History of the Jews in Russia abandoning of Jewish dietary laws. Polish Catholic boys were subject to similar pressure to convert and assimilate as the Russian Empire was hostile to Catholicism and Polish nationalism. The cultural and habitual isolation of the Jews gradually began to be eroded. An ever-increasing number of Jewish people adopted Russian language and customs. Russian education was spread among the Jewish population. A number of Jewish-Russian periodicals appeared. Alexander II was known as the "Tsar liberator" for the 1861 abolition of serfdom in Russia. Under his rule Jewish people could not hire Christian servants, could not own land, and were restricted in
Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. The Russian entry was selected through an internal selection, organised by Russian broadcaster Channel One Russia (C1R). Dina Garipova represented Russia with the song "What If", which qualified from the first semi-final of the competition and placed 5th in the final with 174 points. On 30 November 2012, C1R announced their selected procedure for selecting their Eurovision Song Contest 2013 entry, which involved an online public submission form that accepted applications and recordings from authors, composers and singers. On 31 January 2013,