Quote:
|
Originally Posted by imperator
Gottslav: do they speak Iddisch?
|
Yes, traditionally many, if not majority of Russian Jews spoke Yiddish as their mother language. Not to forget that many Jews we inherited from the territories once belonging to the Hapsburg Empire (Westernmost Ukraine) and Poland (Western Ukraine, Western Belarus), some came directly from Germany or via the Baltic States (former Livonian Order) where the ruling elite and townsfolk were mainly German-speaking (Alfred Rosenberg is rumoured to be one of the better known examples of Baltic 'German' Jews, famous composer Alfred Schnittke's father is another good example). During the Soviet times the leading mouthpiece of Soviet Jews was called
Der Birobidshaner Stern.
The Jews held their own territory in the Far East, the main language being still Yiddish. The names of my classmates were Sienger and Schneider.