Moscow Urged by Communist Editor to Fight Anti-semitism ‘courageously’

A request that Soviet authorities should combat anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union “openly and courageously” was voiced here by the editor of the Paris Communist Yiddish-language daily newspaper, Neue Presse, who has just returned from Moscow.

The Communist Yiddish editor, N. Koenig, reported in an article in his newspapers that he had discussed his views on the treatment of Jews in the Soviet Union with Jewish and non-Jewish Communist leaders in Moscow. He said that “Jews are occupying an important place in the rapid reconstruction and cultural development of the USSR, but at the same time strong Jewish nationalistic sentiments prevail among Jews in the country.”

These sentiments, he reported, can be noticed both among Jews who speak Yiddish and those whose mother tongue is Russian or any of the other Soviet languages. They are felt among the older generation and also among Jewish youth. “Living among numerous nationalities and forming with them the large family of nations of the Soviet Union, the Jews in the USSR display a strong interest in the history of their people, in Jewish culture and in the life of Jewish communities abroad,” he wrote.

For these reasons, he suggested, it is necessary “to have an especially careful approach, I should say a genuinely Leninist approach, to the problem concerning the Jewish nationality in the USSR.” He then spelled out what he considered elements of such an approach:

1. “It is urgent that every sign of anti-Semitism be combated openly and courageously in the same way as they combat expressions of hooliganism and similar remnants of the old society.”

2. “It is urgent that the interest of the Jews in their national culture should be satisfied and stimulated. With regard to Jews there should be carried out what was emphasized in the program of the Communist Party of the USSR — the need to nurture the progressive traditions of each people in the Soviet Union.”

At the same time the Communist editor advised Soviet Jews to become articulate in rejecting interventions on their behalf from abroad. To do this, he said, it would be necessary to establish an “appropriate representation of the Soviet Jews.” He suggested that an important element in cementing friendship between Soviet Jews and Jews in other countries “within the framework of general Soviet policies and cultural exchanges” could be frequent appearances abroad of Russian Jewish artists, singers, theater groups and writers.” He stressed that the “isolated and unfortunately rare steps taken in this direction” by Soviet authorities “have given very positive results.”