Mountain Jews
Oghuz — one of the main centres of the Mountain Jewish community of Azerbaijan.
The Mountain Jews of Oghuz
Oghuz was one of the three main centres of the Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan — alongside Quba (Krasnaya Sloboda) and Baku. The Mountain Jews (Juhuro) lived here for centuries, in their own quarter, with their own synagogue and way of life. Their native tongue is Juhuri (Judeo-Tat), an Iranian Jewish language.
Jewish Oghuz
Oghuz had its own Jewish quarter with a synagogue — the heart of the community. Here festivals were celebrated, children were taught, and trade and crafts were carried on. The Mountain Jews of Oghuz were an inseparable part of the town, its bazaars and streets, for many generations.
The road to Israel
In the second half of the 20th century, and especially after the fall of the USSR, the Mountain Jews of Oghuz — like the communities of Quba and Baku — left en masse, above all for Israel, as well as for Russia and other countries. Today almost none remain in Oghuz, but the Mountain Jews of Oghuz and their descendants remember their native town all over the world.
A people of Caucasian Albania
Alongside the Mountain Jews, another ancient people lived in Oghuz — the Udis. This is a small Christian people, descendants of Caucasian Albania, with their own Udi language. Oghuz was one of the main centres of the Udis; after the end of the 20th century many of them resettled, and today the main Udi village is Nij in the Qabala district.
Out of Oghuz came people who, all over the world, keep the memory of a home in the mountains.