to foster the region's specifically Jewish nature. Hebrew, as the religious language of the Jews, was rejected. The region established Yiddish schools, newspapers, and cultural institutions. The regional government also printed street signs, railway station signs, and postmarks in both Yiddish and Russian. The teaching of Yiddish was obligatory in schools. In 1935 the government decreed that all government documents, including public notices, announcements, posters, and advertisements had to appear in both Yiddish and Russian.