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A memorial in front of a Romanian university, where some of the heaviest fighting took place.
"The Romanians have al-
ways been anti-Semitic, just
that anti-Semitism used to
be theoretically illegal, and
practically commonplace,"
said Alfred Harlaoanu, pres-
ident of the Bucharest Jew-
ish Community. "Now it will
be a free-for-all, both in
thought and in fact."
Nick recalled that Jews
had been accused of bring-
ing communism to Romania
and then leaving the coun-
try.
"I'm sure they will find
something to blame us for,"
Nick said. "It will probably
be whatever is wrong with
the new government, which
has two Jewish members."
Added Lida: "Anti-
Semitism has always been
the diversion of choice in dif-
ficult historic times."
Being a Jew in Romania
used to be a liability because
you couldn't get a good job.
Or if you succeeded, you
were not supposed to men-
tion your Jewishness.
But after the revolution, I
can't help but think that
they all must be a tad para-
noid. I don't see anything
and neither do they. But
there is still an outlook of
doom and gloom.
On the other hand, the
family friends I interviewed
asked that I not use their
real names or publish their
photographs. The three
younger people I located (all
in their late thirties) ex-
pressed optimism for the fu-
ture. But still would not al-
low me to quote them.
It may well happen that
being a Jew in Romania to-
day is not much better than
it was yesterday.
One's access to a bowl of
kosher food, or some foreign-
made goods represent
grounds for hatred and dis-
crimination. I wonder what
worries the Jews the most:
the old order, the new order
or an order yet to come.
People's daily conversa-
tions about the food short-
ages are now interspersed
with something new: intense
political arguments. They all
watch more television and
work significantly less,
while busily debating the
imminent changes.
Nevertheless, little seems
to have changed — at least
for now. ❑
Soviet Leader Publicly
Condemns Anti-Semitism
New York (JTA) — Soviet
President Mikhail Gor-
bachev, addressing a
meeting of the Communist
Youth League in Moscow,
has made what is believed to
be his first public statement
condemning anti-Semitism.
Leaders of Soviet Jewry
advocacy groups responded
to the long-awaited state-
ment in mixed fashion.
Gorbachev's remark came
quietly, in response to a
question posed April 11 in
Moscow at the 21st annual
congress of Komsomol, the
Communist youth move-
ment of the Soviet Union.
Asked what measures he
intended to take in response
to "abnormal conditions of
life and activities of Jews in
the Soviet Union" because of
anti-Semitism, Gorbachev
replied, "I believe that we
ought not to allow raging of
nationalism, chauvinism,
anti-Semitism or any other
`isms' to occur."
A copy of the statement
was forwarded by Yuri
Dubinin, Soviet ambassador
to the United States, to
Rabbi Arthur Schneier,
president of the Appeal of
Conscience Foundation, an
interfaith group that pro-
motes religious freedom in
Soviet bloc countries and
other nations that experi-
ence any religious repres-
sion.
Shoshana Cardin, chair-
woman of the National Con-
ference on Soviet Jewry,
welcomed the statement.
"We appreciate his expres-
sion of condemnation and
hope that this will be broad-
cast fully," she said.
But the head of another
Soviet Jewry group said the
reply was given only in the
context of several responses
to nationalism, and that
Gorbachev had not even
pronounced the word "anti-
Semitism" aloud.
Pamela Cohen, president
of the Union of Councils for
Soviet Jews, said the re-
sponse was last in a two-
hour broadcast of Gor-
bachev's replies to ques-
tions, all submitted in
writing.
"I would have liked him to
say, 'Yes, there is growing
anti-Semitism."