The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #17144   Message #164083
Posted By: Abby Sale
16-Jan-00 - 10:44 PM
Thread Name: What is 'Vestapol'?
Subject: RE: What is 'Vestapol'?
The non-"Zhankoye" theories seem more likely. Jewish settlement in the Crimea was much later. I did some looking of it up a few years back...

After the Russian Revolution, for the first time, Jews, considered incapable of farming and any kind of physical labor under the Tsar, were permitted to farm on collectives in the Soviet Union.

Dzankoye was the site of one such cooperative effort. This Yiddish song celebrates the joys of farming and the pleasure of thumbing one's nose at prejudicial stereotypes.

This also gave the "new" Rssians the opportunity to clense Russian soil of Jews and try to reestablish the Pale.