Jewish Communists Want to Close Yeshiva but Soviet Hesitates

The Soviet authorities have proven themselves hesitant to comply with the demands of the Jewish Communists for closing the Yeshiva, Talmudical academy, at Polotsk.

The Yeshiva was recently transferred to Polotsk from Nevel after the Nevel authorities closed it there, confiscating some of the buildings.

The Communist press is conducting vigorous propaganda in Yiddish in this direction. The papers declare that Jewish chauvinist sentiments are growing among the Jewish youth, even the Communist youth. The “Emes,” Moscow Communist Yiddish daily, reprimands the Jewish Communist youth organs, “Yunger Arbeiter” and “Yunge Gvardye,” for barely mentioning the case of the two Jewish workers, Bodonm and Tofenko, who were sentenced for seeking to avenge the anti-Semitic persecutions inflicted on Miss Dreize Barshay, or the Orsha case.

The charges of the “Comsomolskaya Pravda” that the Petroleum syndicate was infested with anti-Semitic propaganda had wide repercussions. A meeting of the Yatchayka, the Communist group in the syndicate, was held to discuss the charges made in the paper. The meeting lasted nine hours. Some of the leaders of the group sought to shift the blame on Aleshin, secretary of the Yatchayka, despite the fact that a unanimous resolution was adopted a month ago endorsing his policy.

Some leaders of the Yatchayka admitted that they had propagated anti-Semitism in the syndicate, promising to reform their policy. The meeting adopted a resolution denouncing the policy of the leaders and demanding the immediate deposition of Aleshin and the holding of a general re-election. The matter will again be considered soon.

An occurrence in Orsha, somewhat similar to the Barshay case, attracted wide attention. In a local cooperative factory a non-Jewish girl, Miss Sharai, complained of persecutions by three Jewish workers. The three workers, were sentenced to prison; Gurevitch, the foreman, to eight months, Chaifetz to six months and Kantor to four months.

Twelve artists were dismissed from the Odessa theatre on the charge of anti-Semitism. Several were dismissed from the Saratov theatre for the same offense.