THE HISTORY OF JEWS IN THE SOVIET UNION
as told by I. Magid, a Soviet Jew.
(Redaction 2)

My address:
Ilya Magid
30 Wallingford Rd # 916
Brighton, MA.02135
USA
Phone :( 617) 782 3315

That book could be written only with the help of Steven Siegel.

I dedicate that job to Rabbi M. Gurkov, the director of the Jewish Russian Center, for his effort to connect "Jewish" only on the mark in the Soviet passport to Jewish heritage.
12\1996

OUTLINE
Introduction
1. The destroyed Jewish mode of life (1917-41)
    1.1 The condition of Jews in Czarist Russia
    1.2 The participation of Jews in the revolution
    1.3 The destroyed Jewish mode of life
    1.4 The migration of Jews to big cities, their success in the field of            secular education, science, engineering and Soviet culture
2. Government anti-Semitism after World War II (after 1945)
    2.1 How nationalities identified themselves
    2.2 Anti-Semitic situation
          2.2.1 Government anti-Semitism
          2.2.2 The problem with work
          2.2.3 The problem with emigration
          2.2.4 State and People
    2.3 Jewish reaction to anti-Semitism
          2.3.1 The meaning of nationality
          2.3.2 Jewish name
          2.3.3 The problem at work
          2.3.4 Reaction to anti-Semitism
          2.3.5 New idealist
Conclusion

Introduction

This history depicts the Jews who lived within the bounds of the Soviet Union before the year 1939. Three generations of those Jews experienced life under the Soviet Governments.

The other group of Jews came from the territory "liberated" by the Soviet army in the years 1939-40 {Moldavia, West Ukraine and Belarus, Lithunia, Latvia and Estonia.} They experienced the most Soviet influence only after World War II.

I write nothing about heroic resistance of the Jewish Religious leaders (especially Lubavich) against the communistic Atheistic dictatorship.

1. The destroyed Jewish mode of life (1917-41)

1.1 The condition of Jews in Czarist Russia.
Before the revolution Jews lived in a ghetto, which was called "the pale of settlement." There were ghettos in the Ukraine and Belarus. They lived in small towns, shtetls. They were forbidden to live outside the ghetto.

They were craftsmen, merchants, etc. They were orthodox Jews. Their lives revolved around the synagogue. Their studying was in religious schools. They lived as orthodox Jews in America, but in Russia they lived very poorly. Secondary schools and universities had only a 3% enrollment of Jews.

In personal documents the nationality of "Jew" was not indicated, but the documents indicated only belonging to the "Judaic religion." Jews were allowed to convert to Christianity ("Christian Jew"). Then they had all rights (to live outside the ghetto, to be enrolled in universities, etc.). Jews, who were merchants belonging to 1 or 2 guilds and their descendants were permitted to live in any city in Russia. Jews who were conscripted into the army had the same rights.*

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*The practice of Jewish conscription began under Tsar Nicholas I. Boys at 12 years of age were called into the army. They had to serve 25 years. Many of those Jewish soldiers died in service.
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The Jews in the ghetto didn't feel anti-Semitism because almost exclusively only Jews lived there. However, anti-Semitism was practiced against Jews in the surrounding community. Jews from the big cities felt anti-Semitism very much because they lived among Russians, but they lived better than the Jews in the ghetto.

1.2 The participation of Jews in the revolution.
The number of Jews that participated in the revolution was disproportionately large. The humble and difficult situation for Jews in Czarist Russia evoked a movement of the young idealists. The ideas of Marx fascinated them. They liked him because of his internationalism. "The main conflict in life is conflict between the rich and poor. The source of conflicts was private property. As a result nationality had to disappear."

Living in the cities young Jews (out side the ghetto) comprised a big part of the Jewish revolutionaries. A rich parent's child could travel abroad. Together with Lenin and other revolutionaries they participated in the political disputes. They created a political party.

The dictatorship grew from idealism because life does not consist of idealistic theory. The dictatorship didn't allow opposing opinions.

Many Jews were in midst of Mensheviks, Cadets, etc, who were known to the counterrevolutionaries.

Until 1941 the dictatorship killed and sentenced to prison people regardless of their nationalities. Many leaders of dictatorship were killed also.*
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*Well-known communist Jews were Trotsky, Sverdlow, Zinoviev, Kamenev, etc. Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev were assassinated.
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1.3 The destroyed Jewish mode of life.
The hope of realizing an idealistic idea in life destroyed the Jewish lifestyle. The existence of a Jewish section of the Communist party (1917-25) was a contributing factor to abandoning the Jewish lifestyle. Those Jews who were communist knew Jewish customs and religion, yet they supported all the power of the dictatorship state.

The synagogues, religious schools, other religious services were closed. The rabbis, teachers of religious schools, cantors, and other, were persecuted. They were deprived of their passport, and they were exiled. Tens of thousands of religious Jews experienced a similar fate.

Communists sentenced the Lubavicher Rabbi to prison; he escaped execution only by a miracle; he was exiled, then he went by another miracle abroad.

The last non-religious Jewish schools were closed around the year 1930. When in 1931 I, a Jewish boy, went to school I was enrolled in the Byelorussian school.

The oppressed Jewish lifestyle was in worse condition than in Tsarist Russia. The Jews were deprived of religion, language, literature. In Russian schools the students studied little about pre-Revolutionary literature that spoke about Christian religion.

1.4 The migration of Jews to big cities. Their success in the field of secular education, science, engineering and Soviet culture.
After the revolution the Soviet Union was abolished as was the ghetto for Jews and the 3% quota for enrollment of Jewish institutes and universities. You could receive imprisonment for offending national dignity.

(The real Ghetto abolished during the February Revolution by Kerenski before Lenin's October Revolution.)

More Jews went to Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, etc., from the ghetto and other towns. The boys, who had studied Torah, were going to go to the institutes and the universities.

In the 1930's the industrialization of the country began. The objective was to overtake and to behind America. The country needed many scientists and engineers.

The government raised the prestige of the engineering professions. It gave the highly trained specialist a good apartment and big salary. The big specialist lived significantly better than other people. He was considered the "new aristocrat."

Jews achieved big success in the field of science, engineering and Soviet socialist culture. The famous Jewish scientists were: Kikoin, Landau, Zeldovich, etc. The famous Jewish engineers were Zalzman, Riftin, etc. The famous Jewish artists of the Soviet culture were Meerchold, Babel, Utesov, Dunaevsky, Riklin, etc.

2. Government anti-Semitism after World War II (after 1945)

2.1 How nationalities identified themselves.
When a child was born in the Soviet Union, the parents received "a Birth certificate." It contains the child's last and first names and the father's first name*.
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*In Russia official naming consisted of a first name and father's name. Example: The name Tatiana Ivanovna has the first name "Tatiana," and "Ivan" is the first name of father.
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The Birth certificate also contains the last and first name of the father and the father's father first name and his nationality. The birth certificate also contains the last and first name of the mother and the father's mother first name and her nationality.

A child receives a passport at 16 years of age. His or her last and first and father's first name and nationality are written in the passport from the Birth certificate. In a mixed marriage the child can choose the nationality and last name only of one of the parents. If you are married, you can take the last name of husband {wife} or live with your last name.

A passport rarely was required in daily life. It would have been necessary when you entered work, went to a government office, moved to another apartment, etc. The last and the first name and first name of one's father often revealed one's nationality.

The Soviet person often had to receive an official reference from his work place, as when you wanted to stand in line for an apartment or a garden plot or a telephone, etc.

The form of reference:

                         Give citizen [ last name] [first name] [father's first name]

                         Party membership [member of Communist or non Party]

                         by nationality [Russian or Jewish or ...]

                        REFERENCE [The quality of your work and your philosophy]

         Signed by
                          Director (manager) of the plant   [signature]
                          Party leader   [signature]
                          President trade union   [signature]
                          

                                                                                    [Seal plant] [Date]

Sometimes a face can identify the nationality. (I did not see Jews wearing traditional religious clothes in the street as in America.)

When a child entered kindergarten or school, he presented his "Birth certificate." The class book contains the first and last name and also the nationality of the child. The nationalities in the class book are interesting for the children. (In the Soviet Union the government owned and conducted all kindergartens and schools.)

If you went to the hospital, you had to present your passport and the staff worker filled out a form that also asked for nationality. There were more similar examples. If someone knew your nationality, then anyone could know your nationality.

2.2 Anti-Semitic Situation

2.2.1 Government Anti-Semitism
Government anti-Semitism began after would war II and I think it still exists today. The newspaper and TV created anti-Semitic situations. Israel was always represented to be the aggressor. There was always a fight against Zionism. In the USSR the word "Zionist" was a curse word just as the word "fascist."

The situation for Jews was particularly dangerous when the Communist party carried on the struggle against cosmopolitanism* (1947), when there were the affairs of the doctors** (the doctors' plot, 1952), etc. In this period many Jews were dismissed from work but all the time they had a problem finding a new job.
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*The struggle against cosmopolitanism is a manifestation of Russian nationalism. Russian is the best of all nationalities. Russians made all discoveries. Communists explained that "cosmopolite" is a person without a homeland. "Cosmopolite" was a strongly pejorative word in the Soviet Union. The paradox was that it was the Communists who deprived the Jews of their native culture and then called them "cosmopolitans."

**Affairs of the doctors: The Jewish doctors from the hospital of the Kremlin were accused of killing statesmen. Those charges were acknowledged false after Stalin's death.
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Newspaper and TV never used the word "Jews." The words "Israel, Zionism, Cosmopolitanism" always were associated with "Jews." The papers used such sentences: "Without kin cosmopolites," or "killers in white coats." That was accompanied by a caricature of the persons with a stereotypical Jewish hooked nose.

You must know that in the Soviet Union there was no Jewish district. People couldn't buy an apartment where they wished. The buying or receiving of an apartment was a big problem. You received an apartment where the government gave it to you. I did not know any buildings where Jews were more than 10%. (In Leningrad and others cities nearly all the people lived in the big apartment houses.)

Our outstanding building in Leningrad had three Jewish families out of 45 families. Jews were always a minority in each region.

We did not have any Yeshiva or other religious school. In the 80's, beginning with 'perestroika', some Jewish boys were sent to Hungary to a Yeshiva. Those persons checked by the KGB.

2.2.2 The problem with work
The chiefs of personnel of the businesses belonged to the KGB and were always anti-Semitic. They had a secret instruction. You had to know when you searched for work in the Soviet Union that you didn't send resumes to businesses and wait for an answer. You had to go to the businesses to their personnel department. You showed your passport where the nationality was indicated. If you were suitable for the job you had to fill out a long form that also asked for your nationality. When you went from the street to the boss of the personnel department and showed your passport that indicated "Jew," he would refuse to accept you for this work for a different reason.

Also there were businesses and institutes (colleges) which Jews were not allowed to enter (KGB, police, etc.). Jews knew that. To feel the pain of anti Semitism, you just had to look for work. (In the Soviet Union there was not any unemployment.)

2.2.3 The problem with emigration
The new problem arose with the emigration of Jews in the 80's. In Leningrad the chief newspaper "Leningradskaya Pravda," which means "Leningrad's truth," often printed threatening articles against the refusniks, teachers of Hebrew, students, and their relatives. The newspapers and TV falsified information.

2.2.4 State and people
The best reward for Jews was when Russians told them in private: "You are good Jews, you aren't like the others" or "You don't look like a Jew." Sometimes the leader said: "Did you understand that I can't promote you?" Very often the higher leader criticized the lower leader for "impurity of manpower." Another expression was when one leader called to another leader: "It is not one head but the entire synagogue."

The people under a dictatorship can't express themselves. I firmly believe that the majority people supported anti-Semitism. The government pursued the following policy against Jews in recent years: It didn't hire and didn't fire them.

One poet said:
"I filled out a form that I am an invalid of the 5th group
In the place "nationality" I wrote "yes."*
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*In the Soviet Union the invalids were divided into groups according to severity and type of illness. That depended upon various illnesses. The place for "nationality" had the number 5.
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2.3 Jewish reaction to anti-Semitism

2.3.1 The Meaning of Nationality
The indication in the passport of the nationality had a big meaning in life. In a mixed marriage the child chooses the nationality "Russian." Some Jews get married to Russians so that the children will have a better life. I knew a completely Jewish family in which the child had a passport that indicated that he was Russian. How was that possible? I don't know. If the child indicated that his nationality was Russian, he could enter the universities where Jews were not allowed to enter.

2.3.2 Jewish name
The destruction of the Jewish way of life ended in the year 1930. Before 1930 Jewish parents gave their newly born child a Jewish first name and after this time a Russian name.

The children that were born before 1930 had a Jewish first name and the first name of the father as a Jewish surname. The children born in the period 1930-1960 had a Russian first name, and the Jewish first name of the father as a surname. Children, that was born after 1960 had a Russian first name and first name of the father, Russian.

To be treated well Jews changed the first name of the father. Example: A Jew was named Peter Michailovich although on his passport he had the name Peter Moshevich.

Jewish parents sometimes changed their first name officially, so that their life would be more comfortable. When my daughter was born (1956), the relatives began to insist on my changing my first name "Itska." I changed my name to "Ilya," because my daughter would have her father's name "Itskovna." This name would have been a disadvantage in the Soviet Union. The changing of the first name in ZAGS* took more than one year.
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*ZAGS are the same as the American Court.
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The office workers made this work intentionally very long. That change had to be made on many documents, including one that required explaining the change.

2.3.3 Problem at work
The Jews find situations in businesses through the help of acquaintances (maybe as a supervisor, a chief engineer) or upon direction from the ministry from Moscow after graduating from the institute (college).

Nevertheless, when a Jew started a new job, he always had to keep his ears open. All the other workers were aware of the presence of a Jew. A Jew would be better if he was a communist or he had connections. The authorities gave Jews harder and less interesting work. Much depended upon his conduct. Your situation became intolerable if you couldn't arrange a relationship with your supervisor and co-worker.

The Jews hardly ever changed jobs because they were obedient. On the other hand the Russian supervisor often had Jewish substitutes. That was good for the Russian supervisors because Jewish people did not replace the Russian supervisors even if the supervisors were stupid.

Jews who were members of the Communist party, especially veterans of the party* felt government anti-Semitism less.
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*A veteran is a member of the party for at least 50 years.
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That can also encourage one to join the party. Such a man also receives higher status. I was twice offered entrance into the party, the first time by my immediate superior, and the second by the secretary of the party of my department.

They offered to give me a recommendation for entrance as a member of the party. If you want to refuse, you say: "I will think about it" or "I am not ready to become a member of the party." It was difficult to be accepted into the party. There were restrictions, especially for engineers and white collar workers.

2.3.4 Reaction to anti-Semitism
One woman told me: "It is a very serious problem when a child knows that he or she is Jewish. It is a tragedy. A child must be prepared for that."

I think that 50% of the Jews take steps to lessen the impact of anti-Semitism.

2.3.5 New idealism
As a reaction to anti-Semitism over 6o-80 years there arose a new idealistic movement. Some Jews studied Hebrew and Jewish culture with other Jews. Jewish life was experienced secretly in private apartments.

Their self-esteem was increased when they said that they wanted to leave for Israel and they really did go to Israel. (They didn't change their decision in Vienna and didn't go to America.)

Conclusion
Only Jews who were born before 1924 would have knowledge about Jewish religion, language and literature. Those were the Jews who in 1990 {that was the end of the dictatorship} were then 65 years old. The Jews who were younger then 65 in 1990 knew nothing about Jewish heritage. They were Jews only on their passports.

Some Russian Jews told me (maybe specially): "Pork or pork shashlik is very good." They are very far from Jewish tradition.

Here in Boston in the Jewish community, when I go with the kipa, some Russian Jews ask me: "Are you Religious?" I answered: "Why am I religious? I arrived as you from the Soviet Union, but I hope that G'd will help me."

Here one man very often debated with me. He embarrassed me because he said that I did not love my motherland. He was a retired military officer, communist party official at the plant. I remembered well one phrase about a man: "We accepted him into the party." I told him that the Soviet Union was not my motherland but a stepmother. He again and again returned to the issues of love of motherland. At last I understood that I wanted to tell him, "We had a different experience in the Soviet Union." After that he did not argue with me about that.

Communist committed many crimes against the Soviet people, but for me, a Soviet Jew, the most important crime of the communists was depriving the Jews of their Jewish roots.

However some Jews who were born after maybe 1960 (in 1990 they were less then 30 years old) could connect themselves to Jewish tradition. They studied English and Hebrew and went to the synagogue. They are very educated and clever people.

In my opinion the solution to the Jewish problem in Russia and in the states of the former Soviet Union would be for all the Jews to depart from there.

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