Created as an agricultural settlement in far east Russia in 1928, Birobidzhan, the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Region, was intended as a viable Soviet Jewish homeland. Jews the world over supported this project. Yiddish (with Russian) was designated the official language. But Jewish religious observance was discouraged; Jewish identity radically diminished. Born and raised there, Nikolai Borodulin brings the story of Birobidzhan to life with memories, rare video footage, and photographs.
