In the late 1930s, however, Stalin began to purge Jews. Yiddish schools in the oblast were shuttered, and migration came to a virtual halt. But as Stalin’s anti-Semitism metastasized after World War II, plans were developed for wholesale Jewish relocation. Much evidence indicates that the Soviet government planned to deport virtually the entire population to the autonomous oblast and other remote regions, no doubt slaughtering a substantial number in the process. In all likelihood, Soviet Jewry was saved only by Stalin’s death in 1953.

Jewish people, among various other ethnic groups were subjected to forced migration under Stalin regime. To read more about forced population migration under Stalin visit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_transfer_in_the_Soviet_Union