This is what the JAO government's own website says.
Establishment and Development of the JAR
(snip)
How did the Jewish Autonomous Region appear on the map of our country?
Establishment of the Jewish Autonomous Region was necessity for more than two millions of the Jews, living in the Soviet Union. They were considered by tsarism to be foreigners, limited in choice of domicile, possibility of housing accommodation possession. They could farm and be occupied by limited kinds of activity only. They continued to remain one of the most suffering people of the country with low living standard, limited possibilities for realization of intellectual and creative potential.
In 1921 the Committee on land settlement of the working Jews (KOMZET), which was headed by P.G.Smidovich, was headed. It searched for places for compact moving of the Jews, adaptation of the Jewish population to agricultural labor.
The first attempts of KOMZET to create in 1924-26 Jewish settlements in the Crimea, in the Ukraine, Stavropol Territory, near Smolensk and Pskov didn't meet with success because of lack of free grounds in these regions and necessity of transfer of concrete owners' lands to Jewish settlers. The southern region of Priamurye, called then Birsko-Bidzhanskiy region, after an investigation by the expedition led by B.L.Bruk, the professor, under a management of V.R.Viliams in 1927, was recognized as a territory, favorable for compact moving of the working Jews.
History of the JAR establishment, as the first and only state territorial unit of the Jews not only in the USSR, but also in the world (Israel was established on a solution of UNO in 1948), begins from the fact that the Presidium of the General Executive Committee of the USSR passed the decree "On the attaching for KOMZET of free grounds near the Amur River in the Far East for settlement of the working Jews" on March 28, 1928. The decree meant that there was "a possibility of establishment of a Jewish administrative territorial unit on the territory of the called region".
In May, 1928 on Tikhonkaya station, where the Birobidzhan emigrant point was, the first group of settlers from cities and villages of the Ukraine and Byelorussia, central regions of Russia arrived. Simultaneously the state sent machines and necessary means there.
Jewish settlements were created in small villages. They connected the Trans-Siberian railway with the Amur River valley. The epicenter of the Jewish resettlement was Tikhonkaya station (later Birobidzhan city).
Large collective farms and communities were created in Birofeld, Amurzet, Valdgame, Danilovka and other villages. For the Russian Jews it was especially important that this ground was in Russia, in their Motherland, in the custom surroundings. It is necessary to mark, that perspective of revival of a Jewish state, even as an autonomy, found the response abroad - first of all among the American Diaspora. The IKOR organization became its empowered person and rendered free material help to settlers.
The fact of revival of a sovereign Jewish territory, though far away from the actual ancestral Motherland and as an autonomy, actuated afflux of immigrants abroad. They sincerely believed that the Soviet Union was a democratic people's state. With such ideas almost 700 people from Argentina, Lithuania, France, Latvia, Germany, Belgium, the USA, Poland and even from Palestine arrived there.
The majority of settlers was not familiar with agriculture. Russian population rendered them all possible support. Many villages and collective farms sent instructors, who trained settlers to agricultural labour. In total since 1928 up to 1933 22,3 thousand persons arrived in the territory of today's region.
On August 20, 1930 the General Executive Committee of RSFSR accepted the decree "On formation of the Birobidzhan national region in the structure of the Far Eastern Territory". The State Planning Committee considered the Birobidzhan national region as a separate economic unit. In 1932 the first scheduled figures of the region development were considered and authorized.
Taking into account fast economic development of the Birobidzhan national region, the Presidium of the General Executive Committee accepted the decree on its transformation in the Jewish Autonomous Region in structure of the Russian Federation. It happened on May 7, 1934. In 1938 with formation of the Khabarovsk Territory the Jewish Autonomous Region (JAR) was included in its structure.
On December 18, 1934 in Birobidzhan the 1st regional congress of Soviets was held. It finished registration of the new national region as a Soviet state unit, ratified the plan of economic and cultural development and elected the authorities. The first chairman of the JAR Regional Executive Committee was I.I.Liberberg.
Large significance for growth of economy and culture of the region had the decrees of Council of People's Commissars from October 1, 1934 "On measures on economic and cultural development of the Jewish Autonomous Region" and the Presidium of the General Executive committee from August 29, 1936 "On the Soviet, economic and cultural development of the JAR". They became the action program of all working people. Next years the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Soviet Government considered problems on the rendering of assistance to the JAR, in particular the sending of specialists. A lot of party and economic workers, qualified experts were directed under permit of the Central Committee and Far Eastern Territory Party Committee. Along with the Jews people of other nationalities moved to the region. The population of the region was multinational and in 1939 it made already 108,9 thousand people.
Etc.
Nu, zayats, pogodi!
__________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com