DEVELOPMENT OF HANDICRAFT INDUSTRIES AMONG THE JEWISH POPULATION OF KYIV REGION IN LATE 1920S – EARLY 1930S

Abstract

The article examines the position of Jewish artisans in the Kyiv region in the late 1920s, a period when the Soviet government's course on the industrialization accelerated the collapse of the NEP policy. Authors revealed activities of the Kyiv ORT Committee, which sought to find a place for this group of Jews in the new plans of the Soviet government. The Perspective Plan for the Development of Handicrafts among the Jewis Population of Kyiv Region for 1929-1933 is analyzed as well as discussions that arose in the process of its preparing. The main factors that motivated the adoption of this plan and its indicators are identified. It is concluded that the purpose of its adoption was an attempt to create favorable conditions for the economic integration of the Jewish population into Soviet society and to reduce the severity of social problems, especially unemployment. Quantitative parameters of this plan are considered. The contribution of ORT to the economic support of Jewish artisans of Kyiv region, particularly purchase and transfer of equipment from abroad, which contributed to the development of a number of crafts in the Soviet Ukraine are clarified. Little-known statistics on the number and types of equipment that the organization supplied to artisans of Kyiv region are given. The difficulties faced by Jewish entrepreneurs during this period and the factors taken into account in planning the development of various crafts are reproduced. They are following: shortage of many row materials, the emergence of the Soviet factory industry, which competed with Jewish handicraftsmen, competition in the circle of Jews handicraftsmen. Authors identify consumer goods that were in short supply in the Kyiv region in the late 1920s. Little-known documents on the activities of the Kyiv ORT Committee is put into circulation.

Keywords

• jews
• ort
• kyiv ort committee
• artisans
• everyday life
• nep