Social consciousness and identity of ukrainian jewry: The case of the dnieper region

Abstract

Thus, the ethnic-national identity of the Jewish population of Eastern Ukraine, including the Dnieper region, is an extremely complicated and dynamic phenomenon. It is the result of a set of internal factors (such as historical memory, cultural heritage, traditions in education and social activities) and external circumstances (pressure on the part of the non-Jewish population and their attitude towards Jews, models and degrees of integration into local society, mutual relations with Israel and other communities in Diaspora, as well as political and socioeconomic factors). The national identity of East Ukrainian Jewry represents a dynamic mixture of people's reactions to the historically formed circumstances and to their own existence in a specific environment. External and internal circumstances strengthen, in various periods, the role of certain specific elements of Jewish self-identity and weaken the importance of others. At the same time, the conservation of the structure of Jewish self-identity under Ukrainian conditions in general is an evident factor testifying to the great adaptive potential ofthe Jewish people.