Newspaper Page Text
v
Friday, July 31, 1970
Fag* Six
THI SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
EUROPEAN NEWSLETTER . by S. J. Goldsmith
Life With Mother Russia
The story of two Russian Jews
I am about to relate is the story
of all the Jews of Russia. Mul
tiply it three million times and
you have the position of Russian
Jews in terms of daily living,
and the clash between their
Jewish roots and the anti-Jew
ish atmosphere in £he Soviet
Union.
The two men I talked to —
it was a friendly, drawn-out
conversation between acquaint
ances becoming friends while
talking rather than a question-
answer interview '— are both
highly qualified observers, well-
informed, extremely perceptive,
remarkably balanced, of analyti
cal minds, who can suppress im
pulses and come to sober con
clusions. I cannot reveal their
names. I wish I could. It would
add so much point to their re
ports. But they still have mem
bers of their families in the Sov
iet Unibm While not lacking in
courage themselves, they do not
feel they should be daring on be
half of others.
So I must confine myself to
saying that one of them is a pro
fessor, a world authority on a
branch of the life sciences, who
took up in Israel, a couple of
years ago, where he had left off
in Moscow on his departure. He
had a comparatively easy time in
Russia, even as a Jew. The
other one is a highly qualified
professional man who came out
less than a year ago and is now
occupying a very responsible
position in the Israeli engineer
ing industry. He had rather a
bad time in Russia, was exiled
to a labor camp as a protester.
HOW TO SIGN PETITIONS
We were having lately a large
number of petitions, open letters
and appeals by Soviet Jews. It
is comparatively easy to circu
late such documents, and even
to send them abroad. The lib
eral elements do it all the time.
But how are such Jewish petit
ions being signed, I was wonder
ing. What are the mechanics of
writing and signing a petition or
an open letter in the Soviet
circumstances?
The professor explained that
it was not as complicated as it
appeared. People meet in vari
ous queues which are a safe and
convenient place to discuss all
sorts of things. Even the KGB
cannot wire a queue ... So they
discuss the nature of a petition,
say and the pros and cons of
getting one up. Then they
charge one or two people with
preparing the text. Afterwards
it goes from hand to hand for
the signatures. Sometimes peo
ple back out in the last moment,
and no one blames them. Some
times new people appear and
ask to be permitted to sign. The
rest is merely a matter of dis
patching the document. And
foreign correspondents handle
such stories like any other
piece of news. There are also
numerous foreign embassies,
trada missions, consulates. Fin
ally, there are thousands of tour
ists who ask about conditions
and listen to reports — in the
ordinary way tourists do. West
ern tourists sometimes don’t
even realize that it is not done
in Russia.
JABOTINSKY, 191*
How come the professor, who
was not personally persecuted as
a Jew, had become an ardent
Zionist long before his depar
ture to Israel? True, he suffered
some mild insults at school as a
Jew. But many an American or
British Jew suffered similar
treatment as Jews and did not
become Zionists ...
It was not simply school mem
ories, he said, but ischool mem
ories revived and underscored
by convincing arguments, pres
ent-day realities and careful re
flection. A watershed was an
essay by Vladimir Jabotinsky —
written in 1912 — He stumbled
upon it by chance. Jabotinsky’s
case was not only brilliantly
argued but fitted the Soviet con
ditions no less than it had fitted
the Czarist conditions . . . Then
came news of the resistance to
the British rule in Palestine, the
Haganah, and the rest. This was
followed by news of the illegal
Aliyah, the Israeli war of inde
pendence, and then the 1956 war
for the prevention of the de
struction of Israel. All these
momentous events were land
marks in the development of the
professor — and countless other
Russian Jews. But for him it
was a long haul. He had to wait
twenty years, and to go to Israel
without the official stamp of
“Ovir," the department dealing
with exit permits and registra
tions.
What happened to his parents,
a distinguished scholar . and his
wife, still in Russia, living quiet
ly in retirement?
To be fair, nothing very dras
tic but some unpleasant ques
tionings. First, they were asked
to denounce their son publicly.
The mother answered for
both: “No,” parents don’t de
nounce their children, unless
they are not normal parents.
Then they were asked to sign a
paper declaring that they were
not against their son residing
JEWISH CALENDAR
. ’TISHA B’AV
Aug. 11, Tuesday
’BOSH HASHANA
Oct. 1-2,
Thursday-Friday
*YOM KIPPUR
Oct 10, Saturday
i
•HOLIDAY BEGINS
SUNDOWN PREVIOUS DAY
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
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Southern Israelite invites literary contributions and correspondence
hot is not to be considered as ■haHng the views expressed by writers.
DEADLINE is 5 PJML FRIDAY, hot material received earlier wUl
have a much better chance of publication,
Adolph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Kathleen Nease, Vida Goldgar, Edward M. Kahn
Kathy Wood, Harry Rose, Betty Meyer, Gertrude Burnham
abroad. This they did. It . was
fair enough . . The father was
questioned again three times and
finally given his son’s internal
passport. “Do with it what you
like.” There is no record as to
what he did with it . . . But this
was not the end. A falsified and
mendacious article appeared
about the professor in “Soviet-
skaya Rossiya,” a popular daily
serving the Russian Republic of
the USSR. Then the professor
was deprived formally of his
Soviet citizenship. Rather heavy
weather about a man who went
to settle in another country, you
would say. But this was not an
isolated case. It was not a stupid
bureaucrat acting silly.
RELIGION, JEWISH ROOTS
Something interesting on the
general situation. The profes
sor asserts, with all the author
ity at his command, that religion
among Soviet Jews is a symbol
, of their Jewishness v and not an
affirmation of piety. Piety is a
private matter. Those Jews who
go to the synagogues on Jewish
■> holidays look for their Jewish
roots and assert their Jewish
solidarity. They do not neces
sarily believe that the synagogue
service as such is of great mo
mentum. i
Jews — and others — know
all about Israel, Jewish life
elsewhere, Middle East politics
and the rest of it from the radio.
Kol Israel is being listened to
regularly by countless people.
Religion is not the issue. And
the authorities know it very
well. They have by now scores
of thousands of applications.
They know who the applicants
are.
The professor makes the point
that there are philo-Semites in
Russia as there had always been.
Yevgeni Yevtushenko and Anna
Akhmatova are hot the last of
the genus. But they are a min
ority, and they are not always
inclined to be vocal for obvious
reasons. It was easier to get
away with pro-Jewish attitudes
under the Czars . . . The rest are
hostile in various degrees. Anti-
Semitism is deeply imbedded
and the authorities can play it
up at will.
PRICE OF QUESTIONING
My other friend comes from
Odessa. His family was assimi
lated and he never considered
himself anything but a Russian.
He knew no Yiddish and was not
interested in it — or in Hebrew
for that matter. All he knew
was that his family was Jewish,
and he never attached to it the
slightest importance. Then came
the university years and with
them the realities of the situa-
Continued on page 7
BORIS SMOLAR (Editor-In-Chief Emeritus, JTA)
BETWEEN YOU AND ME
MWArc*
Georgia Press Asm.
Seven Arts Features
Jewish Telegraphic
Agency
World Union Press
NIXON'S MOODS
You may be pro-Nixon or anti-Nixon, but one
has to admit that President Nixon is now begin
ning to live up to the pro-Israel pledge which he
made two years ago at a B’nai B’rith dinner in
Washington where he appeared accompanied by
his friend Max M. Fisher, the noted Jewish leader.
Also, that he does it in the face of formidable
opposition from various directions.
President Nixon’s stand at present vis-a-vis the
Soviet position in the Arab-Israel conflict—especi
ally with regard to the Soviet attempts to escalate
the war at the Suez Canal—amounts to a confron
tation. Not a military confrontation, but one
which Moscow will have to take seriously. His
stand now is a clear-cut warning to the Kremlin
that the United States is determined to back
Israel in maintaining the balance of power which
the Soviet Government seeks to change in-favor
of the Arabs.
It seems to be clear now to President Nixon,
and to some of his close advisors, that Moscow is
following in the Middle East the method termed
by Nikita Khruschev, the deposed Soviet leader,,
as “salami tactics.” This is a Soviet _ method of
reaching the aim slice by slice in foreign advent
ures. First a small move is made. If it meets
with no firm opposition, additional small moves
are mades When the world wakes up, the Kremlin
has achieved its objective of complete control.
In Egypt, this started with financial and tech
nical aid. Then came military supplies, later came
military advisers, and finally there are now Rus
sian troops to operate missile bases and Russian
pilots to fly Russian warplanes. If no firm oppo
sition is shown to the Soviet intentions at the
Suez Canal where the Russians are now building
up strong military installations for the purpose of
crossing the Canal, who knows how far their
“salami tactics” may go and whether we may not
see Soviet military installations very near to Tel
Aviv?
• * • -
WASHINGTON REFLECTIONS
All indications point to the fact that President
Nixon and his close advisors are beginning to
realize that the situation at the Suez Canal is at
present very much similar to that of the Soviet
attempts to impose a blockade on Berlin in 1948
and to the crisis in 1962 when the Russians brpught
their missiles to Cuba to establish themselves at
the back door of the United States. On both
occasions they were forced to retreat when they
were met by determined American action.
Taking a leaf from history of dealing with
Soviet tactics, it is now more obvious than ever
to many in Washington—although not to pro-Arab
elements in the State Department—that the United
States has to give Israel all possible support in
putting up firm resistance at the Suez Canal. This
Is imperative not only in the interests of Israel
but also in the interests of the United States,
including the American oil interests which would
eventually fall under Soviet domination if Israel’s
blocking of the Suez Canal were broken and
Soviet penetration in the direction of the Persian
Gulf is thus made easier.
It is bejng realized in Washington that by
meeting the Russian challenge at the Suez Canal,
Israel would be doing a job of crucial importance
to the West. However, to meet this challenge
effectively it is obvious that Israel must have the
unwavering support of the United States. Only if
Moscow knows that the U.S. is firmly committed
to help Israel—and is ready to do it now—will
the Russians be deterred from attempting brink
manship at the Suez Canal. Nixon’s former de
cision to forestall selling planes to Israel was read
by the Russians as a sign of American hesitation.
President Nixon seems to be mindful now of
these facts. He is also aware of the fact that Israel
is determined to outstare the Russians on the bank
of the Suez Canal—or even face military encoun
ters—by doing the job alone. And he apparently
visualizes that if America does not back up now
Israel’s attempt to make a firm stand against the
Russians, the American position in the Middle
East and in the Mediterranean will be no less
exposed in the future as the Israeli positions are
today.
' * • •
SOVIET DOUBLE-TALK
The feeling is now growing in Washington that
all the Soviet statements about reaching an Arab-
Israel “political solution” are mere double-talk,
as long as Moscow fortifies its military position
in Egypt by pouring in there more and more war
materiel and military personnel.
On the other hand, Israel made it clear to
Washington that in being determined to hold the
Suez Canal cease-fire line, she does not intend to
ask for American soldiers or pilots. All she wants
is weapons from the United States.
The Israelis need now more aircraft and re
placement of aircraft lost or damaged in battle,
or made obsolete. They need more naval craft
to protect their long coast line. And they need
more modem tanks to counter the latest Soviet
tanks supplied to Egypt and Syria. This is rot
much to ask for by a small country which today
stands firmly as a bastion pf democracy in such
a strategically important part of the world as the
Middle East. ... *
There are now quite a number of influential
men in the Nixon Administration who think that
the Russian aims in the Middle East must not go
unchecked and that Israel should get all the
American aid she needs. But there are also
isolationist elements in Washington. It is certain
howevw, that Israel's request for American aid
will not go unheeded if the Russians wUl engage
in brinkmanship at the Suez Canal drivkiTmT
ters to the brink of danger forlsraeL ^
Copyright 1970, Jewish Telegraphic Agency Inc.