SOVIET ANTI-SEMITISM

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• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP65B00383R000200190015-6
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• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 27, 2010
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• Publication Date: January 1, 2000
• Content Type: OPEN

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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE
[From the Charleston (S.C.) News and
Courier, July 21, 1963]
WHEN "JUSTICE" CHALLENGES "ORDER"
To hear Dr. Martin Luther King tell it,
on his visit to Suffolk the other day, the
preservation of order isn't of much conse-
quence when it comes to a matter of justice.
This view came out when he criticized "the
so-chlled moderates, who are more devoted
to order than to justice."
In a sense, Dr. King performed a useful
service in those few words. For he brought
into unusually sharp focus a collision of
values which forms the most explosive in-
gredient in the current swirl of racial
troubles.
This relationship between order and jus-
tice, of course, is an old, old question. Since
tribal times, order has been an essential
element of any kind of social structure. And
while tyrants have again and again used the
Instruments of order to perpetuate injustice,
the maintenance of order has been just as
essential to the preservation of hard-won in-
dividual rights and to everything that has
lifted people out of ignorance and misery.
Even the freest of peoples, and certainly
the American nation represents one of the
farthest advances to date, have found it im-
perative, in the words of the preamble to our
own Constitution, to "insure domestic
tranquility."
For the founders, though they had joined
in rebellion themselves against a govern-
ment, faced the reality that the new gov-
ernment must protect itself against rebel-
lion. The laws and the force necessary to
that end were among their first creations.
Similarly, safeguards agains# civil disturb-
ance and violations of the law must exist
at all levels of authority if what we have here
is to survive.
The theory that violence, or threats of
violence, or situations inviting violence, may
be used in behalf of justice, is one that can
be condoned only in the extremes of govern-
mental repression and in the absence of
democratic channels for working remedies.
Because our system of agreed law is sim-
ply the best we have been able to work
out so far, there are almost bound to be
injustices in some degree. Some can be cor-
rected faster or more completely than others.
Further, there are human inequalities which
governments can do only so much to correct
anyway.
We would have only anarchy if all such
victims of injustice considered themselves
automatically freed of obligations to obey
the law and' possessed of the right to act
violently against the rest of society.
When someone applies the label "justice"
to something, as Dr. King does, this does
not thereby render anything he does to that
end either right or tolerable, not if we have
anything in this country that is worth
keeping. -
For the "order" Dr. King sees as less than
precious today may be indispensable tomor-
row to preserve some of the very things he
and his people are striving for.
THE PEACE CORPS
Mr. RUSSELL. Mr. President, the
Peace Corps has been an unusual-inno-
vation in our foreign relations. It is one
measure that has met with general ap-
proval throughout the country.
I received in my mail-and I feel cer-
tain other Senators have received a
copy of the same communication-a let-
ter written by three young Americans
who are teaching in the area of Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia. They state in their let-
ter that all the information that has
heretofore been released to the American
people has been released by those who
direct the Peace Corps. I believe that is
generally true. I do not know of any
committee that has been sent into the
field in an attempt actually to examine
the work of the agency in various parts
of the world; but I found the letter from
Addis Ababa to be quite interesting. The
three members of the Peace Corps who
wrote to me have given their impres-
sions of the Corps, in which they are
serving at this time. I ask unanimous
consent that the letter may be printed
at this point in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the letter
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
tive view of Peace Corps merits, and does not
give them the opportunity to judge accu-
rately whether they want to pay for an ex-
panded Peace Corps. Biased Peace Corps
publicity is not only detrimental to the gen-
eral public but is also detrimental to pro-
spective Peace Corps volunteers. Misrepre-
sentation before and during training some-
times requires extensive readjustment by the
volunteer after arriving in the field. There
is some disillusionment and disappointment
sometimes resulting in the resignation of
volunteers from the Peace Corps.
A story about Peace Corps volunteers by
an independent reporter would offer an op-
portunity for volunteers now in the field to
express their individual hopes, opinions, and
POST OFFICE Box 1096, ADDIS ABABA, ions, we believe would show a wide diver-
Ethiopia, July 4, 1963. gence of views on a great many subjects.
The Honorable RICHARD B. RUSSELL, - If nothing else, they would dissipate the
U.S. Senate, myth of the Peace Corps volunteer stereotype
Washington, D.C. that current publicity seems to present to
DEAR MR. RUSSELL: We are presently Peace the public. We would like to offer, as a few
Corps volunteers serving in Ethiopia as sec- examples, some of our opinions based on 1
ondary schoolteachers. After completing 1 year of experience.
year of service, we have decided that there Though we were told that we would suffer
are some things which ought to be brought physical hardships, and though we expected
to the attention of the general public at them when we came, it is our opinion that
home concerning Peace Corps activities. very few volunteers in Ethiopia have experi-
We believe that members of the Peace enced physical hardship. Publicity at home
Corps currently serving overseas should be appears to emphasize the hardships that are
given the opportunity to express some of endured by a minority and ignores the fact
their opinions. We further believe that a that most volunteers live in comparative
story about the opinions of Peace Corps vol- comfort. Peace Corps publicity also states
unteers by an independent reporter would that volunteers live at a level comparable to
be a service to the country. a national who is serving in the same occu-
The Peace Corps is supposedly one of the pation as the Peace Corps volunteer. In
most successful new programs of the pres- reference to the Ethiopia project this pub-
ent administration. It is an infant Govern- licity is completely false. Volunteers do not
ment agency which desires to expand its ' live on as high a level as State Department
operations and increase its budget. Before officials or Peace Corps administrators, but
Congress votes on new appropriations for the they also do not live on as low a level as
Peace Corps, we feel that the general public Ethiopian nationals who teach secondary
and Congressmen are entitled to more in- school.
formation about its activities. Are the ob- It appears to us that there is confusion
jectives of the Peace Corps Worthwhile? Ac- in Peace Corps administration. We received
cording to the Peace Corps Act of September misinformation regarding Peace Corps policy
22, 1961, the purpose of the Peace Corps is: while we were in training. Now it is seem-
"To promote world peace and friendship ingly impossible for us to ascertain our rights
through a Peace Corps, which shall make and obligations in the Peace Corps. Peace
available to interested countries and a-rear, Corps administrators do not know the pol-
men and women of the United States quali- icies and do not provide us with written
fled for service abroad and willing to serve, copies of Peace Corps policy. One begins to
under conditions of hardship if necessary, to question the basis upon which administra-
help the peoples of such countries and areas tors arrive at decisions. The Peace Corps
in meeting their needs for trained man- administration also encourages the concept
power, and to help promote a better under- that all Peace Corps equipment is Govern-
standing. of the American people on the part ment-owned and consequently may be used
of the peoples served and a better under- by any volunteer. We believe that this
standing of other peoples on the part of the leads to the denial of responsibility by every-
American people." one and results in the misuse of Government
Few people will deny that these are worthy equipment. All these things are not con-
objectives. The next question that should ducive to high morale in volunteers. It is
be asked is, "Based on present information, our opinion that a study should be made to
are these objectives being achieved?" Also, ascertain whether the purposes of the Peace
"Could these objectives be achieved by some Corps could not be better achieved through
method superior to those at present em- Government subsidization of private orga-
ployed by the Peace Corps?" We believe that nizations rather than through direct Gov-
these questions could rightly be the subject ernment action.
of some independent study. We also believe In conclusion, we believe that-because
that the general public is entitled to this in- the success and proposed expansion of the
formation, because it is the public that must Peace Corps is an important issue at this
pay for Peace Corps operations. time; because most of the information about
At present information concerning the the Peace Corps is obtained exclusively from
Peace Corps comes almost exclusively from Government sources which are perhaps
Government sources. This is because few biased; because this bias tends to describe
groups independent of the Government have all Peace Corps volunteers as stereotyped,
made studies of the Peace Corps, and also selfless, dedicated, idealistic people, ignoring
because few Peace Corps volunteers have the fact that there are widely divergent types
completed their service overseas and returned of people in the Peace Corps; and because
to tell of their experiences. We believe that we feel that Peace Corps volunteers should
the information presently available through be able to express their individual opinions
Government sources is inadequate. The of the work they are doing to the public at
Government may not be deliberately trying home-a magazine or newspaper story in-
to manage Peace Corps publicity; however, dependently reporting the successes and
we believe that since the Peace Corps staff is failures of Peace Corps volunteers in the
apparently already convinced of the Peace field would be a service to the country.
Corps' success, they tend to be biased in the Sincerely yours,
information that they release to the general RAYMOND T. DONALDSON.
public. The presentation of such a One- THELMA BINGHAM.
sided view does not give the public an objet- PHILLIP W. BINGHAM.
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12484 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE
SLEEPING BEAR DUNES
Mr. HART. Mr. President, over the
July 4 weekend the Public Lands Sub-
committee of the Senate Interior Com-
mittee visited Michigan's Sleeping Bear
Dunes and held a 3-hour public hearing
on S. 792, the Hart-McNamara bill to
establish a national lakeshore in that
area.
The opposition turned out. In large
numbers and reiterated its blanket oppo-
sition to the proposal; and others in
the area explained why they favored it.
On July 8 the Detroit News commented
on the situation in a well-balanced edi-
torial.' In comment, I would point out
that our Sleeping Bear Dunes bill goes
to new lengths in lakesbore legislative
history to assure continued private own-
ership of homes and expanded functions
of a lakeshore advisory committee on
which local citizens would be represented.
It provides for permanent private owner-
ship of the homes within the area, in
perpetuity, and it establishes a perma-
nent advisory committee with which the
Secretary of the Interior Is directed to
consult-particularly with respect to
park development and rights of property
owners, both residential and commercial.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that the Detroit News editorial be
inserted in the RECORD at this point.
There being no objection, the editorial
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, ,
as follows:
[From the Detroit News, July 8, 1963]
DtNxs Pear Fuson
Opposition to Senator HART'S proposal for
a 77,000-acre park in the Sleeping Bear
Dunes area of Michigan is as understandable
as the enthusiasm of others to see it accom-
plished.
The opposition is grounded in the fear
that control over the holdings and homes
of local residents and owners will pass to a
not too responsive Washington agency, the
Department of the Interior. This feeling
of a loss of independence and local decision-
making power undoubtedly is a deeper issue
than the size of the area to be embraced
and the prospect of a tourist invasion.
Proponents of the park rightfully argue
it is a last opportunity to preserve for pos-
terity a peculiarly distinctive part of Michi-
gan's dwindling national beauty and share
it with all. Here is the familiar standoff
that occurs always when what is good for
the many for years to come is weighed
against what pleases local residents in their
lifetimes.
Certainly local opposition to the project
was amply and convincingly demonstrated
at the Frankfort hearing by a U.S. Senate
committee on July 4. The setting of the
hearing guaranteed that. Held in the area
of potential park users, say in Detroit or
Chicago, the results and sentiments ex-
pressed might have been directly opposite.
To resolve these differences should be the
goal of park proponents. That can be ac-
complished, it would seem, only by giving
local residents some guarantee their voices
will be heard to a sufficient degree in the
administration of the L-rti iscrr1Ated.
Mr. SEATIIdE.~eni de-
tailed survey of current anti- tic
activities through the world has been
published by the American Jewish Com-
mittee's Institute of Human Relations.
It is a clear, at~t comprehensive analysis
of discrimination against a minority
group struggling for religious freedom.
It is not surprising that the Soviet Union
is one of the greatest offenders.
Anti-Semitism inside the Soviet world
is an old story. Moscow turns it on or
off whenever It suits Soviet purposes. In-
side Russia itself, Jews are, in effect sec-
ond-class citizens. They are consistently
discriminated against, and often are used
as scapegoats. In the Soviet Union,
where the state stands for atheism, Jews
are considered a separate national group.
No recognition is given to religion. Anti-
Semitic discrimination seriously impairs
their nationality rights-despite Soviet
claims.
We in the United States properly view
these developments with revulsion and
anger. To express our strong feelings,
our Government should bring this prob-
lem to the attention of the, world, and
should seek some means of its solution or
alleviation. Certainly our Government
should not hesitate to publicize and docu-
ment the religious persecution which
continues throughout the Soviet Com-
munist empire.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent to have printed in the RECORD, fol-
lowing my remarks, the article published
by the American Jewish Committee's
Institute of Human Relations, which
specifically deals with anti-8emitism in
the Soviet Union.
There being no objection, the article
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
Ties Sovirr UNSON
In November 1982, the only synagogue In
Lvov, the capital of the Western Ukraine,
was closed. It had served a community of
about 30,000. The closing was the culmina-
tion of an intensive yearlong campaign by
the communist party paper, Lvovskaya
Pravda, which charged the synagogue with
being "a shelter for Idlers, speculators, para-
sites and moneygrubbers." In the spring of
1962, several members of the board had been
arrested, convicted and imprisoned for "prof-
iteering and hooliganism."
The Identification of the synagogue with
economic malpractices was purposeful. in-
deed symbolic. Jews have been the prime
targets of a drive against "economic crimes";
of the 58 trials for such offenses held in 36
cities from the start of the campaign until
March 1963. more than half have involved
Jews.
SCONOIcrc cams
Beginning in May 1961, the Soviet Union
enacted decrees extending the death penalty
to economic offenses like pilfering public or
state property, counterfeiting, currency
speculation and bribery. Most observers
interpreted this drastic move as an attempt
to wipe out the nearly universal graft and
corruption in Soviet Industry and agricul-
ture. Such practices are an Inevitable re-
sponse to the realities of the Soviet econ-
omy: shortages of raw and manufactured
goods, unrealistic production goals, a com-
plex bureaucracy and a low standard of
living. As experts on the Soviet Union have
pointed out, bribery to obtain needed sup-
tion under these conditions. In a wider
sense, the economic offenses express a desire
to eke out, by whatever means, some measure
of "private" security In a tightly controlled,
Spartan economy.
The death penalty is being publicized to
frighten those involved In economic malprac-
July 24
tires, and to scare off others who may be
tempted by the financial rewards. During
the 2-year period from may 1961 to April
1983, 141 persons were reportedly sentenced
to death for economic offenses. Cases of this
sort are covered more extensively In the
Soviet press than others; the Government
wants as many people as possible to learn
that death by shooting Is the ultimate pen-
alty for economic crimes.
The barbaric severity of the punishment
has shocked the outside world-witness a
recent petition initiated by Henry Steele
Commager, Lewis Gannett, William Ernest
Hocking, Martin Luther King, Linus Pauling
and Norman Thomas, and signed by 223 other
prominent American scholars and clergymen.
The document urged the Soviet Union to re-
peal the decrees on the ground that "the con-
science of mankind rebels against excessive
and Inhumane punishment, of which capital
punishment for economic crimes is a lamen-
table example,"
JEWS AS SCAPEGOATS
No less disquieting is the fact that nearly
80 percent of those put to death for eco-
nomic offenses have been Jews. The Inter-
national Commission of Jurists has pointed
out that the application of the death sen-
tences shows "racial overtones," and that
the number of Jewish-sounding names in
the lists of the condemned is strikingly large.
Observers of Soviet affairs believe that this
Is not accidential-that Jews, being a vulner-
able minority, are made scapegoats for the
bureaucrats In charge of the vast production
and distribution machinery and forced to
bear the brunt of public discontent with
shortages or inferior quality of goods. In ad-
dition, Jews are singled out for object lessons
showing how severely the state regards eco-
nomic crimes.
The Soviet press emphasizes the Jewish-
ness of the defendants in various ways. Rep-
etition of obviously Jewish-sounding family
names like Kaplan, Shapiro, Rabinovitch,
Goldman, Zuckerman is most common.
When the surname alone is not clearly Jew-
ish, the first name and patronymic may be
given in full instead of being abbreviated as
is the normal practice, thus A. L. Kraisman
appears as Abraham Lazarevitch Kralsman,
and M. I. Maly as Mikhail Isaakovitch Maly.
In mass trials involving dozens of people,
Jewish names appear more frequently than
others. For example, of 47 defendants in
a trial in Frunze, the capital of the Kirghiz
Soviet Socialist Republic, more than half
were Jews or related to Jews-though Jews
constitute less than 1 percent of the popula-
tion in the Kirghiz Republic. Nine named
Individuals "and others" were reported to
have received death sentences; four of the
nine bore Jewish names? Analysts of the
press reports believe the defendants' names
were presented In a manner intended to
stress the high proportion of Jews.
In another trial, at Dnepropetrovsk in the
Ukraine, 24 defendants were accused of
manipulating the price of apples. Though
the majority were non-Jews, only the Jews
were singled out for death sentences?
Jewish defendants are depicted in the
crudest anti-Semitic stereotypes as mani-
pulators of gullible non-Jewish victims.
Yet in reality most of the Jews executed
for economic offenses occupied relatively
minor posts, whereas non-Jews, who received
light sentences, often held responsible posi-
tions. For example, at a trial in Leningrad,
on charges of diverting goods from official
trade channels, a Jew named Kraisman was
sentenced to death, though he was only an
agent employed by the several trade orga-
1 Sovietskaya Kirghizia, Frunze, June 25,
27, 1962; July 22, 1962; Izvestia, Moscow,
July 22, 1962.
2 Pravda Ukrainy, Kiev, Apr. 4, 1962; Trud,
Moscow, Mar. 21, 1962.
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1963 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE
12485
nizations involved; the top officials, factory ligious bodies have been authorized to ac- literary research institutes, theaters and
directors and managers received short prison quire new vestments, ikons, and the like. dramatic schools were abruptly closed, as
terms .3 And Jews have not been free to print re- was the large Yiddish schoolsystem.
in some cases the press and the prosecu- ligious calendars- except that A.,ri. . +, , _
~,_ Since
t
who was 'shot for current s eculation. in 0111[411 queniities Ior their own use.
Y P While the Russian Orthodox Church, the
Tiflis, Georgia, the local paper wrote: "Even Roman Catholic Church, the Moslems, and
the religious books of the Torah have been other creeds have been provided with facili-
used" to hide foreign currency. Later, the ties for training reasonable numbers of
paper reported that. the defendant had re- clergymen, there were no provisions for
fused to sign a statement of his testimony rabbinical training until recently, and there
on a Saturday because of his religious con- are hardly any now. In 1057, a rabbinic
victions, and.that "speculation went on in academy was opened in Moscow, but was
full swing in the Lord's temple. While pray- never permitted to function properly. Its
ing, they emptied each other's pockets." I building needs were not met, and its enroll_
2n Vilna, four Jews were sentenced t
o
death for currency speculation, among them
the first woman convicted in a case of this
nature. Here the press and the prosecution
involved the synagogue and the rabbi in the
proceedings. The national trade-union
daily, distributed throughout the Soviet
Union, claimed that the defendants had
gone to the local rabbi to settle their finan-
cial disputes, and concluded with an unmis-
takably anti-Semitic note: "These people
stood apart from our life. They were not
interested in how the Soviet people live." 5
The case was also used for an attack on reli-
gion. in general. According to one report,
witnesses testified about the complicity of
"representatives of the clergy of different
religions," specifically local Catholic priests,
as well as the local synagogue .6
In singling out Jews for economic offenses,
publicly identifying them as Jewish through
emphasis on their affiliation with the s
ynago
-
gue (the only Jewish institution remaining In 1962, the Government discontinued its
in the Soviet Union), punishing them more previous practice of providing flour, labor
harshly than non-Jews in more responsible and facilities for baking matzoh, the un-
posmitiioon s o and heshooting i a et disproportionate Government leavened bread used during the Passover sea-
nur Stalinist policies even while con- a supply at home (a a mwere ethods few could fol-
demning them, low, because of technical and ritual difficul-
Soviet leaders consistently deny that the ties), but at the same time the press fea-
Government's policy toward economic of- tured semiofficial attacks on private baking,
fenders is in any sense anti-Semitic. Thus, Since then, individuals who sell home-
Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev wrote to Ber- baked matzoh have been imprisoned for con-
trand Russell in Februar
ductin
ri
1963
t
y
g p
va
:
..W ulluer-
e businesseilt
s, voaing health represented in the supreme Soviets
of most
"It is for the sake of justice that our peo- regulations, "illegal commercial activities" constituent republics, especially those three-
pie have to punish those who want to live or "price speculation"
ascribe to our State pursuance and encour-
agement of the policy of anti-Semitism are
not a new phenomenon."
.Similar denials have accompanied the
closing of synagogues, the arrest of congrega-
tion leaders, and the ousting of congregation
officials. But there can be little doubt that
such acts are intended as attacks on the
remnants of Jewish community structure.
THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE SYNAGOGUE
Though all religions are subject to restric-
tions and hostility in the Soviet Union,
Judaism is singled out for special disabilities
which add up to a program of planned attri-
tion.
. Jewish congregations, unlike others, are
isolated; they may not form national or re-
gional associations by which they might help
one another and maintain spiritual unity.
Religious leaders are not permitted to leave
the country for visits with Jewish officials
or institutions elsewhere, while members of
other faiths have -visited coreligfonists, at-
tended conferences, gone on pilgrimages, and
even r+-Ai- --
down down to 3 or 4 through bureaucratic ma-
neuvering.
Finally, a harsh discriminatory restriction
is implicit in the Government's long-stand-
ing ban on the Hebrew language. Whereas
most of the religions represented in the So-
viet Union conduct their rituals in the con-
gregants' languages, Judaism requires some
knowledge of Hebrew for an understanding
of services and prayer books; but none has
been taught since 1917. During the same
period, no Hebrew Bible and only one token
edition (3,000 copies) of the Prayer Book
have been printed. Therefore, most Jews
who still attend synagogue cannot actively
participate in the service. No comparablez
restrictions are imposed on the Moslems, who
use Arabic as a special language for religious
purposes; an Arab Koran was issued in 1958,
0sr, 01 live. policy of harassment dating back-toa1957. InCaree snof Jews, especially at the local
Beginningd in that year, the amounts pro- level and that of the constituent republics,
dote by stag bakeries were progressively are markedly limited by discrimination. For
curtailed. Synagogues were accused of mak- the higher executive positions the rule seems
.ing huge profits from the "illegal produc- to be "last hired, first fired." Jews have
tion" and sale of matzoh; in 1960, the of- virtually disappeared from sensitive areas
ficers of the Riga congregation were charged like the diplomatic service and the armed
115,000 rubles in taxes on their alleged pri- forces. Elsewhere, for example in cultural
vate profits, and elsewhere synagogue officials and scientific pursuits, especially able Jew-
were forced to resign their positions, ish individuals may still be found in the
Like other restrictions on Jewish religious middle ranks; but the Jewish share of em-
practices, the campaign against matzoh ap- ployment in higher education, science and
parently is intended to separate Soviet Jews political life has not kept up with the na-
from their historical traditions. The press tion's expanding opportunities.
has virulently attacked the ancient feast of
Passover, which commemorates the liberation voress of PROTEST
of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and As the Soviet Government's anti-Semitic
their emergence as a religious people. Such policies have become increasingly plain,
traditions, it is alleged, are chauvinistic; much indignation has stirred in the out-
they "give rise to nationalist feelings, and side world. To name but one protest among
poison the minds of Jews by diverting their many: in December 1962, a telegram to Pre-
thoughts to 'the land of their fathers' (while mier Khrushchev, drafted by the American
killing) love for the Soviet motherland? Jewish Committee and signed by American
religious leaders of all faiths, scored discrimi-
JEWISH CULTURE CURTAILED natory acts against Jewish religious and
Unlike other minority groups in the Soviet cultural institutions-
Tlnir.,. r_--- ---- -
-gregacions ~?al life in their own language. Official tellectuals have been shocked to realize that
- In-
have been forbidden to manufacture urgent- quarters insist that Russian Jews are cul- anti-Semitism is once more being actively
ly needed religious - articles such as prayer aurally assimilated and not interested in fostered. A protest, unusually explicit by
shawls and phylacteries, whereas other re- Yiddish-despite the fact that in the 1959 Soviet standards, was voiced during 1961 by
census 20 percent of them did name it as one of the country's most popular poets,
$ Sovietskaya Rossia, Moscow, Jan. 27, Mar, their mother tongue. Yevgeny Yevtushenko, in a poem entitled
1, Aug. 26, Nov. 16, 1961
In 1948, all of the countr
's Yiddi
B
bi Y
"
.
y
a
ar
sh jour
-. 4 Zaria Vostoka, Tiflis, Nov. 26, 30, 1961. nals and publishing houses, cultural and Babi Yar is a ravine, just outsid
I Trud, Moscow
Jan 16 196
,
.,.
2
Sovietskaya Litva, Vilna, Feb. 3, 1962,
No. 112-6
where Sovietskaya Moldavia, Siehinev, duly 23, Ukrainians Jews Nazis In murdered 141, No about
1959, monument
monument
marks this tragic place; the Government has
scale. The Minister of Culture, Ekaterina
Furtseva, has indicated that any Govern-
ment moves in this field are merely gestures
addressed to the Soviet Union's friends
abroad.
Until the late 1950's, Yiddish song recitals
and literary readings by old artists remained
virtually the only cultural expressions per-
mitted. The response was great; though not
of a high standard, the performances at-
tracted a total audience of 3-million in 1957
alone. Today a handful of Yiddish theat-
rical and musical groups, all amateur, are
active; they are in great demand in the
major cities, but their schedules are sharply
limited, and their achievements do not be-
gin to compare with those of the Soviet
Yiddish theater in the days of its profes-
sional glory.
Beginning In 1959, half a dozen Yiddish
books, all by authors long dead, were re-
issued, but only in small editions (10,000 to
30,000), which were soon sold out. In 1961,
after years of insistent pressure from abroad,
the Government permitted publication of a
Yiddish magazine, Sovietish Heimland,
Reference works and textbooks published
in recent years treat Jews and their cultural
achievement as virtually nonexistent. For
example, a recent edition of the "Great So-
viet Encyclopedia" devotes only 2 pages
to Jews, as against 116 in an earlier edition.
DISCRIMINATION IN PUBLIC LIFE AND EDUCATION
Since World War II Jews have been elimi-
nated from the Soviet Union's political lead-
ership to a striking degree. As far as is
known, there are none in the upper echelons
of the Communist Party or the Government
,
with the sole exception of V. E. Dimchitz,
first deputy chairman of the planning of-
fice. Before the war, 4.1 percent of the
deputies to the Supreme Soviet of the
U.S.S.R. were Jewish; by 1958, the figure had
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -SENATE J
;12486 July 24
remained coldly Indifferent to all regeusts our goals as a nation. Since many of the In the United States as possible. A recent
for one and, Indeed, has generally remained students will be the leaders of their weekend spent by a group of foreign students
was typical of the programs arranged for
silent about the holocaust a European Jewry them. from the
under Hitler. In his poem. Yevtusheato, nations vital part in of U years U.S. efforts to come. to It should promote s be ill- a Among the 40 were young people though not a Jew, identifies himself with dent exchange programs. The program Middle East. Europe, Canada, the Far East,
suffering Jews from the days of Egyptian
bondage along these lines offered by Cornell Uni- Africa, and Latin America-22 countries in
tho ose those who would d c carry and on ri the e evil indicts varsity is an example of a highly success- all. Included Australia. the Chwere lle, acouplTurkeyes from
well as four nuns from Chile, and
tradition of persecution in present-day ful effort to Introduce foreign students to Japan,
Russia. He points up the existents of s American life. I was very glad to be The students came down by bus from Cor-
historic Jewish people, which Soviet doctrine able to meet these students in Washing nail to Washington in the manner of ordi-
dentee. ton and to learn of the important work nary tourists, but during their long weekend
'Sabi Yath appeared in a journal pub- through this program by Cornell Univer- in the capital they saw and heard much
create by ens Soviet fdays rs Union and
Writers Consentl to have printedain the RECORD cooperation of casual individuaallsa and Gov
publication, hetjournal few of the after
Union of the Russian Federated Republic following my remarks the text of this ernment departments, they obtained new in-
printed several attacks on Yevtushenko. in article. sight into the political system under which
Which his depiction of anti-Semitism in There being no objection, the article Americans live.
Even before their arrival the visitors from
Russia was rejected' In the ensuing con- was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, abroad were made to feel welcome, for many
Stet between " 'liberal" and a party-l the lib liberal as follows: more homes had been offered than there were
deplored It, while became an issue: the the party r OREIGN STUDENTS GIVEN CLOSZVP an;w or students. As a result, some families which
deplored the adherents of the pty U.S. PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENT were unable to give the students overnight
line denied wd it existed.
On December 18, 1882, the "Thirteenth WesxtxaroN.-For the more than 60,0D0 hospitality entertained them at dinner. In
each case, the hosts were Cornell alumni,
Symphony" by Dmitri ShostakoVich. Russia's foreign students now in the United States, each best-known composer, had its premiere in living abroad is both a pleasure and a chal- working in cooperation with the Interna-
Mot symphony contains a choral lenge. tional StudentOffice at Cornell.
o The man
of whom are section, , set to word ord from "Sabi Tar." The The pleasure Is derived largely from whom to ?umedp~itions o2 responsibility expected heir
day before the first performance, Khrushchev favorable impression of Americans. to
and other top members of the Soviet Gov- they have come to know as friendly, gener- return home, were given an opportunity
ernment met privately with several hundred ous and sincere people. The challenge is talk with some of the men who are engaged
prominent intellectuals and writers; at this the basic one of adjustment to a different in ecissiioon?akinngvin then legislative branch
meeting, complaints were made that the way of life. of the verses would be used by "enemies of the Some 160 countries are now represented Atd Building, Senator the old Senate of a luncheon In Soviet Union" to support charges of anti- at 1,800 U.S. cotraditions and ores cover lleges and universities. BBurk told the t KzNN that, while of New
eban Semitisna. t h aub#eg nie Their and sometimes these p from ance exists among some groups in the United
off the the text for for the e second performance a wide range, of the symphony, In Februruary ry 1988. adding a comparatively quiet world to the bustle States. "they represent only a minority, and
Russians and Ukrainians to the Jews who of an American metropolis is not only con- a minority that is steadily getting smaller."
lie in Bahl Tar and omitting a slogan ascribed fusing but painful for a student. Even at Senator EDMUND S. MvSTUE of Maine, describ-
to anti-Semites ("Thrash and kikes and save a small-town college he is confronted by lug himself as the son of an immigrant from
Russia"). The music was not altered. strange and bewildering customs. "Russian-occupied Poland," said that every-
AN rwzxTaicABLl viss Fortunately, the young visitors do not face one In America is a member of a minority.
their problems alone. Those who are in- "We have majority rule in this country. In a
The best and most recent 'survey of the volved in the rapidly expanding student- democratic ideal," he said, "but because we
condition of Russian Jews is "'The Status of exchange movement-and this includes not also belong to minorities, we are careful to
the Jews in the Soviet Union" by Moths only universities but private organizations, protect the rights and interests of ml-
DecterP The article concludes: foundations. and the U.S. Government--are noritie ."
"In sum, Soviet policy places the Jews in eager, to facilitate the foreign student's ad- During the weekend the group visited the
an inextricable vise. They are allowed justmant to American life. Department of State, where Daniel W. Mon-
aee, nor to aemigra a nor live a full Jewish Special orientation courses are given at tenegro, Director of the Office of Public Serv-
lif nor to emigrate (as many would wish) the start of the school year, and most col- ices, described the structure of the Depart-
t0Israel or any other place where they might leges have foreign student advisers whose ment and how American foreign policy is
live freely as Jews. The policy stems, in task it Is to give advice as needed on every- carried out. Later he freely answered ques
turn, from doctrinal contradictions abetted thing from religion to money, and who often trt~ made by the students.
by traditional anti-Jewish sentiments. On act as a bridge between the students and the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration, the National Aeronautics
n, Spe -
the one hand, the authorities want the Jews the townspeople. At
to assimilate; on the other hand, they irra- All this helps create an atmosphere of mnistration, oo W. discussed its Director rrof
that this discussed Its
tionally fear the full penetration of Soviet mutual understanding. As one young man n explaining Programs,
which assimilation implies. So the Jews from Malaya remarked after 9 months of agree In ti ters. xpla P r program involves
is es, are formally recognized as a nationality, contact with Americans, "I may cooperation with agency for other hi sexchange ie fund t information it
as a religious group. as equal citizens-but with everything you do, but at least i think is an
are at the same time deprived of their na- I understand why you do it." with other.. He pointed out that, in a num-
tional and religious rights as a group, and of In the course of their stay In the 'United ber of instances, the United States has
full equality as individuals." States, the students have an opportunity worked hand in hand with other countries
"Soviet policy as a whole, then amounts to participate in American life not only at in making space probes.
to spiritual strangulation-the deprivation school but also in their communities. For Subsequently the students were conducted
of Soviet Jewry's natural right to know the 9 years the 294 people of Burns. Kans., on a special tour of the White House, visited
Jewish past and to participate In the Jewish have invited groups of foreign students from the National Gallery of Art, the Supreme
present. And without a past and a present, the University of Kansas to share their Court Building, the Lincoln Memorial, the
the future is precarious indeed." Thanksgiving Day and experience life In a Smithsonian Institution, and the Jefferson
typical small town in the Midwest. Oth- Memorial.
or communities periodically invite foreign It was a busy weekend for the students
FOREIGN STUDENTS AT CORNER students to spend weekends with local famt- and Obviously a rewarding one, for they lies who are always delighted to meat pat- later summed up the program as "typical
pie from other lands. American friendliness."
j~rIr. SKEATING. Mr. President, student One of the major schools playing host to
exchange programs between the United foreign students is Cornell University, lo- OLD FED-
very and foreign countries can play a cated in upper New York State. Its 17 col- AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD
worthwhile role in international Ieges, which offer specialized education in ERAL FUNDS BECAUSE OF RACIAL
relations. If foreign students have an everything from agriculture to hotel man- -AL MINATI
opportunity to get a true picture of our agement In addition to the traditional lib-Dismn eral arts course, attract young people from Mr. HART. Mr. President, some weeks
country, then we hope they will always every part of the world. At present Its for- ago, together with the senior Senator
retain a better understanding of the eign student population numbers more than from New York [Mr. JAviTS], I directed
850 persona representing 85 foreign coun-
tries. to the several executive agencies in-
workings of the U S. Government and of
u[ries in order to determine whether
?Literaturnays Oazeta Sept. 19 1981. Cornell, like other institutions of its kind. they felt Lord weoe admis wh any
i Literature I Zhizn, Sept. 21, 1961. makes a special effort to give these young
lForeign Affairs, January 1983. people as broad and true a picture of life Federal-funds program which in any re-
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