You're welcome! I'll figure something out for an independent Yidishland, although I'm not a fan of that as an official name. I'd go with Prusia or even Ashkenazia.
Yidishland
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There would also be a small minority of German speaking Jews, the ones from Germany, Austria and maybe Czechia. As a matter of anecdotal evidence, one of my (German Jew) relatives was liberated from Stutthof by the Soviets.
Well, Prussia would certainly be a more neutral name than Yidishland for the non-Jewish population, and I feel like it would be a name that might stick even before it’s declared official. Like “Jewish Socialist Soviet Republic” is a mouthful, so I could see people defaulting to East Prussia and then shortening it to Prussia, for lack of a better word.
FTR I did not know you were from Singapore when I sent this message. I had actually done alot of research into Singapore for this TL, because I thought (as mentioned) there were some interesting parallels.
(And the housing policy...Yidishland/Prussia will end up creating a housing policy which is directly inspired by Singapore's, with a little DDR influence)
That is fascinating!
Yes, as we shall eventually see, "Jews are Germans" is an opinion held by a decent number of Yidishland Jews. (Whenever my own grandfather, who lost most of his family to the Shoah, would hear someone talk about "What the Germans did to the Jews", he would snap back "Jews ARE Germans". He's not like, exactly right, but he's also not exactly wrong.
Yep, I've come to the same conclusion. "Prussia" would certainly take on a different connotation ITTL.
And I agree with @Jan Olbracht southern Masuria would likely be included in Poland; but I like the substantial minority populations forcing the state into a multilingual, multiethnic stance. It also adds variety to the nations' geography.
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Ershter Liga
The Ershter Liga (First League), modern Yidishland/Prussia
Football is the most popular spectator sport, although in terms of international rankings, Yidishland is highest in basketball and volleyball. Basketball is also a very popular spectator sport; Ice Hockey and Volleyball at a level below, then European Handball, Water Polo, and Chess are minorly popular spectator sports
Major clubs -
Jutrzenka - Based in Elbing/Elblag; the club took their name from the Krakow pre-war Jewish club; it's name means "Dawn" in Polish, as the club represents the city's primarily Jewish and Polish inhabitants
Viktoria Allenshteyn - the larger Allenshteyn has two clubs typically in the top division; Viktoria are officially a non-ethnic club but a majority of the fan base are Jewish, due to the city's demographics and the presence of another club:
Warmia Olstzyn - this club was originally a club for the Warmian Poles (Catholic, Polish-speakers in the Allenshteyn/Olstzyn area) but is now popular among many Masurians in the area as well.
Makkabi Kyonigrad & Hakoah Kyonigrad - Two of the nations biggest clubs, they are actually the 'head' of nationwide multi-sport athletic clubs set up in independence. Makkabi traditionally draws from a more religious and rural base while Hakoah from a more urban and secular base, but the two institutions are both based in Kyonigrad.
Baltika Kyonigrad - Another Soviet era club for workers in the fishing, shipbuilding & repair industries that survived because it wasn't affiliated with the KGB or Military (directly, anyway). Again, many of the supporters are Russian
Torpedo Kyonigrad - Torpedo clubs are Soviet-era clubs for workers in heavy industries; automobile and farm equipment manufacture were important in the SSR during Soviet days. As this club was very popular during the JSSR, they managed to stick around after independence. Again, many of the supporters are Russian
Bar Kokhba Nayehoyzen - Based in a rapidly-growing suburb of Kyonigrad, primarily supported by Haredim and the locals
AK Tilzit - multi-ethnic club representing the region, located on the Lithuanian border and although club support includes many Jews and Russian speakers, but also is seen as "the" club for the Lithuanian community
Slavia - Based in Gumbinen in the east of the country, especially popular amongst the the Belarusian and Ukrainian populations
Borussia Inshterburg - multiethnic club in the middle of the country
yo yo clubs:
Spartak Baltishk - the hold over from the Soviet era club representing trade union members; grew in popularity around Baltiysk as the SEZ grew, while simultaneously diminishing in the rest of the country
Mazurka Elk - primarily Masurian club based in the eastern city of Liks/Elk
Football is the most popular spectator sport, although in terms of international rankings, Yidishland is highest in basketball and volleyball. Basketball is also a very popular spectator sport; Ice Hockey and Volleyball at a level below, then European Handball, Water Polo, and Chess are minorly popular spectator sports
Major clubs -
Jutrzenka - Based in Elbing/Elblag; the club took their name from the Krakow pre-war Jewish club; it's name means "Dawn" in Polish, as the club represents the city's primarily Jewish and Polish inhabitants
Viktoria Allenshteyn - the larger Allenshteyn has two clubs typically in the top division; Viktoria are officially a non-ethnic club but a majority of the fan base are Jewish, due to the city's demographics and the presence of another club:
Warmia Olstzyn - this club was originally a club for the Warmian Poles (Catholic, Polish-speakers in the Allenshteyn/Olstzyn area) but is now popular among many Masurians in the area as well.
Makkabi Kyonigrad & Hakoah Kyonigrad - Two of the nations biggest clubs, they are actually the 'head' of nationwide multi-sport athletic clubs set up in independence. Makkabi traditionally draws from a more religious and rural base while Hakoah from a more urban and secular base, but the two institutions are both based in Kyonigrad.
Baltika Kyonigrad - Another Soviet era club for workers in the fishing, shipbuilding & repair industries that survived because it wasn't affiliated with the KGB or Military (directly, anyway). Again, many of the supporters are Russian
Torpedo Kyonigrad - Torpedo clubs are Soviet-era clubs for workers in heavy industries; automobile and farm equipment manufacture were important in the SSR during Soviet days. As this club was very popular during the JSSR, they managed to stick around after independence. Again, many of the supporters are Russian
Bar Kokhba Nayehoyzen - Based in a rapidly-growing suburb of Kyonigrad, primarily supported by Haredim and the locals
AK Tilzit - multi-ethnic club representing the region, located on the Lithuanian border and although club support includes many Jews and Russian speakers, but also is seen as "the" club for the Lithuanian community
Slavia - Based in Gumbinen in the east of the country, especially popular amongst the the Belarusian and Ukrainian populations
Borussia Inshterburg - multiethnic club in the middle of the country
yo yo clubs:
Spartak Baltishk - the hold over from the Soviet era club representing trade union members; grew in popularity around Baltiysk as the SEZ grew, while simultaneously diminishing in the rest of the country
Mazurka Elk - primarily Masurian club based in the eastern city of Liks/Elk
How German Jews perceived themselves after all that happened is certainly a fascinating topic. My entire family tree from my mother's side happens to belong to that group, but with my own grandparents being already born here, though they still spoke German as their first language, I only have secondhand accounts and a bunch of historical documents. For once, I do know that my grandmother's father didn't blame the Germans as a whole and held that he wouldn't have gotten out if it weren't for some Germans.
There's also a very interesting book made by the school my grandmother's mother and her sister attended in her hometown of Pforzheim, where they investigate what happened to all the Jewish girls that attended there before the war. From there I got that their own father, in their words, was a "proud German citizen, who always said he had 'been in the battlefield for four years, to defend the Fatherland'". I find that Jewish veterans of WW1 were a special flavor of the tragedy of German Jews.
Same with my family. That old saying, "remember, the first country taken over by the Nazis was Germany."
Same thing with Poles. Most of my extended family were in Poland between the wars, and their are lots of stories about antisemitism, especially from the state as the 1930s progressed, but all the relatives I've met have stories about how the extraordinary kindness of other people, Polish, German, Ukrainian, whoever - are how they survived.
I do hope to be able to explore that topic through this story. Collective blame, collective punishment, and collective guilt are not things that I abide by - I wasn't raised that way.
The relationship with Germany should be extra interesting. The JSSR would probably assume Israel's OTL role of "speaking on behalf of the victims of the Holocaust", but it gets extra spicy given they sit in former German land and are part of the USSR. For once, the topic of reparations may not be resolved as swiftly as OTL. Many in Germany would argue that the land they sit in is enough reparations, or that they shouldn't be giving money to the Soviets. I could see this leading to some sort of moment like Willy Brandt kneeling in Warsaw.
On the same topic, the relations with Israel should be pretty complex, especially during the Cold War.
Yidishland should make an attractive immigration destination for the Haredim after independence.
They are an important contributor to the Jewish population growth. I'm toying with the idea of the state even trying to recruit specific Rebbes by offering them under-manned or abandoned rural kolkhozy which can be converted into like religious kibbutzim.
And Chabad almost certainly plays a massive role in helping Jews return to the faith after independence.
Ashkenazia sounds amazing.
And yeah I gotta admit: "Yiddishland" is a terrible name. Not for this thread specifically: but the way it's been used IRL just makes me want to puke
Yeah bang on. I think Yidishland might also take the same line...because for them having good relations, specifically trade relations, may be more important than reparations by 1990, plus also, as you point out, many on *both* sides may feel that the land is enough. I think Yidishland is more concerned about aligning their education systems with Germany. But different political groups and parties will have different opinions on the matter.
I don't see Germany, in the midst of reunification, being especially keen on providing more compensation to the JSSR when presumably they feel like they already did that with Israel
Of course, that could cause tensions because the JSSR/Prussia/Yidishland may feel that they *truly* bore the brunt of the Holocaust but Israel got the funds.
I think post independence there will a complicated and tense relationship based on intense familiarity. Even with political disagreements, they are still 'brother nations' at least in theory. There will likely be some of the FDR-DDR dynamic in the cold war.
Afterward, it will trend toward maybe an almost Canada/USA type relationship (not all the way there, but in that direction). Where the animosity is because of the closeness. Canadians complain about America more than anyone else because they are so familiar (almost all have been there and have family). But they still shake there head at what they see as a more violent, racist, evangelical, militaristic and hyper capitalist society.
Meanwhile, the many Americans, when they think if Canada at all, think about backwoods Hicks, country bumpkins, brutal winters, funny accents and gosh darn socialism.
Cheers yeah I get that. I don't love the name Yidishland for an actual IRL country (I don't hate it, but I don't love it either).
Ashkenaz could actually make a lot of sense
I feel like in the 90s the strategy might be to try to leverage the "special" relationship with Germany to get a fast track entry into the EU.
I would doubt whether a more heavily Mizrahi Israel would get those funds at all. I would say that ITTL the reparations might be done more in a personal basis without the consensus that Israel "speaks on behalf of the Holocaust victims". Like, everyone would question why middle easterner jews are getting Holocaust reparations.
In particular their position when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict should be interesting. As part of the eastern block, during the Cold War they'll fall almost certainly in line with the Soviet pro-Arab position, but how much will that hold after independence.
Speaking of said conflict, I'd say it would be very much changed in the face of a demographically weaker Israel. I could also see the US aligning with it sooner, with the Soviets having their very own Jewish state.
I don't know if this is the way OP is gonna go and I wouldn't insist on anything: but the idea of a Haredi-Socialist state rivaling Israel sounds like a schizopost off of reddit. Incredible. 10/10, can't wait.
This is an excellent point that I hadn't really thought about. I still imagine there will be a decent number of Jews going to Israel after the war, but virtually none of them will come from the Soviet Union or Poland. Romanians will be the largest block, probably. But you're right that it probably changes the calculus on how reparations are done - unless the west decide to pressure Germany into giving Israel reparations as a means to counter the JSSR?
Edit: meant to mention in this part that the "Arab Cold War" which also occurred at the same time adds an interesting twist to the dynamic...by the Israelis being more firmly in the American camp and the JSSR an integral part of the USSR, that means that...Israel is on the same side as...Jordan? and Saudi Arabia? and Morocco?
I really need to dial in on the demographics of Israel to figure out the effects. It almost certainly slows down the settlements in the west bank, the post-Soviet Aliyah was a large part of that
A Multicultural, Multilingual, Bundist-Haredim post-Soviet German successor state.
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Tbh I'm kinda skeptical of a multiethnic state with a secular history coming from it's communist period being warm towards Haredis, nevermind encouraging immigration.
The Haredis are controversial even in Israel for being an economic burden, and this would be even more so in the JSSR with a much more sizeable and influential non-Jewish minority that would almost uniformly oppose it.
That idea comes out of a lot of Zionist prejudices about non-Zionist Jews. Haredim definitely do work, but their economy is very much insular, like the rest of their culture(s). A lot of it stems from their disagreements with Zionism. If they lived in a country with less cultural repression and without the religious baggage that the State of Israel entails, the situation may be a lot better. Perhaps something like 1920s Poland. It may not though.
In the immediate independence period, like most soviet successor and eastern european states, there will be a declining population which, in the 1990s at least, looks like it will be devastating. It also is all complicated by the government structure, which I will eventually explain. In the end, most Haredim speak Yiddish, and although I understand the controversy in Israel, much of that is because their yeshivas are state sponsored and they are exempt from military service. Neither will be the case in Yidishland (they will have the same exemption status as everyone). But you're right to point out tensions and there absolutely will be those who aren't happy with the rapidly growing Haredi population.
I know many Haredim, (I guess technically I'm Hasidic but really really bad at it), and man I've known some Haredi women who made $200,000k a year and couldn't wait to start popping out kids, having "eight, ten, as many as I can". They aren't all necessarily a burden. And it also depends how your state is structured. In Yidishland, housing is a human right. So if they weren't providing those houses to the Haredi, they'd be providing them to someone else. Or just maintaining them without anyone living in them. The state also acts as the "employer of last resort" so Haredim may find it easier to work part-time or in a way that is conducive to their lifestyle. The most challenging part will be the haredi tendency to form their own communities, which will be discouraged by the state (much like in Singapore). OTL Guryevsk (former Neuhausen) is called Nayehoyz ITTL and acts as a predominately Haredi satellite community of Kyonigrad, but they had to largely finance that themselves (in purchasing the homes & leaseholds. Land is property of the state).