Jewish Autonomous Region in the Great Patriotic War: at the front and in the rear

The passing of time will never erase from the memory of generations the years of the Great Patriotic War. The further from us are those events, the more evident appears the military and labor feat of the Soviet people, who defended in a brutal single combat not only their own freedom and independence, but also saved the world from destruction and fascist barbarity. The Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 was the most severe test for the Soviet state.

The Jewish Autonomous region, as well as the whole Soviet Far East, served as the rear in that war with Nazi Germany. But any day, it could become a real front.

On June 23, 1941, meetings of party activists and workers’ rallies were held in Birobidzhan and in regional centers. The residents expressed their anger at the fascist hordes invasion. The speakers called on patriots to make all their efforts to support the heroic Red Army, providing its needs and giving the front and the country all necessary things and products to defeat the enemy.

During the Great Patriotic War, more than 11,000 residents of the Jewish Autonomous region joined the Red Army. As part of the Far Eastern formations, they showed heroism fighting in the territories of Russia, Belarus, the Baltic States, Western European countries, and in the war against Japanese militarists in the Far East. The names of countrymen, who fell on the battlefields during the Second World War, have been immortalized on the monuments and memorial plaques.