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My paternal grandfather, Julius Kann, was born in Moscow. There is nothing I know about his parents. When he was young, he came from Moscow to Tartu [Estonia, about 170 km east of Tallinn]. The matter is that there was a 5% admission quota at educational institutions for the Jews [1]. No more than 5% of Jews could be enrolled for a course at the university. Strange as it may be, there was no quota in Estonia, although it was a part of Tsarist Russia before the revolution of 1917 [2].
The southern part of Estonia together with the north of Latvia was Lifland province of Russia, and the northern part of Estonia was Estland province. Estonia was kind of detached from Russia. There were no Jewish pogroms in Estonia [3], which were customary in Ukraine and Russia, especially beginning from 1905. There were no restrictions with regard to the occupation, there was no pale of settlement [4], which existed in the entire Russian empire. Probably, many young Jews came to study in Estonia, especially in the famous Tartu University.
The southern part of Estonia together with the north of Latvia was Lifland province of Russia, and the northern part of Estonia was Estland province. Estonia was kind of detached from Russia. There were no Jewish pogroms in Estonia [3], which were customary in Ukraine and Russia, especially beginning from 1905. There were no restrictions with regard to the occupation, there was no pale of settlement [4], which existed in the entire Russian empire. Probably, many young Jews came to study in Estonia, especially in the famous Tartu University.
Period
Location
Tartu
Estonia
Interview
Julianna Sharik
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