Soviet propaganda has been depicting Israeli leaders as inheritors of “Hitler’s fascist mantle,” according to a State Department report released this week.
The report, the 17th annual review of Soviet and East European compliance with the Helsinki Final Act, notes that during the six months being studied, April I to October 1, 1984, there has been “increased levels of anti-Semitic rhetoric thinly veiled as ‘anti-Zionism.'”
According to the report, “Soviet propaganda maintains that Israeli and Western intelligence encourages emigration in order to obtain state secrets from Soviet citizens. It further alleges that ‘Zionists’ collaborated with fascists during World War II to send many innocent Jews to their deaths. These Zionist elements, so the argument goes, now comprise the ruling circles of Israel, which has inherited Hitler’s fascist mantle. Crude Soviet propaganda posters often depict images of Hitler together with Israeli officials who in turn are often depicted poisoning Arab drinking water.”
AIMED AT FRIGHTENING JEWS
This crude propaganda appears aimed at frightening Jews from seeking to emigrate. “The rate of emigration from the Soviet Union continued to decline below the disappointing figures of early 1984 and has come to a virtual standstill,” the report said.
From April I to August 30 only 423 Jews left the USSR. The report noted that some Jews “have reacted with despair and, for the time being, have stopped applying to leave, while others apply as frequently as possible — once every six months.”
The State Department presented the semiannual report to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, headed by Rep. Dante Fascell (D. Fla.), which monitors compliance with the Helsinki Act. The Department called the “overall record of compliance” on human rights by the Soviet Union and other East European countries “seriously flawed.”
This was especially true of the USSR. “Soviet performance in the field of human rights continued a deploable decline throughout the six-month review period, despite the renewed commitment to respect ‘the universal significance of human rights and fundamental freedoms’ undertaken one year ago in the concluding document of the Madrid conference on security and cooperation in Europe,” the report declared.
The review noted an intensification of persecution of Jewish cultural activists. “Moscow Hebrew teachers Alexander Kholmiansky and Yuli Edelstein were arrested during the summer, respectively, for hooliganism and possession of drugs,” according to the report. Police reportedly located a pistol in Kholmiansky’s room at his parents’ apartment and drugs in Edelstein’s apartment. Close relatives assert that the items were in both cases planted by the police.”
Other arrests of other Jewish activists are cited. The report also notes the plight of imprisoned Jews such as Anatoly Shcharansky and losif Begun. It adds that “even Jewish refuseniks who sought only their own emigration came under the increasing harassment by the Soviet authorities during the review period.
“The sentencing of Aleksandr Yakir to two years in a labor camp for alleged draft evasion was indicative of the deteriorating situation of Soviet Jewry. Accused of evading the draft since 1977, Yakir was arrested only after he had passed his 28th birthday and was no longer eligible to be inducted into the army.”
RESTRICTIONS ON CONTACTS WITH FOREIGNERS
The report found that during the six months reviewed, the Soviet Union continued to place restrictions on the ability of Soviet citizens to have contacts with foreigners, adopting a decree July I making persons who render assistance to foreigners liable to fines.
“This new Soviet decree on aiding foreigners coincided with an unprecedented campaign of harassment, primarily on the part of Leningrad authorities, aimed at discouraging contacts between local citizens and foreigners,” the report said.
“Numerous American tourists were subjected to searches, expulsions physical abuse and detention by the militia simply for having met with Soviet citizens. Jewish refuseniks in Leningrad who met Americans were denounced in the local press. These crude attempts to discourage fundamental freedoms of expression and contacts with foreigners eventually forced the Department of State to issue a travel advisory for Leningrad, warning tourists of potential dangers they may face when visiting the city.”
The report found a few bright spots in Eastern Europe. In Czechoslovakia, Rabbi David Miller was ordained becoming the first resident rabbi since 1970. The report also noted that in Hungary last May, authorities quietly began allowing any Israeli to visit, dropping the requirement that only those with relatives in Hungary could travel there. Two delegations, representing the Hungarian Jewish community, also visited Israel.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
