Purely Commentary
• USSR Conducts Saintly Drive By Philip
Aimed Against Critics • .
Its Rabbis Are the Apologists WOMOVitZ
Norway Asked
by W. Germany
for Data on Nazi
the Vergelis propraganda on a single visit to the Sovietish Heimland
office.
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire to
But these quotations from lengthy press releases are not the only
The Jewish News)
unusual Russian manifestations of piety on the Jewish question. Ordin-
STOCKHOLM — West Germany
Soviet Russia has taken note of the criticisms leveled against her arily silent when charges are made, except when USSR officials are has asked Norway to submit evi-
and denies that there are any manifestations of anti-Semitism. Jews pinned down for statements regarding the Jewish situation at public dence against Helmuth Reinhard,
are doing the defending, and the resentment against the critics includes gatherings — when the charges are always denied — we now have a wartime Gestapo chief in the Oslo
charges of "downright slander" and "shady aims."
long series of declarations.
area who has been arrested in
Another published assertion appears in the current (March, 1965) Baden-Baden, it was reported here
The Russian position, outlined in semi-official as well as official
declarations — and as is well known both are akin — are unusually issue of Soviet Life, a magazine published in Washington "by reciprocal Tuesday.
agreement between the governments of the United States and the
interesting.
Some 15 witnesses have reported
From the press department of the Soviet Embassy in Washington Soviet Union." This issue of Soviet Life prints this letter from Daniel to Oslo police, and numerous docu-
Sigal
of
Los
Angeles:
comes a long statement on "Jews in the Soviet Union" which devotes
The Los Angeles Times columnist Paul Coates states in his ments and testimonials will be sent
itself primarily to indicating that Passover matzoth already are being
column
of August 25 that "Russian Orthodox Bibles were printed to the Baden-Baden prosecutor.
baked in Russian bakeries. The news report asserts that:
in large numbers in 1957. A Russian language Bible for Baptists Reinhard was considered directly
"Chief Rabbi of Moscow Yehuda-Lieb Levin and Chairman of the
was published in 1958. A Koran for Moslems was printed in 1958. responsible for the deportation,
Norwegian Jews and the execu
Maryina Roshcha Synagogue George Lieb said that the religious Jews
No Hebrew Bible has been permitted since 1917."
of Moscow and the suburbs will be amply supplied with matzoth.
Is there any truth to that statement? As far as is known, no of Norwegian patriots. It was
They are also being baked in Leningrad and in all religious Jewish
religious objects of any kind had been produced in the Soviet derstood that Norway was not like-
communities in Georgia."
Union. What are the real facts about it? Please inform us either ly to ask for the Nazi's extradition.
A Vienna jury sentenced Erich
Then there is a quotation from "an explanation" of the charges
by replying in your magazine or privately. If in the publication,
Rajakoirich, a former aide to
emanating from the United States that there is a "prohibition" of
kindly mail me the issue in which it- will appear. We are having a
Adolf. Eichmann, to 21/2 years in
matzo baking in the USSR, A. A. Puzin, chairman of the state committee
hot debate on it.
on religious cults, having said in Moscow that matzoth are being baked
This is an entirely new twist in the long line of canards regard- prison Tuesday on war crimes
charges.
"quite freely . . . for the needs of the believers" in Moscow, Kiev,
ing "Soviet Anti-Semitism."
Minsk, Tbilisi, Leningrad, Tashkent, Kursk, Kuibyshev, Odessa, Novo-
The jurors declined to rule on
It will be noted that the Los Angeles writer already had his mind
sibirsk, Alma-Ata and other cities.
made up on the question by referring to the issue he raised as "an whether Rajakovic, 60, had ordered
The press report on matzo baking is accompanied by a state-
murders of victims of the Nazi
entirely new twist in . . . canards regarding 'Soviet Anti-Semitism.'
ment that was cabled to the New York Times, signed by Moscow's
period but affirmed his complicity
Soviet
Life,
under
an
explanatory
line
"Rabbi
Natan
Olevsky
Rabbis Yehuda-Lieb Levin nad Nathan Olevsky and synagogue chair-
answers at our request," thereupon offered this statement signed by in the death of 83 Dutch Jews dur-
men Menashe Mikhailovich and George Lieb, refuting charges against
Natan Olevsky, rabbi of the Jewish Orthodox Community, Maryina ing the Nazi occupation.
the USSR by American rabbis.
The former SS captain disap-
This cable to the Times, an answer to Rabbi Paul Levovitz, who had Roshcha, Moscow:
peared after the collapse of Nazi
I
have
just
read
your
letter
citing
Mr.
Paul
Coates'
story
that
issued a statement calling attention to "the denial" by Russia to permit
the publication of the Holy Bible for Jews is supposedly banned Germany and was found in 1963 to
matzo baking in 1964, states:
be living in Milan, where he was
in the USSR.
"On Feb. 4 your newspaper carried a statement that the Rabbinical
operating an import-export busi-
Let me describe the real situation.
Council of America had raised the alarm that Jews in the USSR
ness. He fled to Switzerland and
As
a
rabbi
and
a
religious
person,
I
very
much
regret
that
in
allegedly were being deprived of the right to bake and eat matzo.
was expelled by the Swiss police.
the
USSR,
as
elsewhere
in
the
world,
the
number
of
Jewish
be-
"This statement gives rise to great bewilderment among us repre-
then turned up in Vienna, hav-
He
lievers
has
fallen
off
greatly
and
tends
to
keep
falling.
Hence
the
sentatives of Moscow's Jewish clergy. Apparently the Rabbinical Council
lack of interest in the Bible in Hebrew and the lack of demand ing Austrian citizenship, and was
of America, and in particular Rabbi Paul Levovitz, is profoundly misled.
arrested and held for trial.
for it.
No one in the Soviet Union ever forbade the performance of our re-
It
would
'
cost
many
thousands
of
rubles
to
publish
the
Bible
ligious rites, including, of course, the baking . of matzo. Last year we
in a printing of 5,000 copies. And the money would be wasted; JTA Staffer Publishes
really experienced certain difficulties owing to an insufficiency of
since it would have no sale.
flour. In our country, as you know,. there was a great crop failure, and
I am reliably informed that every religious Jewish family in Book on Jewish Poets
the Soviet people restricted their demand for bakery products. However,
the
USSR
has one or more copies of the Bible in Hebrew, in
NEW YORK (JTA)—A book of
the difficulties were overcome, and in all Moscow's synagogues not a
Russian or some other language. The Torah is read at all syna- essays on Jewish poetry, entitled,
single believer was left without matzoth.
gogues on the days commanded, with all members of the con- "Poets and Poetry," by Avrohom
"This year oi.ur community began to prepare for Passover in Janu-
gregation following the passage from the appropriate book of the B. Tabachnik, a Yiddish editor of
ary. We organized the baking of matzoth in several places in Moscow
Bible. In addition to the Bibles that the members of the con- the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,
and its suburbs. The Lord be praised! We have enough flour now.
gregation own personally, synagogues have dozens, sometimes was published here Monday. Ta-
Every Jew can provide himself with any amount of matzoth. At the
hundreds, of copies for worshipers to use at services.
beginning the Central Synagogue's matzoth bakery baked 400-500 kilo-
bachnik is one of the leading Jew-
In 1927 the Old Testament was published in five volumes in ish poets and literary critics in
grams (880-1100 pounds) daily. After mechanizing a number of the
Hebrew in Bobruisk, Byelorussia, and in 1940 it was published— this country.
processes, we now bake not• less than 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds).
also in Hebrew—in Vilnius, capital of the Lithuanian Soviet Re-
Thus we can bake some 45 metric tons of matzoth by Passover. The
The 500 page volume deals in
public. The second publication had a particularly wide distribu- depth with Yiddish verse in the
members of the congregation of Central Synagogue need no more than
tion, and since then no need has arisen for another printing.
United States. The author analyzes
15 tons. The remaining 30 tons will provide for the needs of the con-
No Jewish congregation has ever raised the question of the works- of such poets as Morris
gregation of Cherkizov Synagogue and, in general, all who want matzoth.
additional printings of the Bible or the Talmud. However, should Rosenfeld, Yehoash A. Lyesin,
"Approximately the same situation exists in Moscow's other syna-
the need - arise, they could go ahead with publication and encounter Mani Leib, H. Leivick, M. L. Hal-
gogues, in the Maryina Roshcha District.. Already on February 11 mat-
no obstacle.
perin and Zisha Landau, who
zoth were purchased by 520 believers. For instance, the Vinitsky, .Chud-
As for Hebrew prayer books, they were published in 1920 in considered classics in Yid
novsky, Berezovsky and Vaieman families bought 15 kilograms (33
Odessa,
in
1922
in
Petrograd,
in
1924
in
Rostov-on-Don,
in
1928
poetry, as well as the works of
pounds) each, the Gitlin family 11 kilograms (24 pounds), Yaroslaysky
in Kiev, in 1934 in Minsk, and in 1939 and 1940 in Vilnius and younger poets of prominence.
eight kilograms (17.6 pounds), Pavolotsky seven kilograms (15 pounds),
Riga.
He also deals with the traditions
etc. In all, 20 tons will be baked by Passover, and the congregation of
At the end of 1955 the Moscow Jewish community printed that prevailed in Jewish poetry,
Maryina Roshcha Synagogue needs no more than six tons. As you can
4,000 prayer books. It took more than six years to sell the entire and the revolt against those tradi-
see, not only members of our synagogue congregation but many other
edition, though copies were sent to nearly. all Soviet Jewish com- tions by some of the contemporary
Jewish citizens in Moscow will be fully provided with matzoth. It is
munities.
Even the largest bought only 20 to 25 copies. The Jewish poets. The book is consider-
regrettable that such a venerable organ as the Rabbinical Council- of
reason, as I . have said, is that there are fewer believers now, and ed a major contribution to the
America, without asking us representatives of the Jewish clergy,
the devout Jews have enough prayer books.
study of Jewish literature. This is
hastened to come out with a statement distorting the real state of
Religious calendars are published annually by different com- the sixth volume authored by Ta-
affairs."
munities. We have 5,000 copies printed in Moscow every year. bachnik.
The USSR press release does mot end with the matzo - question.
They are sold not only in Moscow but generally. Here again sales
It pursues another matter. It reports on the visit last month, at the
are very slow.
office of the Moscow Yiddish magazine, Sovietish Heimland, of which
However, when a Hebrew-Russian dictionary, which also con- made available for their use? Why
Aron Vergelis is the editor, of Arthur Miller, the American-Jewish play-
tained a _course in Hebrew grammar, was published in a printing do Russian_Jews plead for religious
wright. Vergelis gave Miller a lesson in "truth" regarding Russian.
of 25,000 copies in Moscow' in 1963, it sold out within two or three articles when visitors from abroad
Jewry, and the press release contains the follQwing: .
come to Russian synagogues — the
months.
Currently a new edition is being prepared.
"Miller got exhaustive information on the trials of those accused
few that still exist there? And al-
This
all
shows
that
the
declining
interest
among
Jews
in
the
of so-called economic crimes. It was proved by irrefutable facts that,
Bible, prayer books and in religion generally, derives •from the ways such requests are made in
first, all people brought to court for crimes against socialist property
fact that Jewish children, young men • and adults seek a higher privacy.
were of different nationalities: Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews and
secular education, not a religious one, as was the case in Czarist
There is an old Yiddish sayi
others. Second, those sentenced to death do not even make up one-
that
"vu es klingt is a hoge"
Russia.
tenth of a per cent of the total number of persons guilty of large em-
Although there are many Jews in Moscow, Leningrad and where there are chimes there is
bezzlements of the people's property. Third, as a rule, in all cases only
other Soviet cities, in the past 20 years not one young man has festival.-It is like our "where there
one per cent of those sentenced to death were executed. Fourth, the
applied for admission to the theological seminary, and this desPite is smoke there is fite." Charges
absolute number of Jews sentenced for crimes against socialist property
the free tuition, the large scholarship grants (three to four times against an expanding Russian anti-
is smaller than the number of people of other nationalities sentenced
larger than university stipends) and other benetfis.
Semitism have been made in many
for these crimes. Besides, the proportion of sentenced Jews in the
Soviet Jews stand on an equal footing with all other nationali- quarters, including Communist cir-
country to the total number of Jews in it is smaller than their proportion
ties, and religious Jews have the same rights as members of the cles, in a number of European
to other nationalities. Fifth, of late the number of crimes against social-
Russian Orthodox Church and the Moslem, Baptist and other countries whence appeals have gone
ist property in general fell very sharply in the Soviet Union, and trials
faiths.
out to the Kremlin to abandon the
of such cases are rare. When he asked how Jewish believers were pro-
This is the true picture.
prejudices against the Jews in the
vided with matzoth, Miller was familiarized with the statement of the
If you, Mr. Sigal, were to come to the USSR and visit our USSR. But there is always an Aron
Jewish clergy in Moscow of February 11. Among other things, it says
synagogues, you would see for yourself that the cock-and-bull Vergelis and a Natan Olevsky to
that in the Jewish religious communities preparations for Passover
stories about discrimination against Jews or the Jewish faith are, raise smoke screens.
started early and that synagogue congregations and all those so desiring
at best, the, result of misinformation and, at worst, downright
Perhaps Russia will provide mat-
would be amply provided with matzoth.
slander.
zoth for the coining Passover for
"Vergelis, editor in chief of Sovietish Heimland, expressed deep
This is a statement worth studying. It claims almost complete those requesting unleavened bread.
regret that in the United States s,ome persons, pursuing shady aims,
disseminated calumniating lies on the position of Jews in the Soviet loss of interest in Jewish life by Russian Jews and it seems to be That's all to the good. Perhaps it
Union. 'We Jewish writers would like to ask our friend Arthur Miller accepting the condition as an inevitable one. It does not offer hope for is an augury of better days to
and other prominent public figures in America to end misinformation a revival of Jewish interests, and what is even more revealing is that come for our Russian kinsmen. But
which inflicts great harm to the common cause in the struggle for it hides whatever interests exist but are hidden out of fear of persecu- that does not remove the guilt of
tion by the anti-religious and the official atheists.
the past.
peace and friendship among nations.'
If statements like Rabbi Olevsky's had been made in this country
"At the conclusion of the talk, Arthur Miller said: 'Had it not
Let us hope that what the Rus-
by
an
analyst
of
situations
pointing
to
declines
in
Jewish
interests
by
been for the Soviet Army, there would be no Jews left on the globe
sians are now saying is, indeed,
young
Jews,
he
would
be
called
defeatist.
When
admonitions
regarding
today. This should not be forgotten!' Having expressed his thanks for
symptomatic of more just actions
the cordial welcome and attention, Miller said he was very glad to assimilationist tendencies are uttered, they are accompanied by appeals to come.
have had the meeting in the Sovietish Heimland editorial office; many for action to strengthen Jewish loyalties. There are no such indica-
tions in the Natan Olevsky answer to the Los Angeles writer.
things had now become clear to him."
Why did half a million Russian Jews declare Yiddish to be their THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Now it will be interesting to watch developments and to know
2—Friday, March 5, 1965
whether Miller, usually an astute observer of realities, has fallen for mother tongue—in spite of the limited amount of Yiddish material
Soviet Russia Bakes Matzoth, Charges 'Shady Aims'
Inspire Critics . . . Moscow Rabbi's Claims That
Quest for Secular Studies Supersedes Bible Interest
•
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