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Page 4 The Southern Israelite By MRS. FELIX LEVY Mrs. Felix Levy, of Chicago, was the guest speaker of the Atlanta Sec tion of the National Council of Jewish Women at their October meeting,'when she spoke on ‘‘What I Saw in Russia”. Mrs. Levy, who was past president of the Chicago section of the Council and chairman of the National Committee on Religion, has traveled extensively in Europe, Palestine, Egypt, a,1( l the Crimea, assuring her of an effective background upon which to base her impressions gathered during the month she spent in Russia the past summer. She feels that the newspaper reports of the situation there are false, not that they are untrue, but they reveal such a small part of the truths exist ing until the effect created is errone ous. For this reason Mrs. Levy was particularly careful to remain unbiased in her opinion of the conditions there, based upon her own conclusions en tirely. Being a person of keen obser vation and intelligent understanding, she was able to render a discerning and impartial summary of her experi ences and impressions. Mrs. Levy feels that probably the most serious handicaps in studying the plight in Russia were twofold. First of all, she was not familiar with the language, which is exceptionally diffi cult to learn. Consequently the outside world misinterprets the ordinary terms of the government, as well as their slogans. Many of the Russian Jews speak some German and a form of Yiddish, however, so that communica tion with them was fairly satisfactory. The other handicap was the fact that Mrs. Levy knew the old Russia otdy through books, and since the Revolu tion the entire old order is completely broken down and reorganized in ideals and in practice. The only difficulty encountered with the customs agents upon entering the country was the ex amination of all printed and written material to guard against counter revolutionary propaganda. All money brought into Russia is also examined to avoid a collapse of the ruble, as was the case of the mark in Germany, be cause a ruble is worth 50 cents in Rus sia and about 15 cents outside of the country. The fundamentals of the new regime are entirely changed, but Mrs. Levy was able to explain a few of the basal and vital features of the present gov ernment. To her the outstanding foun dation is the complete abolition of per sonal property, which any government official has the right to take from an individual, including food, clothing, stores, hotels, restaurants. Thus every one is an official of the government, which condition eliminates all compe tition and, incidentally, advertising in any form. In addition to the vast size of Russia and the poverty resulting from the Revolution, the complete government control of private prop erty ignores the capital necessary to develop the wealth of resources that Russia owns, causing greater difficulty in creating a firm new order. Another caustic fundamental of the present regime is absolute equality of everything theoretically, exerted in sex, color, and religion. Women are engaged in the same positions as men and receive equal salary for their work. All races are recipients of equal treat ment from the government. Mrs. Levy illustrated with the case of an Ameri can negro school teacher who took her children to Russia last summer be cause they will have an equal chance there, whereas in the United States they will be handicapped because of their color. The Soviet Government also stands for equality in religion in that they are not anti-Semitic or anti- Protestant, as the case may be, al though they are anti-religious. No religion is persecuted because of its particular identity. In fact, the gov ernment is opposed to persecution on any grounds except to carry out the principles of the government itself. The sole hope of Russia today is to convert the world by overthrowing capitalism. For this reason former professional men and merchants, now declassed, are overcharged, while the working men are favored with almost nominal prices. Because of this situa tion alone, the Jews, are in such a tragic state in Russia, since the ma jority were merchants and well edu cated in their manner before the Revo lution, resulting in their being de classed and impoverished today. Because the Jewish problem is natu rally one of primary interest to her Jewish audiences, Mrs. Levy went into fairly full detail explaining the three classes of Jews in Russia. First, there are the Jews who have become Com munists. While the Communists arc a comparatively small group, they are powerful and the worst enemy of the Jews, even though they seem safer in the Communists’ ranks for a time. It is a rigid matter to enter the group and certainly unprofitable in the long run. The second class number the de classed middlemen, or capitalists, who suffer most under the new form of government and who are living only on money from the United States after they are gradually ousted from the government-owned shops through high taxation. The third class include the colony Jews, who on the farm are barely able to exist, even helped by United States support. They literally exist, for while they are rarely har assed, they are like empty souls that are hopelessly wandering. Their spirits are so completely destroyed and their souls are so thwarted that Mrs. Levy feels the most that can be done for Russian Jewry is to save their bodies. They are entirely dependent upon the assistance they receive from American Jewry, making it almost shameful to realize the little sacrifice the American Jews are really making to relieve the 5 ? calamitous condition of th brethren in Russia. To Mrs. Levy the new education is theoretically a although practically it is not s because of lack of funds. Ti the system is to teach each . hjlii t } u . principles bearing on his ever. He is taught to employ the envir, in which he is to live to best advantage For instance, only the practical modern languages are taught, not Grek. Latin or Hebrew, which, as Mrs. Levy sug gested, may be part of their subtle anti-religious propaganda, since all three languages are connected with the Bible. The chief drawback t<> the en tire educational system, however, is the fact that the government has not the faculties or facilities to carry nut what they feel to be correct theoretically Along with the question of education arises the waif problem, originating with the orphans left after the Revolu tion. There are thousands who are beggars and who flock from one city to another. The government is more or less helpless to control them either by education or by law, because it is use less to throw them into prison ami there is no way for them to be taken care of in an institution. The nearest to a satisfactory solution will be tin- passing of years to curb their lawless ness and provide work for these chil dren, Mrs. Levy feels. One of the most interesting institu tions Mrs. Levy discussed was tin courts, since she, herself, is a lawyer Russia is trying to evolve a new sys tem in regulating criminals, mainly t< fix the punishment to suit the crime So that a criminal will not be a detri ment to his country, he is forced to jail for at least ten years, regardless "t his offense, the argument being that if he is to be cured at all, ten years is ample time. If he Steals, he must pay back the sum from money he receives from his work in prison. 5° that an innocent family does not suiter unnecesarily, part of his salary is sent to them regularly. Some prisoners are even allowed to visit their families from time to time. All in all Mr>. Le\> feels that the attitude toward prisoners and prisons is more advanced an more humane than it is in the l nite States, except of course in the case ot counter-revolutionists, who are g ,urn the penalty of either exile or death The former punishment is undoubtedly the most severe, for exiles arc abso lutely helpless. Mrs. Levy cited the problem of two Zionists who, throug the very thorough espionage s> 'tc-m. were discovered and for whom twe Jewish women appealed to Mrs. party for aid. This was practically im possible, of course, except that party gave the remainder of the longings to the women for the after having previously given most of their clothes to destit ferers. The marriage and divorce 1 (Continued on page R