THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, January 12, 1919 17

Russia's Adulteration of History, Anti-Semitism Documented

By MAURICE
SAMIJELSON
LONDON (JTA) — Gen-
erations of Soviet school
children have been given a
negative view of Jews and
Jewish history as a result of
the steadily increasing
anti-Semitism of textbooks
used in Soviet history
classes.
They corrupt young
people and implant in them
a sense of incompatibility
and hostility between them
and the Jews," according to
an article in "Soviet Jewish
Affairs," published by the
London Institute of Jewish
Affairs.
The author, Daniel Fish,
draws parallels with
Ciarist Russia after the
1880s when the rise of
anti-Semitism conincided
with the virtual monopoly
of high school history
textbooks by the anti-
Semite D.I. Illovaysky.
_ Fish's article found
various stages in the in-
creasingly anti-Jewish
tone of Soviet history
teaching over the past
four decades.
In history textbooks in
use from the 1930s to the
early 1950s, there was still
a desire, if not to inspire re-
spect for Jews as bearers of
ancient culture, at least to
neutralize the anti-
Semitism of the pre-war and
especially post-war years.
But the mid-1950s were a
turning point, and the
words "Judea," "Israel" and
"Jerusalem" began to dis-

appear.
By 1954, the Jews disap-
peared almost entirely from
ancient history as taught in
Soviet school rooms.
In the same year, Jews
were also dropped from an
influential textbook about
the Middle Ages, thus dis-
torting the story of the
Spanish Inquisition of
which Jews were the chief
victims.
In modern history books,
too, Jewish references were
dropped. The Jewish origins
of progressive or socialist
writers such as Heinrich
Heine or Ferdinand La
Salle were ignored and the
anti-Semitic Dreyfus affair
was presented purely in
terms of class warfare.
In 1954-56, textbooks on
Soviet history underwent
considerable changes with
the removal of a great deal
Of information on Russian
Jewish history.
From the late 1960s, the
tendency towards omis-
sion was accompanied by
the provision of negative
information alone. Fish
mentions two textbooks
in which "the reader is
met with a torrent of
negative information on
Russian Jews ... De-
scribed as members of
the Jewish Workers
Union, the Bund, the
Jews are abused more
than the Black Hun-
dreds," regardless of the
fact that the Bund was
the first_ Social Demo-
cratic organization in

RusSia.
Textbooks on contempor-
ary history carefully avoid
mentioning that Jews were
the chief sufferers at the .
hands of the Nazis. A book
edited by V:K. Furaev
makes no reference to
anti-Semitism either in the
definition of German fas-
cism or in the description of
the Nazis' programs and ac-
tivities.
It merely mentions that
the Nazis advanced the slo-
gan: "Down With Jewish
Finance Capital!" This
leaves the inference that
the "terrible Jewish pog-
roms" carried out by the
Hitlerites (to which there is
a later reference), were
legitimate retribution
against capitalistic Jews.
The same book mentions
Auschwitz, but not the mass
murders of Jews there.
On the other hand,
there appeared in 1972, in
an edition of 100,000 and
about 400 pages long,
M.S. Gus' "The Madness
of the Swastika," from
which (Fish writes) "It
appears that many of the
Nazi leaders were half or
completely Jewish,-that
Jewish bankers were
among the Nazi bene-
factors and that Hitler
did not hesitate to take
Jewish money.
"There is not one word on
the Jews in Hitler's
speeches as reported by
Gus; indeed, to judge by this
author, the target of the
Nazis' racial theories was

the Slays, the Negroes or
anyone else — only not the
Jews." In a final insult, the
book recalls seeing in a dis-
placed persons camp at the
end of the war "well-fed
young people, of Jewish na-
tionality . . . who survived
by a miracle in various
parts of Europe."
The history of modern Is-
rael suffers a similar fate.
Initially it is relegated to
mere subsections of the his-
tory of other Middle Eastern
countries, and subsequently
treated with greater venom

with each new edition. Both
the omission of Jewish
references and the denigra-
tion of Jews, Fish concludes

YOU'RE
BETTER OFF
IN A
MORRIS
BUICK

have "a destructive effect on
the psychology of young
people and inculcate in
them hatred and enmity."

BIG
DISPLAY
OF NEW
BUICKS

FAST
DELIVERY

GOOD
SERVICE

PHONE

342-
7100

FOR PROOF

MORRIS BUICK

14500 West 7 Mile . . . Block West of James Couzens

'FACTORY TO

Firm—ALL BRAND NEW No Seconds

*WHEN SOLD IN
SETS ONLY

Retail OUR
Price PRICE

TWIN
FULL
QUEEN
KING

ea. pc.

ea. pc.

SET

$79.95 $60.

15.
279.95 195.*
379.95 250.*

109.95

SET
We specialize in odd size mattresses.
Luxury Extra Firm Available, Discount Prices.
USE OUR LAYAWAY PLAN—EVERYTHING IN STOCK.

MATTRESS WAREHOUSE

"Michigan's Only Discount Bedding Store"
3165 12 Mile Rd., Berkley, 547-7770

NO 7

i
Nierim 914

(formerly Jonathon's)

FOR MEN WHO CARE
Celebrate with Evergreen
In our 1ST Semi Annual CLEARANCE SALE
UP TO
New & Fine Styles

Europekraft
Aldolfo
Lanvin
Damon
Rubin Bros.
Givenchy
Andre Martin Sansabelt
Zero king

OFF

It's. About Time

Our merchandise has changed
Our Styles are New
Our approach is different
• Best of All .

LEE IS STILL HERE

FINE SELECTION OF
CRUISE WEAR

We Carry Men's Wear
In
Full Cut, Tapered, Short & Long Sizes

ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS.

Evergreen Plaza, Southfield, Mich. 480Th

HOURS: Mon. & Thurs. 10 - 9 Tues., Wed., FrI. & Sat. 10 - 6 Sun. 12

557-4560

4