Soviet Ends Merging of Non-jewish and Jewish Colonies

An end was put today by the land commissariat to the merging of Jewish with non-Jewish colonies in the Crimea into the so-called giant government grain farms. The commissariat ordered a decentralization of these giant collectives and instructed against a repetition of the giant mania in the future. The colonies which had been merged into such internationalized collectives will return to independent existence where every colonist can even work his land individually.

M. Golde, a member of the Comzet, government department for settling the Jews on the land, who is now inspecting in Crimea, reports that “the mood among the Jewish colonists of Crimea is very bad.” The crippled situation is due to the so-called giant collectives. I am afraid that this may bring bad results.” On receiving his report, the Central Comzet wired urgent instructions to Crimea calling for a discontinuance of the merging of Jewish colonies and an immediate return to the Jewish colonies of all tractors and livestock which had been transferred to other regions during the epidemic of merging.

While government organs are bombarding Crimea to dissolve the merged internationalized colonies, the Moscow “Emes” publishes an article urging this internationalizing of Jewish colonies in Crimea as means to putting an end to Nationalistic moods and to increasing collectivization. The paper cites a number of cases in which Jewish colonists in Crimea refused to be merged with neighboring colonies of non-Jews because they did not want to merge with “anti-Semitic peasants.” The “Emes” brands these Jewish colonists “chauvinists.” The Icor colony in the Yevpatoria region, which had been a sufferer from the merging, will be greatly relieved by the order putting an end to the merging.