Krymchak

They are probably partially descended from Jewish colonists who settled along the Black Sea in ancient times. Jewish communities existed in many of the Greek colonies in the region. Recently-excavated inscriptions in the Crimea have revealed a Jewish presence at least as early as the first century BCE. In some Crimean towns, pagan cults called sebomenoi theon hypsiston ("Worshippers of the All-Highest God", or "God-Fearers") existed. These quasi-Jews kept the Jewish commandments but remained uncircumcised and retained certain pagan customs. Eventually, these sects disappeared as their members adopted eithe ...

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Krymchak, Krymchak - Language, Krymchak - Origins, Krymchak - Middle Ages, Krymchak - Tatar and Turkish rule, Krymchak - Russian and Soviet rule, Krymchak - The Holocaust and after, Krymchak - Sources

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The Crimean Tatars (Qırımtatar (aka Qırım, Qırımlı and Qırım türkü), Pl. Qırımtatarlar (aka Qırımlar, Qırımlılar, Qırım türkleri)) are a Turkic ethnic group originally residing in the Crimean peninsula. They speak the Crimean Tatar language. In modern times, in addition to living in Crimea, there is a large diaspora of the Crimean Tatars in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Western Europe and North America. (See Crimean Tatar diaspora for more information)

• Crimean Tatars - History
• Crimean Tatars - Wikisource

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Crimean Tatars are descendants of Turkic (Bulgars, Khazars, Petchenegs and Kypchaks) and non-Turkic (Scythians, Sarmatians, Cimmerians, Alans, Greeks, Goths) peoples who had settled in Eastern Europe as early as the 7th century. The earliest non-Turkic population was assimilated to Turkic. Current name is in use since 13th century when Crimea was occupied by Mongols (or Tatars, as they were known in Europe and Russia). The mountain and coastal Tatars, the Tats have a Caucasian outlook, while those of the steppe and the Nogais retain Central Asian physical features. The Crimean ...

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Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatars - History, Crimean Tatars - Wikisource

Read more here: » Crimean Tatars: Encyclopedia II - Crimean Tatars - History

The Crimean Karaites (sometimes known as Karaim) are a Karaite Jewish community of Eastern Europe. Originally centered in the Crimean Peninsula, the Karaim were established in Lithuania and elsewhere in Europe from late medieval times. The name "Crimean Karaites" is something of a misnomer, as many branches of this community found their way to locations throughout Europe and the Middle East. Their self-designation, Karaim (or, in the Karaim language, Qaraylar), however, is insufficient, as it fails to disti ...

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• Crimean Karaites - Language
• Crimean Karaites - Origins
• Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania
• Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire
• Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust
• Crimean Karaites - Post-War
• Crimean Karaites - Recommended Reading

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Their status under Russian imperial rule bore beneficial fruits for the Karaim decades later. In 1934, the heads of the Karaite community in Berlin asked the Nazi authorities to exempt them from the regulations; on the basis of their legal status in Russia. The Reich Agency for the Investigation of Families determined that from the standpoint of German law, the Karaites were not to be considered Jews. The letter from the Reichsstelle fur Sippenforschung gave the official ruling in a letter which stated: The Karaite sect shoul ...

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Crimean Karaites, Crimean Karaites - Language, Crimean Karaites - Origins, Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania, Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire, Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust, Crimean Karaites - Post-War, Crimean Karaites - Recommended Reading

Read more here: » Crimean Karaites: Encyclopedia II - Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust

The oldest and most treasured books of the Jewish people have been the Torah and Tanakh (i.e. the Hebrew Bible) written almost entirely in Biblical Hebrew and widely used by Jews during their history. Jews zealously studied these detailed Hebrew texts, observed the commandments formulated in them, based their prayers on them, and spoke its language. Jews maintained a belief that Hebrew was God's "language" as well (as it was the language God uses in the Torah itself), hence its name "lash ...

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Jewish languages, Jewish languages - Background, Jewish languages - Contemporary trends, Jewish languages - Use of the Hebrew alphabet, Jewish languages - List of Jewish languages, Jewish languages - Afro-Asiatic languages, Jewish languages - Indo-European languages, Jewish languages - Uralo-Altaic, Jewish languages - Kartvelic, Jewish languages - Dravidian, Jewish languages - Alphabetical list

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Assimilation and emigration greatly reduced the ranks of the Karaim community. A few thousand Karaim remain in Lithuania, Belarus, the Ukraine, Russia and Poland. Other communities exist in Israel, Turkey, the United States, and Great Britain. At the time of this writing (March 2005), genetic testing is being conducted to ascertain their ethnic origin. ...

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Crimean Karaites, Crimean Karaites - Language, Crimean Karaites - Origins, Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania, Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire, Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust, Crimean Karaites - Post-War, Crimean Karaites - Recommended Reading

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In 1392 Grand Duke Vytautas of Grand Duchy of Lithuania relocated one branch the Crimean Karaites to Lithuania where they continued to speak their own language. The Lithuanian Karaites settled primarily in Vilna (Vilnius) and Troki (Trakai), but also in smaller settlements throughout Lithuania proper and lands of modern Belarus and Ukraine, that were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Karaim in Lithuan ...

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Crimean Karaites, Crimean Karaites - Language, Crimean Karaites - Origins, Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania, Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire, Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust, Crimean Karaites - Post-War, Crimean Karaites - Recommended Reading

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Turkic speaking Karaites (in the Crimean Tatar language, Qaraylar) have lived in the Crimea for centuries. Their origin, is disputed. Some regard them as descendants of Karaite Jews who settled in the Crimea and adopted a form of the Kipchak tongue (see Karaim language). Others view them as descendents of Khazar (unlikely) or Kipchak (more likely) converts to Karaite Judaism. Whatever their origins, from the time of the Golden Horde onward, they were present in many towns and villages throughout the Crimea and around the Black Sea. Some of the major communities could be found in the to ...

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Crimean Karaites, Crimean Karaites - Language, Crimean Karaites - Origins, Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania, Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire, Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust, Crimean Karaites - Post-War, Crimean Karaites - Recommended Reading

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This broad picture was substantially modified by major historical shifts beginning in the late nineteenth century. The immigration of millions of European Jews to North America caused a dramatic increase in the number of Jewish English-speakers; colonialism in the Maghreb led most of its Jews to shift to French or Spanish; Zionism revived Hebrew as a spoken language, giving it a substantially increased vocabulary and a simplified sound system; the Holocaust tragically and massively eradicated the vast majority of Yiddish-speaking European Je ...

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Jewish languages, Jewish languages - Background, Jewish languages - Contemporary trends, Jewish languages - Use of the Hebrew alphabet, Jewish languages - List of Jewish languages, Jewish languages - Afro-Asiatic languages, Jewish languages - Indo-European languages, Jewish languages - Uralo-Altaic, Jewish languages - Kartvelic, Jewish languages - Dravidian, Jewish languages - Alphabetical list

Read more here: » Jewish languages: Encyclopedia II - Jewish languages - Contemporary trends

Nineteenth-century leaders of the Karaim, such as Simcha Babovitch and Avraham Firkovitch, were driving forces behind a concerted effort to de-Judaize the Karaite community in eyes of the Russian legal system. Firkovitch in particular was adamant in his attempts to connect the Karaim with the Khazars, and has been accused of forging documents and inscriptions to back up his claims. Ultimately, the Tsarist government officially recognized the Karaim as being of Turkic, not Jewish, origin, a political ruling that has little basis in his ...

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Crimean Karaites, Crimean Karaites - Language, Crimean Karaites - Origins, Crimean Karaites - In Lithuania, Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire, Crimean Karaites - During the Holocaust, Crimean Karaites - Post-War, Crimean Karaites - Recommended Reading

Read more here: » Crimean Karaites: Encyclopedia II - Crimean Karaites - In the Russian Empire

Unlike the Karaim, the Krymchaks were targeted for annihilation by the Nazis. Six thousand Krymchaks, almost 75% of their population, were liquidated by the Nazis. Moreover, upon the return of Soviet authority to the region, many Krymchaks found themselves mistakenly deported to Central Asia along with their Crimean Tatar neighbors. By 2000 only about 2,500 Krymchaks lived in the former Soviet Union, about half in Ukraine and the remainder in Georgia, Russia, and Uzbekistan. A few hundred Krymchaks still clinging to their Crimean identity live in the United States and Israel ...

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Krymchak, Krymchak - Language, Krymchak - Origins, Krymchak - Middle Ages, Krymchak - Tatar and Turkish rule, Krymchak - Russian and Soviet rule, Krymchak - The Holocaust and after, Krymchak - Sources

Read more here: » Krymchak: Encyclopedia II - Krymchak - The Holocaust and after

Russia annexed the Crimea in 1783. The Krymchaks were thereafter subjected to the same humiliations imposed on other Jews in Russia. Unlike their Karaite neighbors, the Krymchaks suffered the full brunt of anti-Jewish restrictions. During the 1800s many Ashkenazim from Ukraine and Lithuania began to settle in the Crimea. Compared with these Ashkenazim the Krymchaks seemed somewhat backward; their illiteracy rates, for example, were quite high, and they observed many superstitions . Intermarriage with the newcomers reduced the numbers of the distinct Krymchak community dramatically. By 1900 there were 60,00 ...

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Krymchak, Krymchak - Language, Krymchak - Origins, Krymchak - Middle Ages, Krymchak - Tatar and Turkish rule, Krymchak - Russian and Soviet rule, Krymchak - The Holocaust and after, Krymchak - Sources

Read more here: » Krymchak: Encyclopedia II - Krymchak - Russian and Soviet rule

In the late 600s most of the Crimea fell to the Khazars. The extent to which the Krymchaks influenced the ultimate conversion of the Khazars development of Khazar Judaism is unknown. During the period of Khazar rule, intermarriage between Crimean Jews and Khazars is likely, and the Krymchaks probably absorbed numerous Khazar refugees during the decline and fall of the Khazar kingdom (a Khazar successor state, ruled by Georgius Tzul, was centered on Kerch). It is known that Kipchak converts to Judaism existed, it is possible that from these converts the Krymc ...

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Krymchak, Krymchak - Language, Krymchak - Origins, Krymchak - Middle Ages, Krymchak - Tatar and Turkish rule, Krymchak - Russian and Soviet rule, Krymchak - The Holocaust and after, Krymchak - Sources

Read more here: » Krymchak: Encyclopedia II - Krymchak - Middle Ages

Under the Girai Khanate the Jews were required to live in separate quarters and pay a dhimmi-tax. A limited judicial autonomy was granted according to the Ottoman millet system. Overt, violent persecution was extremely rare. During the Cossack rebellions and pogroms of the mid 1600s, the Krymchaks were active in ransoming fellow Jews who had been taken captive. ...

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Krymchak, Krymchak - Language, Krymchak - Origins, Krymchak - Middle Ages, Krymchak - Tatar and Turkish rule, Krymchak - Russian and Soviet rule, Krymchak - The Holocaust and after, Krymchak - Sources

Read more here: » Krymchak: Encyclopedia II - Krymchak - Tatar and Turkish rule