Two Jewish factories in the town of Astrachan are on the verge of closing due to anti-Semitism on the part of their own chairman. Over one hundred Jews are employed in the factories. In order to preserve the Communist spirit in the co-operatives, the Communist Party appointed two Christian Party members as chairmen. Both, however, assisted in spreading anti-Semitism. One caused the expulsion of thirty Jewish members.
The other chairman charged that the co-operative consists of a group of Jews who have organized for the purpose of betraying the non-Jews. The Astrachan Communist newspaper demands their expulsion from the party.
Anti-Semitism in Soviet Russia has spread to the schools. The anti-Jewish feeling is reflected in the case of a Jewish school boy, Moses Katz, of the town of Surazh, whose non-Jewish school mates tried to drown him. Katz was rowing on the river when non-Jewish schoolboys, calling him “Zhid,” attempted to overturn the boat. In order to save himself, Katz jumped into the water and swam to shore, but was pushed back again by his assailants. He was saved from drowning when a number of passersby rescued him.
A special commission is proceeding from Minsk to investigate the atmosphere in the schools.
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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.