Jewish Autonomy in interwar Estonia and the life trajectories of its leaders

Abstract

This article tries to diversify the understanding of the Jewish experience in interwar Europe by analysing the work of Jewish Cultural Self-Government in interwar Estonia. Estonia’s Jews were granted self-government in 1926, and the institution worked until the summer of 1940 when the Soviet Union occupied Estonia. The institution created a public law forum for the Estonian Jewish community where they could independently manage cultural and educational affairs. The authoritarian turn in spring 1934 meant increasing control over minority autonomies, but the institution survived until summer 1940 without any significant restrictions. Finally, by focussing on some members of the Jewish Cultural Council, the article discusses the possibility of using prosopographic methods to study the history of Jews of Estonia.