Humanities desk
< April 23	<< Mar \| April \| May >>	April 25 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Humanities Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

April 24

Which Soviet cities had the largest percentage of Jews in 1959?

Which cities in the Soviet Union had the largest percentage (not total number of Jews, but percentage out of the total population of these cities) of Jews in 1959?

I know that some cities and/or towns in the historical Pale of Settlement had either a Jewish majority or a Jewish plurality before the Holocaust. However, I am curious about demographic data shortly after the Holocaust for Soviet Jews due to the fact that a majority of the Jews within the Soviet Union's 1938 borders appear to have survived the Holocaust. Futurist110 (talk) 02:40, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Probably Birobidzhan was one of them (depending on whether you consider it large enough to be a "city")... AnonMoos (talk) 16:33, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I have heard (sorry, no citation) that it was the city now known as Dnipro in Ukraine. Our article says that in 1959 Jews made up 7.6% of the population. Would that ratio be competitive for "largest"? Hayttom (talk) 18:45, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

It certainly wouldn't be the largest. As Soman said, Kiev and Odessa both had a higher Jewish percentage in 1959. Futurist110 (talk) 20:59, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

As per the 1959 Soviet census, Jews constituted 2.2% of the city dwellers across the USSR (https://books.google.com/books?id=Cd3RM6Emko0C&pg=PA136) Odessa had a Jewish population of 16% (https://books.google.com/books?id=6GiZl8je1aEC&pg=PT172) In Kiev the Jews represented 13% of the urban population in 1959 (https://books.google.com/books?id=V7g8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA28) The Jewish Autonomous Oblast, all in all, had 9% Jewish population in 1959 (not sure about Birobidzhan town specifically, though) --Soman (talk) 19:18, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much for this information! As I suspected, both Kiev and Odessa had a double-digit Jewish percentage in 1959. Do you know if there were any other Soviet cities that had a double-digit Jewish percentage or at least close to it? As you said, Birobdizhan is a possible candidate for this, but I wonder if any other Soviet cities actually fit this description in 1959. Kharkiv came close at 8.7% Jewish in 1959, and as Hayttom said, Dnipro was 7.6% Jewish in 1959. That said, though, I wonder if any other Soviet cities which have not been mentioned here had a Jewish percentage in the range of Kharkiv and Dnipro in 1959 or even had a higher Jewish percentage than Kharkiv and Dnipro had in 1959. Futurist110 (talk) 20:59, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Also, as a side note, Kiev's Jewish percentage of 13.9% in 1959 actually rounds up to 14% rather than rounds down to 13%. Writing 13% is a bit misleading since 13.9% is much closer to 14.0% than to 13.0%. Futurist110 (talk) 21:07, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

"In 1959 there were 240,000 Jews living in Moscow (4.5 per cent of the total population of the city); 170,000 in Leningrad (5.1 per cent); 154,000 in Kiev (13.9 per cent); 39.000 in Minsk (7.6 per cent); 17,000 in Vilnius (7.0 per cent); 43,000 in Kishinev (19.9 per cent); 31,000 in Riga (5,0 per cent); 17,400 in Tbilisi (2.5 per cent), and 17,000 in Vilna (7.0 per cent)" (https://books.google.com/books?id=D-NtAAAAMAAJ p. 228) So seems Kishinev might have had the highest percentage of major cities. However, I note that https://books.google.hn/books?id=FdFtAAAAMAAJ p. 71 says Rybnitsa had a 12.4% Jewish population in 1970 census (4,000 out of 32,000 pop total), but can't find data of 1959 census for the town for now. --Soman (talk) 11:39, 25 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Merci beaucoup for all of this information! Futurist110 (talk) 18:46, 25 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

By the way, could Chernivtsi be a possible candidate for this--beating out even Kishinev? It states here that there were about 37,000 Jews in Chernivtsi in 1959:

http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Chernivtsi

Meanwhile, the Russian Wikipedia gives Chervitsi's total population in 1959 as 152.3 thousand, or around 152,300. 37,000 divided by 152,300 is 24% (24.3%, to be more precise). Does this figure seem right to everyone here? Futurist110 (talk) 19:30, 25 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Just make sure that you don't mix oblast population and city population. --Soman (talk) 21:37, 25 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, I'll have to check to make sure that I don't mix up these two figures. Futurist110 (talk) 23:56, 25 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Christian denominations that allow termination of pregnancy after fertilization but not after implantation

Are there any Christian denominations which preach that its ok to terminate a pregnancy after fertilization but not after implantation? Wlo343 (talk) 04:02, 24 April 2019 (UTC)— Wlo343 (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic. [reply]

How would a mother know that implantation of the fertilised ovum hasn't occurred before she knows she's pregnant?
Sleigh (talk) 09:07, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I presume the question refers to use of the morning after pill.-gadfium 09:10, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

See Christian views on birth control for an overview. For starters, you can rely on the Roman Catholic Church to pronounce that behaviour "in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin".--Shantavira|^{feed me} 10:32, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Strictly speaking, if implantation has not occurred, you aren't pregnant.--Khajidha (talk) 10:48, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Wlo343 -- it's largely forgotten now, but medieval Catholicism regarded abortion before "quickening" as much less serious than abortion after "quickening"... AnonMoos (talk) 16:38, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Beard of Francis I of France

Hi! I was suprised the beard of Francis I of France was not mentioned in the article. It's a well-known fact in France that he sported a beard to hide scars. I've edited the article but my English might be incorrect. Could you please kindly check and improve it? Thanks42.118.49.88 (talk) 15:10, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Link: https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Francis_I_of_France#Image

I'd love to help, but first can you tell us a source from which I can read about Francis's beard? If I can read your source material, I can help add the information. Thanks! --Jayron 32 15:12, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Butting in: I see a source cited on page 220 here. Et depuis François 1er, qui se rasa les cheveux pour quelques plaies qu’il avait reçu à la tête, et se laissa croître la barbe afin d’en couvrir la conformité de ses cicatrices qui lui restaient au visage pour autres plaies : les cheveux courts et les barbes longues commencèrent à être en règne : chacun se faisant couper les cheveux, jusque à notre siècle, ou les perruques se trouvent plus que jamais à la mode, Anonyme, « 149e Conférence du lundi 13 juillet 1637. De la chevelure » dans Renaudot, Recueil général des conférences..., T. 3, p. 582.

Rough translation: Ever since Francis I, who shaved his hair because of some wounds on his head, and who let his beard grow to cover the scars on his face from other wounds: short hair and long beards began to appear in the kingdom: everyone cut their hair until our century, when wigs became more than ever in fashion. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 20:42, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]