OSEK (Society for the Promotion of Jewish Colonisation) – the Latvian branch of the Society for the Settlement of Jewish Workers (OZET), established in the USSR in 1925. In Latvia, OSEK was created in the summer of 1926 to assist Jewish populations in transitioning to agricultural work.
The main objectives of the society were to promote the idea of Jewish resettlement in Birobidzhan and to raise funds to support its implementation. OSEK was led by M. U. Shatz-Anin, with ?. Akzin, ?. Basner, ?. Dubinsky, and others serving on the board. The society had branches not only in Riga but also in other Latvian cities. The Daugavpils branch, established in 1928, was particularly active. A youth section also operated in Riga.
In 1928, OSEK published a brochure “Far Birobidzhan” (“For Birobidzhan”). In 1929, it issued a collection in Yiddish, Latvian, and Russian titled “Nayerd – Līdums – Nov”, introducing readers to life in Birobidzhan and the process of “productivisation” (i.e., integrating Jews into industrial and agricultural work). From 1930, Nayerd became a monthly magazine, circulated both within Latvia and abroad. The magazine included criticism of opponents of the Birobidzhan project, particularly Zionists who viewed the future of the Jewish people solely in their historical homeland.
To achieve its goals, OSEK organised a variety of activities: excursions (including trips to Birobidzhan), social evenings, “OSEK weeks”, lectures (most of which were given by M. U. Shatz-Anin), and film screenings.
As a result of OSEK’s efforts, several groups of Jews emigrated from Latvia to Birobidzhan, although not all settlers adapted successfully to life in the Far East. Press reports, for example, mentioned residents of Daugavpils as “Birobidzhan refugees.”
By the early 1930s, OSEK’s activity had declined. Even before the 1933 coup, the publication of Nayerd was banned (according to some sources, in 1933), and after the coup, the organisation was closed.