Jewish Immigration Research Paper

THE BEGINNING The Russian Jewish community are hardly a group of people thought of as the paupers of the Brooklyn we know today. With a large amount of immigrants becoming wildly successful in a variety of fields, it’s hard to believe the harsh reality that this group faced in history. From the first two waves of Russian Immigration 1800s to the last wave or Russian Jewish immigration (Orleck), a Russian Jewish person’s life was not one fantasized by many. They lived in rigorous circumstances, most expelled their capability to hold certain jobs, and faced intense cruelty from the fellow tenants in their residencies. Countless people perished in the Holocaust and families were left torn, but through it all, millions managed to immigrate to America and start a new life. Although there are many Russian Jewish neighborhoods throughout the United States, one of the most popularly known and influential is “Little Odessa”

The U.S. economy was not doing well to say the least. Then, luckily for the Russian’s, the Soviet Union’s Immigration policy opened the doors for the last wave of Eastern European Immigration to the United States ( ). They had programs in the US to help them find employment, learn to speak English, and settle into their new lives. Because of predominant Eastern European population, many Soviet refugees were settled into Brighton and that was the birth of “Little Odessa.” “Nearly 40,000 Soviet Jewish immigrants arrived in Brighton between 1975 and 1980” (Orleck) and more young families would come all the way through the 1990s to create the largest Russian Jewish community in the city. The Russian Jewish community undoubtedly redefined south Brooklyn and especially Brighton Beach. Upon building supermarkets, condominium buildings, restaurants and shops Brighton beach will most probably be forever known as the Russia by the bay, or “Little