KUIBYSHEV

KUIBYSHEV (until 1935 and after 1991 Samara), city in the Russian Federation. In the czarist period, Kuibyshev was beyond the pale of settlement . During the second half of the 19th century, Jews in the categories authorized to live outside the Pale began to settle in the town. In 1875 there were between 25 and 30 Jewish families there. As a consequence of the railroad which passed through the town, the Jewish population increased during the last quarter of the 19th century. The town's first synagogue was built in 1880, and in 1895 the existence of the local Jewish community was officially confirmed. A great synagogue was erected in 1908. From 1,327 (1.5% of the total population) in 1897, the number of Jews increased considerably during World War I and later so that in 1926 they numbered 6,981 (4% of the total), and 7,722 (2% of the total population) in 1939. During World War II, many refugees from the German-occupied regions arrived in Kuibyshev. The Soviet Government moved there when the Germans neared Moscow. The headquarters of the jewish anti-fascist committee was in the town for some time, and from 1942 to 1943, the organ of the committee, eynikeyt , was published there. The community was still in existence in 1970 when there was a rabbi, a shoḥet, and an estimated Jewish population of about 25,000. Although a local paper published articles against the synagogue in 1961 and 1962, the synagogue was not closed down. (Yehuda Slutsky)