The Jewish community of Azerbaijan is comprised of two distinct groups: the Mountain Jews and Ashkenazim. Both enjoy very good relations with the government and the Moslem majority.

Unlike Jews in other parts of the former Soviet Union, Azeri Jews escaped the worst of the Soviet government’s oppression of Jewish traditions. The Ashkenazi Jews, who began to arrive in the country during World War II, were primarily from Russia. Years of persecution had robbed them of ties to Jewish life. However, the Mountain Jews were able to retain much of their Jewish traditions.

When the Soviet Union collapsed thousands of Azeri Jews made aliyah. Those who remained – whether by choice or circumstance – are primarily Mountain Jews. Most live in the capital of Baku and in Kuba, Sumgait, Gyandzha and Oguz.

Though Azerbaijan has reserves of petroleum and natural gas, the 1990s brought economic ruin to Azerbaijan. Steel mills and chemical plants that employed thousands of people closed. Decades of industrial and agricultural pollution devastated its land and water. Its war with Armenia gravely hindered economic growth, and the country was flooded with hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

In 1994, a cease-fire was declared, but economic conditions did not improve. The government has recently begun to enact needed economic reforms and hopes to reap the benefits of its oil reserves in the Caspian Sea.

Since 1992, JDC has been helping the Jewish communities of Azerbaijan rebuild and strengthen Jewish communal life. As the country’s economy declined, we also began to help the community care for its impoverished elderly who were struggling to survive on meager pensions.

Despite war and economic and ecological disasters, the Azeri Jews have made enormous strides in creating a caring, vibrant and self-sufficient Jewish community. As long as they need our support, JDC will be there to help them.

2005