In this chapter you will read about the history of Jews living in Russia in the twentieth century. Specifically, consider the following questions:

1. How did the freedoms of Jews living in Russia rise and fall throughout the course of the twentieth century? What were the major periods in the history of Jews in Russia in the twentieth century?
2. In what ways did Soviet authorities come to restrict Jewish participation in Soviet society?
3. Whо were the refusniks (отказники) and what did they want?
4. To what degree did Soviet Jews observe Jewish religious rituals throughout the twentieth century? If and when they did not, what distinguished them from non-Jews living in Russia?