The Mountain Jews and the Nazi Occupation of Kabarda [Da？ Yahudileri ve Nazilerin Kabardey’i ？？gali]

This paper attempts to identify the reasons why the Nazis refrained from murdering the Mountain Jews of Kabardia during their occupation of the west Caucasus in fall 1942. The Nazis knew of the existence of the Mountain Jews before the invasion, but were unclear on their ethnic composition. The local Kabardian population exploited this lack of clarity by attesting that the Mountain Jews were of Iranian extraction and teaching them Islamic customs to further confuse the Nazis. Based on multiple testimonies in the archive at the Shoah Foundation in Los Angeles, the ruse worked for several weeks. According to oral testimony, the Nazis determined that the Mountain Jews were ethnically Jewish and began preparing to murder them, but the Red Army recaptured the region just days before the Mountain Jews were to be rounded up. The limited oral testimony is insufficient to make certain conclusions, but it does point the way to further research to clarify and confirm the evidence presented here