President of Moscow Jewish Community Reviews Nazi Massacres and Russian Aid to Jews

A statement reviewing the Nazi massacres of Jews in the occupied parts of Russia and the aid which the Soviet authorities have given to evacuated Jews, enabling them to adjust themselves to a new life in the interior of the country, was made public here today by Samuel Chobrutsky, chairman of the Moscow Jewish Community.

The statement declares that “hundreds of thousands of Jews from the central part of Russia occupied by the Nazis, as well as from the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Lithuania and Latvia have been transported to Uzbekistan where they have shown themselves to be excellent farmers and are doing splendid work in the factories and in the offices,” Emphasizing that the Nazis “have unloosed their greatest wrath and fury on the Jewish population” in the Russian cities which they occupied, the statement says;

“Blossoming Jewish communities have been razed to the ground. Massacres and pogroms on Jews continue day and night. Rivers of Jewish blood are being shed in all occupied towns. The Nazis deliberately spread propaganda that there is no religious freedom for the people in Soviet Russia. It is not worthwhile to refute this Nazi lie. It is obvious who is the friend of mankind and who is the enemy of the people. The greetings that Stalin received on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the October Revolution from representatives of different religious groups in our country-Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Moslem-and which were sent in the name of millions of religious people, testify to the fact that all these people of various religious faiths are heart and soul with our leader in the struggle against the vicious enemy. They express trust that with the aid of God victory will be achieved.”

Pointing out that there is no discrimination in Russia against any people or any language, and that the Soviet authorities encourage friendship among peoples, the chairman of the Moscow Jewish Community declares; “Here is an example of the friendship among peoples prevailing in our country. During the eighteen months of war against the worst enemy of mankind, thousands of Jewish families have, with the help of the Soviet Government, been evacuated into the interior of the country. Hundreds of thousands of Jews have also come to live in Uzbekistan. The Moscow Jewish Community has in its files interesting human documents and letters from Jews who have settled in Uzbekistan.They all speak of the warm, friendly welcome which they have been given by the people of Soviet Uzbekistan. We shall never forget the motherly care and attention which the Uzbek people have been showering upon thousands of Jewish orphans whom they adopted. They helped us to find work and to become acclimated to new conditions.”