1.--This studio portrait shows two children from a Moutaon Kavkazi community in Soviet Dagestan, we think in the 1920s before Stalin's major athesist campaign. There is writing on the back in both Russian and Hebrew. The Russian text reads, "To dear aunt and uncle in good measure of Roza and Shalik Buzun. The Hebrew text reads, " Children of Marusa". The family lived in Derbent. Some of the family moved to Palistine (1920s). They managed to maintain contact during Soviet times.

Mountain Jews is a popular name for Caucasus Jews. They do not fit easily into modern country groupings, especially because most have left the countries in which their ancestors have lived for not just centuries, but millennia. Other terms for these Jewx include localized terms: Juhuro, Juvuro, Kavkazi Jews, and Gorsky Jews. They are Jews who historically inhabited eastern and northern slopes of Caucasus, centered in Azerbaijan, Chechnya, and Dagestan. All are areas that were invaded and annexed by the Tsarist Empire. They are Jews who believe that their Asyrian conquerors deported their descendants from Palistine in Biblical times (8th century BC) and came to be established in Persia (Iran). This was two centuries before the more famous Babylonian captivity. There is some DNA evidence to support the group legends. When Cyrus the Great conquered Assyria, he allowed exiled Jews to return to Palistine. Many if not most remained in Mesopotamia and Persia where they had established secure, prosperous lives. The Jews in Persia came to speak Judeo-Tat, a southwest Iranian language which integrated Persian with Hebreic elements. A group of these Jews migrate eastward and settling in the mountainous Caucasus (5th century AD), at lest in part for security. The Mountain Jews survived while many other Jews assimilated and passed from history. A factor here was they settling in extremely remote, mountainous areas. They came to be known as excellent warriors and horseback riders, very different than the Jewish image in Christian and Muslim lands. Because of the isolation and religious diversity of the region, Mountain Jews did not experiebce anti-Semitism experienced by Jews outside the Caucausus. The major center was in Aszerbaijan--Qırmızı Qəsəbə which was known as the Jerusalem of the Caucasus. During Tsarist times Qırmızı Qəsəbə was known as Yevreskaya Sloboda, Jewish Village. During Soviet times it was renamed Krasnaya Sloboda, Red Village. The Mountain Jews are distinct from Georgian Jews of the western Caucasus. They are culturally and ethnically different. They speak different languages and having many cultural differences. They were a rare Jewish group that managed to survive German World War II occupation. This was because the Germans did not reach Azerbaijan and only occupied Dagestan for a brief period. There wre some Herman killing actions, but they involved only small numbers of victims. Mountain Jew communities seem to have convinced the Germans that they were religiously, not ethncally Jewish. Under NAZI law anyone of what ever ethnicity were classified Jews who practiced the Jewish religion. The Mountain Jews survived the NAZIs, but not the disolution of the Soviet Union (1992). Some remained in Azerbaijan, but nearly all left Chechnya. Most migrated primarily to Israel. Some went to Moscow and other russian cities as well as the United States and Western Europe. Estimates of the numbers involved vary substantially.

Created: 9:45 AM 9/20/2016
Last updated: 9:46 AM 9/20/2016