kasha, and a fragment of sugar; that is a man’s nutriment. Nor is it permitted to receive anything from home.
“Imagine for yourself a man who has been there for three or four months hungering, and without air. And when he eventually does go free—he is a confirmed invalid. But this is not all. There is also the practice of beating and shaking, so that one is left without a heart and without life. It is difficult to convey the pain and the terror, and of all this nothing may be told; one must remain silent. For if you talk, it becomes even worse.
“I, myself, have experienced all this. The body was covered with black bruises and some parts were contused with blood. I do not believe that I will ever again see any of my acquaintances. When I recall the terrible nights when the same thing happened to women— their screams and their sighs, I am seized with terror and it takes me a long time to readjust myself.
“I imagine that I shall never for the rest of my life feel quieted. No one should rest or keep silent while thousands of people, men and women, suffer there with no one to hear their cries. Many go mad, and some die, for they haven’t the ability to live through it all. I must end my letter because it is difficult for me to write about these things. You should understand that all I have written is correct. Of course, I have omitted a great deal, because it is impossible to describe everything….
“I understand that you are interested to know why all this is inflicted upon people. For one thing only! Hand over foreign currency and articles of gold! If you have some and give it up, you still have some hope of freedom. But if you have nothing, you may expect a painful death.
“It is obvious that you give up all that you have. But what is to be done when they arrest you a second time? Then it is very bad and you may say good-bye to yourself.”
The second communication reads:
“Why do you sit with folded arms and pay no attention to the blood of our brother Jews which is being poured out like water? Do you really know what is being done to Jews? There was never such an inquisition since the beginning of the world. There are 100 men in a room which can hold only 20. Neither food nor drink is allowed to reach them, except once in five days and only for one day, and no more. People are stripped naked and beaten mercilessly, in a way that would not be believed if described.
“In Karestin they dug a deep pit, put thirty of our brother Jews into it, covered it with boards and allowed them no food or drink for three days.
“They heat the stoves to an extent that many succumb from heat, and recently a large number have fallen victims.
“In Tavne (?) there died in prison Zeeb Slutzki while another is at the point of death. Eighty per cent of the liberated prisoners are at the point of death. Many thousands of Jews are kept back after release; their crime is their failure to supply dollars and gold currency.
“As bad as was the Spanish Inquisition, it wasn’t a hundreth part of what is occurring here. The wicked Stalin has literally risen up to destroy and slay all the Jews. The decree is directed almost solely against Jews. Stalin has resolved to make a complete end of the Jews.
“One one side hunger, and on the other the arrests. We can no longer bear it.
“Written in blood and tears.
“It is your duty to raise your voice aloud and to publish this in the press of the world so that people may know.”
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.
