A group of immigrants who arrived in 1928 Art. Quiet. 1930
Photo: Heritage JAO
October 9, 1935
The newspaper “Birobidzhan Star” (12+) 1935 October 9 wrote about preparations for the meeting of new settlers. It was published how newly arrived settlers would be welcomed, what was prepared for them – a bathhouse, a canteen, a cultural program, transport.
Day in the history of the Jewish Autonomous Region. Photo: Photo: Regional Library
The newspaper published the welcoming speech of Abram Rimsky, a migrant in 1928, at the meeting of the new echelon:
“Dear comrades, new migrants arriving in the first echelon!
I came to Birobidzhan back in 1928 among the first settlers.
Now you are arriving in a city that has already been relatively rebuilt. Accommodations are being prepared for your arrival. You go to work at existing enterprises and at newly built new buildings, your children will be accepted into schools from the very first days. Of course, we don’t have enough of all this – housing and schools – but it will be interesting for you to know what we found here when we arrived here.
At first, my family and six young children lived in a tent all year round. It was a double tent, with a plank floor laid inside. The iron stove was heated without interruption around the clock. The tent accommodated several families. We were surrounded by taiga. We worked mainly in the winter on harvesting, and in the summer on construction and arable land.
The house turned out great. According to the estimate, such a house costs 18 thousand rubles. It has three rooms, a kitchen with a Russian stove. The house is plastered inside and out. There is a barn and a pigsty built in the yard. My wife started a large farm – a cow, three pigs, and poultry. The house has a vegetable garden of 0.10 hectares. There will be enough potatoes and vegetables to last all winter. My sons and I earn up to 1 thousand rubles a month. Our entire family is guaranteed a prosperous life.
I’m not telling you all this to brag, although we shouldn’t make ourselves poor. It's time to quit this habit! I want to use my example to convince all newly arriving comrades that here, in Birobidzhan, every honest worker can achieve a secure, happy life for himself.
So, welcome, comrades! To work, shoulder to shoulder with us, old settlers!”
