Soviet Jewish General Reports in Paris on Situation of Jews in Russia

Lieutenant General David Dragunsky, a Jewish Army officer who is one of the most decorated Soviet heroes of World War II, declared here that “vestiges of anti-Semitism still exist in the Soviet Union” but said that the Soviet Government “is about to liquidate the last traces of racism and popular anti-Semitism” in Russia.

General Dragunsky came to Paris to represent the Soviet War Veterans Federation at the Warsaw Ghetto exhibit, which is being held here at the Memorial for Unknown Jewish Martyrs. He made his comment on Soviet anti-Semitism in a wide-ranging press conference, during which he also asserted in fluent Yiddish that Russian Jews did not want to emigrate nor did they want Yiddish publications.

“Not more than 100 Jews of Russia, mainly old people living in the past, would choose to emigrate if a referendum were held,” the stocky, fair-haired tank commander asserted. “Russia is our home, the land of our ancestors and of our future. It is more than ever so now that it had been flooded with Jewish blood by the Nazi oppressors.”

The son of an itinerant tailor, the general asserted that anti-Semitism in Russia was a left-over from the wartime German occupation and Nazi propaganda. He called the publication of the Yiddish monthly, Soviet Homeland, a “political gesture,” asserting that “few Jews were interested in reading Yiddish publications.” He claimed, as evidence, that Shalom Aleichem’s works in Yiddish “barely managed” to reach 30,000 circulation, while a far larger number was sold in Russian translation.

ESTIMATES 100 JEWS HOLD RANK OF GENERAL IN SOVIET ARMY

He also declared that “there is no demand for Jewish schools” and said “what would a youngster who has studied in Yiddish do after his graduation? Where would he find work?”

Discussing the widely debated poem, “Babi Yar,” about the slaughter by the Nazis of 40,000 Jews of Kiev, by the noted Soviet poet Eugen Yevtechenko, and the criticism of the poem by Soviet editor Starikov, the general said: “I think both of them are right and wrong. Yevtechenko is in the wrong for having diminished the role played by the Russian people in saving Jewish lives. Starikov is wrong for the violent language he used in denouncing the poet.”

In support of his argument that Soviet officials were doing their “utmost” to liquidate popular anti-Semitism, be said: “I was a delegate at the last Communist Party Congress. With me were countless other Jews–generals, physicians, scientists and engineer. A Jewish general is in command of the Far Eastern region, other Jews command other military areas, divisions, whole fronts. Can things like this happen in the United States, England or France?”

He declared that the fight in the Soviet Union against anti-Semitism was considerably accelerated after the fall of Lavrentia Beria, Stalin’s secret police chief, who was liquidated by Khrushchev, “When I myself was promoted from colonel to major general, and then to lieutenant general. Other Jews carry still higher rank in the Soviet forces.” He estimated that more than 100 Jews hold the rank of general in the Soviet Army.

On the subject of Israel, he said: “It is most painful to me to see that Israel has become a base for the forces of aggression. It’s just as painful to see pictures of Ben-Gurion shaking Adenauer’s hand and to hear that Eichmann may finally die of old age in his cell. Ben-Gurion is not the working people of Israel to whom my brotherly feelings go.”

He also remarked that “all Jews outside of Israel are doomed to assimilation wherever they live. I think, however, that in the Soviet Union this process may be speedier than elsewhere.” He said he did not rule out a possible visit to Israel “when and if I find the time.”

DENIES GENERALS ASKED FOR SEPARATE LIST OF JEWISH WAR HEROES

General Dragunsky later denied a report published in some Jewish publications that a number of Jewish generals attending the recent Communist Party Congress in Moscow had submitted a request for the preparation by the government of a separate list of Jewish casualties and war heroes of World War II. He termed this report “a shameful lie.” Emphasizing that he himself participated in the Congress together with other Jewish generals, he said he

Other than the press conference and his comment on the separate list report. General Dragunsky did not hold any public meetings or conferences. Throughout his stay in Paris, he expressed his admiration for the Warsaw material and “the symbol of peace which it represents.” He promised to inform the people of Moscow about these sentiments, and to describe them in articles for the Soviet press.