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first time in at least thirty - nine
years. As our voices rose in prayer
I could not help but feel a glow of
delight at this happy anomaly. I
silently nurtured the hope that
some day the worship of God may
yet return to a land which had de
throned Him and blasphemes His
name.
We were invited to the annual
Independent Day reception at the
American embassy. Although in
Russia only a few days, we eagerly
looked forward to the pleasure of
being in an American environment
and breathing the free air of our
country. Everybody who was any
body was there and the Russians
knew it for the streets surrounding
the house were lined with curious
natives of all ages and classes.
American tourists, press corres
pondents, .foreign diplomats, em
bassy and delegation representa
tives were among the guests. The
seven rabbis in our delegation and
the five of the Rabbinical Council
delegation were very much in evi
dence, especially since we wore
skull caps. Most intriguing to Amer
icans was the august presence of
Krushchev, Bulganin, Malenkov,
and Molotov. Everybody and every
thing, including the weather, was
pleasant. The atmosphere was
friendly, hospitable and relaxed.
There was an air of gaiety and
freedom. The Russian ‘‘Big Four”
caught the contagious spirit and
wore happy, amiable smiles. They
greeted everyone who approached
them and freely circulated around
extending greetings. I was off at
a side when Bulganin came up
to me and offered his good wishes.
Movie cameras ground, flash bulbs
popped, and picture fans had a
“clicking” good time recording the
jovial mood which brightened the
faces of the Americans and the
resplendent “new look” on the ro
tund cheeks of the USSR’s mighty
quartet.
Annihilation
The Kremlin’s present rulers have
confirmed the worst fears of those
who were long convinced that the
Stalin regime carried out a series
of ruthless programs designed to
stamp out Jewish culture in the
Soviet Union. As Mr. Harrison
Salisbury reported in The New
York Times of April 12, the War
saw Communist Yiddish-language
newspaper, Folkshtime, admitted
in its April 4 edition “that Soviet
authorities liquidated a large num-
oer of Jews in literary, cultural and
political fields in the years before
Stalin’s death in 1953. The picture
painted was one of excess even
more extensive than previously ru
mored. The list of Jewish victims
published in Warsaw was longer
than any that had been published
by anti-Communist groups.”
Stalin’s annihilation of great
numbers of Jewish writers coin
cided with the suspension of all
Yiddish books, periodicals and
newspapers, and with the closing
of Jewish schools and theatres.
Even those Yiddish writers who
supported him were silenced. He
was not, therefore, merely attack
ing a group of individuals or a
specific political or religious or
ganization. He was lashing out
against an entire people - against
its culture, its language and every
phase of its spiritual activity.
Since the crackdown eight years
ago on Jewish activity in the So
viet Union, the Congress for Jew
ish Culture, an international or
ganization representing Jewish
cultural institutions, writers, teach
ers and artists, has attempted to
determine the fate of the Jewish
community there. A special re
search committee set up by the
Congress for Jewish Culture pre
pared a list of 450 Jewish writers,
painters, actors, musicians and
other prominent cultural leaders
who were openly active in Soviet
Russia until 1948. On numerous oc
casions, specific queries has been
forwarded to Soviet Government
officials concerning the where
abouts of Jewish intellectuals who
disappeared from public view.
The frequency of these queries
has been accelerated in the three
years since Stalin’s death. On Sep
tember 16, 1955, for example, the
Congress for Jewish Culture sent
a detailed memorandum to the
Soviet Ambassador in Washington,
Georgi N. Zaroubin, asking for in
formation about Jewish writers and
the status of Yiddish literature and
the Yiddish press in the Soviet
Union. A few weeks later, the in
quiry was repeated in a telegram
to the Soviet Ambassador. No re
plies were received.
Again on April 5, 1956, a memo
randum was sent to Mr. Zaroubin
which read in part: “Jewish pub
lic opinion has the right and the
duty to demand official and con
crete information as to the fate of
the Jewish writers and their fami
lies - and especially as to what
measure your Government is taking
to re-establish the right to exist
of the Jewish press, Jewish theatre,
the Jewish school, Yiddish litera
ture and public assembly." It also
stressed that while books and news
papers appear in the Soviet Union
in the language of other “"'nority
nationalities, Yiddish remains out
lawed.
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