(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
A summary of the expressions on the question of anti-Semitism in Soviet Russia is contained in the last issue of the “Komsomolskaia Pravda,” the organ of the Young Communist Leagues.
The paper conducted a symposium on the subject among prominent Communist leaders, including J. Larin, Minister of Health Semashko and M. Smidovitch, vice-president of Soviet Russia.
In an editorial summarizing the opinions expressed, the paper writes: “The plague of anti-Semitism has not yet been overcome. The poison which was injected into the people in the days of the Czar is still active Every time we publish an article on anti-Semitism we are flooded with letters giving terrible details and ugly facts showing the existence of anti-semitism. We have here, for instance, a letter from an active young Communist, D. Rubin. ‘I am a member of the Young Communist League,’ he writes, ‘I hate all bourgeoisie. My appearance does not suggest that I am a Jew. I have a good name in the Young Communist ranks. But as soon as people discover that I am a Jew their attitude towards me suddenly undergoes a change.’
“This letter,” the paper comments, “sets us to thinking. The anti-Semites find their adherents among the backward sections of our youth. Our cultural and educational organizations must bear this well in mind. The sore of anti-Semitism is difficult to cure with the surgeon’s knife, but the rays of light will heal it. for light kills the dangerous germs.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
