History
Kazakhstan in Jewish history
People who lived here, worked together and kept their ties to the country after leaving.
Published
This is a translation. The original is Русский. Language review: not performed by a native speaker.
A family’s history rarely belongs to just one place. A birthplace, a childhood home, a city of exile, a first job and the country where the children grew up may be far apart. Kazakhstan occupies different places in these stories. For some it became a homeland, for others a refuge or a place of forced settlement, and for others a place where they worked for many years.
These stories trace specific connections. They follow letters between relatives, meetings of future spouses, translations of books, relationships between teachers and pupils, and doctors working together. Jewish life in Kazakhstan and relations with Israel overlap, but they are not the same. Not everyone featured moved to Israel; not everyone involved in a Kazakhstan–Israel project belongs to the Jewish community.
These stories do not share a single ending. Some people left, some stayed, and some returned. Alongside memories of loss are work, friendship, family habits and works that people continue to read, listen to and look at.