Alternate names: Bakı [Azeri], Baku and Буки [Rus], Buki [Rus, Pol, Yid], Buky [Ukr], . 40°24' N, 49°53' E, capitol. 98 miles NWof Quba. 1900 Jewish population: 2,341. 1990 Jewish population: 17,000 Jews out of 1,350,000.
- Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), p. 221: "Buki".
- Shtetl Finder (1980), p. 12: "Buki, Baki".
- Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), I, p. 458: "Buki" #1.
- JewishGen Ukraine SIG
- KehilaLink [Oct 2013]
- Jewish Community information [Aug 2003]:
- Jewish history in Wikipedia. "1811 is the year when the first Ashkenazi Jews settled in Baku, but their mass immigration to what is now Azerbaijan did not start until the 1870s. Their immigration was relatively steady leading them to outnumber the local Mountain Jewish community by 1910. They settled mostly in the booming oil-rich city of Baku. The Caspian-Black Sea Company, one of the leading oil companies in the Russian Empire, was established in Baku by the wealthy Rothschild family of German Jewish origin. Ashkenazi Jews continued immigrating to Azerbaijan until the late 1940s, with a number of them being World War II evacuees from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus who chose to stay in their country of refuge." [Dec 2017]
Three synagogues:
Georgian Synagogue, 171 D. Aliyeva St.
Ashkenazi Synagogue, President, Moises Bekker, 171 D. Aliyeva St.
Gorsky Synagogue (Mountain Jews), President, Semyon Yechilov, 39 S. Badalbely St.
Also see Hadassah Magazine October 1999. For a copy of the article, contact Dorothy Silfen, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The mysteries of Azerbaijan: A Shiite nation embraces its Jews By Rob Eshman December 18, 2013 [Feb 2014]
CEMETERY:
"... the Jeyshullah Islamic extremist organization, which tried to blow up the US embassy in the past, may be responsible for the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in Baku, Azerbaijan in mid-October, 2001. Mr. Ikhilov is quoted as saying that such incidents have happend before, including antisemitic grafitti on the walls of their (Mountain Jews') synagogue and antisemitic drawings and slogans on apartment house walls. The Azeri MVD has instituted a 24 hour guard post of the synagogue, though it is not clear if this was done recently or before. ...: 'In Ikhilov's words, today's tense situation does not allow the hope that the desecration of the cemetery will be the last antisemitic attack.' The same day, the Azerbaijani news agency Sharg reported that around 50 Jewish graves were destroyed in the attack. The head of the press service of the Islamic Party, Qurban Cabrayil, is quoted as pointing the finger at Jeyshulla. He added that police should arrest the culprits soon, otherwise Muslim graves may be desecrated in response, which is clearly absurd. Source: [September 2002]
(November 2, 2001) Fifty gravestones in a Jewish cemetery were desecrated in Baku, Azerbaijan, according to a November 2, 2001 report by Radio Liberty. The head of the Religious Community of Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan, Semyon Ikhilov, was quoted by Radio Liberty as saying that this is not the first time such an attack has taken place. The government of Azerbaijan has recently warned of the threat of rising Islamic extremism to Jewish and minority Christian groups and has closed some mosques associated with radical Islamic tendencies. Source: [September 2002]
cemetery desecration in October 2001. The Jewish Community information: Source [August 2003]
map [Dec 2017]