Qırmızı Qəsəbə is a village and municipality in Quba District of Azerbaijan. It has a population of 3,598, and is believed to be the world's only all-Jewish town outside Israel and the United States. The village is located across the Qudiyalçay River from the larger town of Quba. It is the primary settlement of Azerbaijan's population of highland, or Mountain Jews, who make up the population of approximately 4,000. The most widely spoken language in Qırmızı Qəsəbə is Juhuri. Qırmızı Qəsəbə is considered to be the world's last surviving shtetl. The settlement is sometimes referred to as the "Red Town" or the "Red Village", possibly because of the red tiling used on many of the roofs. Other sources attribute the name to the protected status the town received during the Soviet period, when it was shielded from persecution during World War II.
Geography
Initially spread throughout the mountainous region, the Jewish population of the highlands became centered around Quba.
Quba
Quba is one of the popular regions of Azerbaijan. In the past, the guests visiting Azerbaijan were invited to visit Quba because of its proximity to the capital city. Lezgins, Tats, Khinalug people, Budukh people, and Kryts people were living in peace and friendship with Turks in Quba for centuries. Qırmızı, being located in Quba, where the Mountain Jews reside, is also important in promoting Quba.
Demographics
Officially, 213,138 Jewish people were registered in 34 settlements of the Caucasus in 1881. Over the past hundred years, along with highland Jews, other ethnolinguistic groups or the regions—Ashkenazi, Krymchaks, Kurdish Jews, and Georgian Jews—also lived in Azerbaijan. However, since the 19th century, the majority of Jewish population of republic is consisting of Mountain Jews.
History
The first Jewish settlement in the area was named "Kulgat" on the left bank of the Gudjalchay, just a few kilometers from present day Qırmızı. The old grave stones in the Kulgat area and other evidence that had been partially destroyed during the attacks of the Nadir Shah in the early 18th century prove that the Jews had lived here. While the highland Jews had been in the area around Quba since at least the 13th century, the formal creation of Krasnaya Sloboda is traced back to the 18th century. In 1742 the Khan of Quba, Fatali Khan, gave the Jews permission to set up a community free of persecution across the river from the city of Quba. Originally referred to as Yevreiskaya Sloboda, the name was changed to Krasnaya Sloboda under Soviet rule. The Jews who moved here had previously lived in 9 disparate settlements. Jews from Gilan moved to the settlement in the 1780s. The Gilaki settlement of the Gilani Jews located in the center of the Red settlement. People coming from Baku and Quba lived in the settlement of Mizrahi. Migration from different locations influenced the diversity of employment. For example, Jews moving from mountainous regions were engaged in various agricultural fields, and people who immigrated from Iran were engaged in trade. The massive settlement in the Red town began in 1731. After the death of Huseynali Khan in 1758, his son Fatali Khan was leader of Quba khanate. Fatali Khan, highly appreciating the loyalty, wisdom, and industriousness of the mountain Jews, gave them a great opportunity for engaging in agriculture, gardening, trade, and crafts. Favorable living conditions created for Jews in Quba caused the relocation of Jews from other villages, such as Qusar, Ucgun, Shudukh, Griz, and even from Baku, Iran, Turkey and other places to Quba. Finally, mountain Jews who escaped attacks and persecutions joined the shelter of heading Husseinanli Khan in Quba. The Quba Khanate, in development during the rule of Hussein Khan and his son Fatali Khan, consist of the northern lands of Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan, from Derbent to Lankaran. Since 1722, mountain Jews have settled in the territory of Gudyalchay. Among Russian Jews, the town once was known as "little Jerusalem". Located at the intersection of East and West, more than 40 minorities and ethnic groups live in Azerbaijan, including Talyshs, Avars, Lezgins, Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians, Poles and others. The town has had an influx of financial support from relatives living in Israel and features the new Bet Knesset Synagogue. However, after Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, many residents emigrated to Israel, the United States, and Europe, and the population dropped from the roughly 18,000 that lived there during the era of Communism.
Religious practice
The Jewish residents continue their worship in the remaining synagogues. Only eight of the thirteen synagogues have been preserved in the settlement. Two synagogues exist in Qırmızı Qəsəbə: "Altı günbəz" synagogue which was built in 1888 and renovated in 2000, and "Giləki" synagogue which was built in 1896 and renovated recently. Residents speak in three languages: Judeo-Tat which mountain Jews speak in daily life, Russian and Azerbaijan language. One of the two schools here is taught in Azerbaijani or Russian.
