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Jews in Moscow, Russia

Moscow was founded in the XII century. From the 16th to the 18th centuries - the capital of the Moscow state. The first mention of Jews dates back to the 15th century. Jews appeared in the city as visiting merchants and doctors. Preserved information about the execution in 1490 of the Jewish doctor from Venice Leon.

From the 17th to the 19th centuries, the authorities periodically prohibited Jews from settling in Moscow. The appearance of Jews in Moscow was associated with Russian-Polish relations. So, after the Russian-Polish war of 1645-1667, captured Jews appeared in the city, who were forced to be baptized by the authorities. After the first partition of Poland in 1772, Jewish merchants from the former Polish lands came to Moscow. In 1791, the authorities forbade Jews to enroll in the merchant class of Moscow and limited the period of stay of Jewish merchants in the city.

In 1826, when visiting the capital, Jewish merchants were allowed to stay at a hotel in the Zaryadye region. As a result, by the end of the 19th century, half of the region's population were Jews.

In the second half of the 19th century, by decree of Alexander II, “useful Jews” (merchants, artisans, scientists, etc.) received the right to settle in Moscow. By the 1890s, the city's Jewish population had grown to 40,000. In the 1890s, a decree was issued prohibiting Jews from settling in Moscow, and then a decree on the eviction of Jews, as a result of which 20 thousand Jews were expelled from the city. According to the 1897 census, the Jewish population of Moscow was 8 thousand people.

After the 1917 revolution, restrictions on the presence of Jews were lifted. The Jewish population has grown to 60 thousand people. After the return of the status of the capital in 1918, central offices of Jewish parties and editorial offices of Jewish newspapers operated in the city.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Moscow became a center for the development of Yiddish culture and literature. In the late 1930s, the chief rabbi of the city was arrested, and a number of synagogues were closed. By 1939, 250 thousand Jews lived in the capital. During the Second World War, the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee operated in Moscow.

After the appearance of the state of Israel on the world map and Golda Meir's visit to Moscow, some of the Moscow Jews expressed their desire to leave for their historical homeland. In the 1940s-1950s, the city's Jewish community was repressed in connection with the "Doctors' Plot" and then during an anti-religious campaign.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a movement of "refuseniks" arose in the capital, and Jewish youth began to attend synagogues more actively.

According to the 2010 census, more than 53 thousand Jews lived in Moscow. They accounted for 0.48% of the urban population. There are about 30 synagogues in the city.