The fight against the traders and merchants, in spite of the official sanction of private trade under the Nep (New Economic Policy), has been started again by the Soviet Government.
The merchants and traders who have gone into private enterprises as a result of the Nep find themselves now in a very critical ppsition as a result not only of the heavy taxation imposed by the Government, but by the fact that the Government trusts are competing severely with the private enterprises by opening retail stores.
The Government recently created a special department for the purpose of fighting the entrepreneurs, and many merchants have been arrested on the slightest pretexts and sent to Siberia. Most of those affected are Jews. As a result of this business depression, and dual economic policy, the desire for emigration from Russia has grown again very acute.
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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.
