The text of a memorandum sent by the American Jewish Committee to Moscow to Anastas Mikoyan, a First Deputy Premier, outlining American Jewish grievances against the mistreatment of Jews in the Soviet Union, was made public here today by Dr. John Slawson, AJC vice president. The memorandum was requested by Mr. Mikoyan, when he met earlier this year with leaders of the organization in New York, during his visit to the United States.
The memorandum is divided into three sections: 1. The suppression of Jewish cultural rights; 2. The inadequate facilities available to Soviet Jews in the field of religion; 3. Discrimination against Jews in Soviet public and economic life. The AJC stresses in its memorandum that its information has been secured “from sources which, by their very nature, cannot be suspected of any intent to distort the facts in a manner hostile or detrimental to the interests of the Soviet Union.”
Most of the facts enumerated in the memorandum are based on items published in Communist newspapers or on reports made public by Communist delegations from various countries who discussed the Jewish issue in Moscow with Premier Nikita Khrushchev and other leading members of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union, including M. Suslov, chairman of the Central Committee of the Party.
The memorandum quotes at great length the reports of the British and Canadian Communist parties, establishing that nothing in the Yiddish language has been published in the Soviet Union later than in 1948; that the Soviet Encyclopedia, which in its 1932 edition devoted about 160 columns to the Jews, reduced this space in the 1952 edition to four columns; that the biographies of many prominent Jews had been remove; and that even Karl Marx was no longer referred to as a Jew.
CONTRAST BETWEEN TREATMENT OF JEWS AND OTHER NATIONALITIES CITED
The memorandum also quotes reports of Communist delegations establishing that, during the “Black Years” of 1948-1952, many Soviet Jews were dismissed from their posts; Jewish poets and writers were arrested and charged with treason and executed; Yiddish literature disappeared from the streets and the market places; all Jewish cultural institutions were closed down; and that “deliberate efforts” had been made to repress all expressions of Jewish culture.
“There is a remarkable contrast between the general picture of major cultural activity among nationalities in the Soviet Union and the unique treatment of one single nationality–the Jews. “the American Jewish Committee points out in its memorandum to Mr. Mikoyan.
“This exception, ” the memorandum says, “is even more striking when consideration is given to the tremendous Jewish cultural organization which existed throughout a considerable period of the Soviet Union’s history, and which, at its peak during the 1930’s, included some 1,400 Yiddish schools; some 20 theatres and theatrical groups; nearly 20 daily, weekly and monthly journals in Yiddish; publishing houses with an annual output of almost two million copies of books and pamphlets; local Jewish Soviets in certain villages and townships, and special sections of local courts in which Yiddish was the official language.”
“The report of the British Communist Party”–the AJC memorandum continues–” makes it clear that all cultural activities came to an abrupt and violent end in 1948, not because of any disappearance of interest on the part of the Jewish population, but through official administrative action on the part of the authorities. There is no doubt that this action constitutes an unprecedented and willful act of destruction of major cultural values and large-scale institutions of one particular nationality, among more than one hundred national groups which continue to enjoy their cultural privileges.”
SAYS JEWISH RELIGION IN RUSSIA IS KEPT IN “ATOMIZED CONDITION”
Touching upon the discrimination against Soviet Jews in the field of religion, the American Jewish Committee memorandum says: “While it is true that religious worship is permitted in the Soviet Union, for Jews as for the other indigenous faiths, it must be stressed that religious facilities at the disposal of Soviet Jews are statistically inferior to those available to other faiths.
“Of the four major denominations in the Soviet Union–Russian Orthodox, Moslem, Baptist and Jewish–only the Jewish faith is kept organizationally in an atomized condition.” the memorandum stresses.
“The Russian Orthodox churches are permitted to maintain a centralized, nationwide organizational structure of religious congregations, with the Patriarch as its head. Similar systems exist on a national basis for the other religious faiths–except for the Jews. Not only is there no federation of Jewish communities, or even a Chief Rabbi, but contact and communication between the local congregations appear to be disrupted and even the distribution of gifts of ceremonial objects appears to be hindered by the authorities.
“The Jewish communities are also at a severe disadvantage in terms of available religious facilities. Today there are some 60 rabbis available for 3, 000, 000 Jew–one for every 50, 000 persons. Many of these rabbis are not properly ordained.”
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.
