The Fifth problem: Math and Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union(newcriterion.com)
newcriterion.com
The Fifth problem: Math and Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union
http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/The-Fifth-problem--math---anti-Semitism-in-the-Soviet-Union-7446
64 comments
"The fifth line" on the Soviet passport which listed the bearer's "nationality" (what we would usually call ethnicity in English) was only removed from Russian passports in 1997.
Bit of an aside, but this used to be pretty common. Religion, in practice a proxy for ethnicity, was only removed from Greek identity cards in 2000: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_identity_card#Removal_of_...
(It's a proxy for ethnicity in Greece because religion has traditionally been rooted in ethnic groups in the region, so whether someone's card said "Greek Orthodox" indicated whether they were ethnically Greek, vs. a member of the Turkish or Albanian minorities.)
Bit of an aside, but this used to be pretty common. Religion, in practice a proxy for ethnicity, was only removed from Greek identity cards in 2000: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_identity_card#Removal_of_...
(It's a proxy for ethnicity in Greece because religion has traditionally been rooted in ethnic groups in the region, so whether someone's card said "Greek Orthodox" indicated whether they were ethnically Greek, vs. a member of the Turkish or Albanian minorities.)
The Resident ID Card of the People's Republic of China still lists the bearer's ethnicity:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Identity_Card
The line about how under official doctrines all nationalities were equal reminds me of a story I learned in college.
In the early days under Lenin, Stalin was appointed to formulate the Party's nationalities policy. One of the policies they came up with was that each of the nationalities was supposed to have a national homeland. Under the Czars, Jews were required to live within a "Pale of Settlement" which was in the extreme west of their European holdings. So somewhere in that neighborhood would have been a logical spot. Instead Stalin decided to found the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, capital city Birobidzhan, on the border with China in far south-east Russia about 400 miles inland from the northern Japan Sea. Many thousands of Jews were deported to this wasteland, where needless to say they did not prosper.
It is a sad testament to how manipulated the US communists were that when I told this story to my grandmother who had been active in those movements, that she had heard of Birobidzhan, and that they used to sing songs about it in Yiddish and thought of it as a Jewish Worker's paradise.
In the early days under Lenin, Stalin was appointed to formulate the Party's nationalities policy. One of the policies they came up with was that each of the nationalities was supposed to have a national homeland. Under the Czars, Jews were required to live within a "Pale of Settlement" which was in the extreme west of their European holdings. So somewhere in that neighborhood would have been a logical spot. Instead Stalin decided to found the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, capital city Birobidzhan, on the border with China in far south-east Russia about 400 miles inland from the northern Japan Sea. Many thousands of Jews were deported to this wasteland, where needless to say they did not prosper.
It is a sad testament to how manipulated the US communists were that when I told this story to my grandmother who had been active in those movements, that she had heard of Birobidzhan, and that they used to sing songs about it in Yiddish and thought of it as a Jewish Worker's paradise.
It's not correct to say that "Jews were deported." It was most definitely a choice for most of the Jews that went there (my grandfather's family was among them,) and the government incentivized migration there with a stipend of several thousand rubles to those that decided to stay (most families didn't and the huge influx of population in the 1920s, again in the late 30s and early 50s was balanced out by an enormous population decline that continues today as the population leaves for America and Israel.)
Those that did not want to stay (and who would? the government organs in Moscow didn't coordinate with ones in the Far East. As a result, housing was rationed in an extremely inefficient way: land was parceled out without first having been surveyed so that some plots didn't have running water and weren't ready for settlers) could ultimately go back to the cities they came from.
The reason Stalin didn't want to settle the Jews within the Pale of Settlement is because that experiment had already been tried with Jewish communal farms in the 1920s in Crimea[1], and the Soviet government had found that the people there weren't huge fans of Jews, so Birobidzhan was established to ease tensions there, "solve the Jewish problem," and to secure the Sino-Soviet border.
It's true, however, that many American Jewish groups in the late 1930s and again in the early 1950s were fed stories about how amazing life was in the Autonomous Jewish Region, complete with shining pictures of hearty, hale pioneers smiling near their plots of land. Ambijan (American Committee for Birobidzhan) [2] was an especially popular one that had celebrity spokespeople, starting with Einstein.
[1] http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Crimea [2]http://www.swarthmore.edu/Home/News/biro/html/panel30.html
Those that did not want to stay (and who would? the government organs in Moscow didn't coordinate with ones in the Far East. As a result, housing was rationed in an extremely inefficient way: land was parceled out without first having been surveyed so that some plots didn't have running water and weren't ready for settlers) could ultimately go back to the cities they came from.
The reason Stalin didn't want to settle the Jews within the Pale of Settlement is because that experiment had already been tried with Jewish communal farms in the 1920s in Crimea[1], and the Soviet government had found that the people there weren't huge fans of Jews, so Birobidzhan was established to ease tensions there, "solve the Jewish problem," and to secure the Sino-Soviet border.
It's true, however, that many American Jewish groups in the late 1930s and again in the early 1950s were fed stories about how amazing life was in the Autonomous Jewish Region, complete with shining pictures of hearty, hale pioneers smiling near their plots of land. Ambijan (American Committee for Birobidzhan) [2] was an especially popular one that had celebrity spokespeople, starting with Einstein.
[1] http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Crimea [2]http://www.swarthmore.edu/Home/News/biro/html/panel30.html
>It is a sad testament to how manipulated the US communists were that when I told this story to my grandmother who had been active in those movements, that she had heard of Birobidzhan, and that they used to sing songs about it in Yiddish and thought of it as a Jewish Worker's paradise.
reply
(...)
>It's not correct to say that "Jews were deported." It was most definitely a choice for most of the Jews that went there (my grandfather's family was among them,) and the government incentivized migration there with a stipend of several thousand rubles to those that decided to stay
Seeing the correction from somebody who actually knows about those facts, it seems that it's a sad testament to how manipulated the US version of USSR history is in general, not only to "US communists".
(...)
>It's not correct to say that "Jews were deported." It was most definitely a choice for most of the Jews that went there (my grandfather's family was among them,) and the government incentivized migration there with a stipend of several thousand rubles to those that decided to stay
Seeing the correction from somebody who actually knows about those facts, it seems that it's a sad testament to how manipulated the US version of USSR history is in general, not only to "US communists".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birobidzhan
This Birobidzhan? Doesn't particularly look like a wasteland.
This Birobidzhan? Doesn't particularly look like a wasteland.
Doesn't particularly look like a wasteland.
But truly, the jokes about frost-resistant Jews are so old now.
Sadly, ethnic discrimination is still pretty rampant in areas of the former Soviet Union. Although it does seem to be getting better. I suppose it takes more than a generation or two for that to fade away.
It's also pretty rampant in the US and in Europe.
The odds of being hired when you have an Arab name in Western Europe is frightening, regardless of qualifications.
For the US, just look at the ethnic distribution of death row inmates.
The odds of being hired when you have an Arab name in Western Europe is frightening, regardless of qualifications.
For the US, just look at the ethnic distribution of death row inmates.
Not only that. Racial discrimination is also part of inter-national relations where countries alliance are based on race, religion and/or culture.
Still quite more worrying in Russia, there is not that much more freedom of speech in there nor a very good justice system.
>nor a very good justice system
Compared to the government-can-do-as-it-pleases, life-in-prison-for-having- done-3-BS-offenses, largest-incarceration-rate-in-the-world, disproportionate-amount-of-blacks-in-prison, slap-on-the-wrist-for-rich-folks, private-prison-racket system?
Compared to the government-can-do-as-it-pleases, life-in-prison-for-having- done-3-BS-offenses, largest-incarceration-rate-in-the-world, disproportionate-amount-of-blacks-in-prison, slap-on-the-wrist-for-rich-folks, private-prison-racket system?
The US justice system is flawed but is nowhere near as bad as Russia's.
I'm not so sure. What I hear about Russia's is mostly cronyism. That happens in the US too, but let's say that it happens way less.
How is it for the average citizen, and normal disputes? Do they have something like a huge minority (blacks) that they consistently discriminate against in their justice system?
Do they have as absurd laws as the three-strikes?
How is it for the average citizen, and normal disputes? Do they have something like a huge minority (blacks) that they consistently discriminate against in their justice system?
Do they have as absurd laws as the three-strikes?
[deleted]
If you're interested in seeing some of these "killer questions" there's a book of them called "You failed your math test, Comrade Einstein."
Coral CDN link (since the author's file server seems ridiculously slow): http://www.ftpi.umn.edu.nyud.net/shifman/ComradeEinstein.pdf
Coral CDN link (since the author's file server seems ridiculously slow): http://www.ftpi.umn.edu.nyud.net/shifman/ComradeEinstein.pdf
Despite being messed up, there's a sort of cultural logic to it. Here's the thing, a lot of cultures really want to keep things to themselves. The mentally goes like this: "This land is ours, our ancestors fought for it so our culture can have a place to flourish and live on, it's not here for you, get out please." It's not just a European thing, Asian countries are the same way they don't even give you the chance to become a citizen. I've learned to understand it as a natural part of human psychology. It's also not a problem when there's only one ethnicity in the whole country like Japan which is 98% ethnic Japanese but a lot of European countries tend to let others in who are different than them (Jews, Roma, North Africans, Arabs, Indians) and then have problems with assimilation and integration.
Russia's kind of weird, didn't they just open a Jewish history museum dubbed the "Jewish Disney Land" to try to get more Jews to move back? http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/state-of-... Somehow I think leaders want Jews back but the public doesn't.
Russia's kind of weird, didn't they just open a Jewish history museum dubbed the "Jewish Disney Land" to try to get more Jews to move back? http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/state-of-... Somehow I think leaders want Jews back but the public doesn't.
Actually, it is considered a problem in Japan - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_Japan.
By the way, the jewish museum in Moscow is by far the most impressive museum I've ever been too. Looks to be made with help of Israel, tho, and not "leaders". As for public, it does not care: jews are near the bottom of russian xenophobia list as of today.
The "public" has no problems with Jews, for the most part. These days, being Jewish in Russia is mostly not a problem, even on the contrary. Things may change very quickly, though.
I only partially agree with you. Xenophobia is everywhere and in every country of the world, but racism and antisemitism, which are not really based on ethnicity or national identity, seem to be a particularly European disease.
Not true. Take the middle-east:
Racism: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/sep/08/racismi... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/opinion/10iht-edeltahawy.1...
Anti-semitism (too easy): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_the_Arab_world
Or the rest of the world:
A comparison of countries, not sure if you should trust this as an indicator: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15...
Books with anti-semitic conspiracy theories are bestsellers in China: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/china-anti-semi...
Discrimination against black people in China: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/24/world/asia/china-tinted-prejud...
Racism: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/sep/08/racismi... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/opinion/10iht-edeltahawy.1...
Anti-semitism (too easy): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_the_Arab_world
Or the rest of the world:
A comparison of countries, not sure if you should trust this as an indicator: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15...
Books with anti-semitic conspiracy theories are bestsellers in China: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/china-anti-semi...
Discrimination against black people in China: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/24/world/asia/china-tinted-prejud...
I disagree. If you were to add 10 million Africans, 5 million Arabs, 3 million Jews, 20 Million Europeans to Japan over the next 20 years you can bet your arm and leg that "racism and antisemitism" will sprout in Japan. People feel threatened when someone different starts moving in on their space.
I've seen documentaries on a tiny community of Africans living in Beijing and how they are "stopped by police constantly" http://youtu.be/GURLHAM-KoI, and treated the same way in Israel by Jews. http://youtu.be/rYwvGHY1nAI. You think it's a "white people" problem because that's all you've seen your whole life. As multi-racial/multi-culturalism increases worldwide you'll realize it's something prevalent throughout humanity.
That's the compromise, without diversity a society might become stale but diversity brings up problems on it's own as one culture feels it's future is threatened by another.
I've seen documentaries on a tiny community of Africans living in Beijing and how they are "stopped by police constantly" http://youtu.be/GURLHAM-KoI, and treated the same way in Israel by Jews. http://youtu.be/rYwvGHY1nAI. You think it's a "white people" problem because that's all you've seen your whole life. As multi-racial/multi-culturalism increases worldwide you'll realize it's something prevalent throughout humanity.
That's the compromise, without diversity a society might become stale but diversity brings up problems on it's own as one culture feels it's future is threatened by another.
I have collected some of the stories and links to further reading here: http://www.livejournal.com/community/kerosinka/1633.html Majority of the material is in Russian, but a large minority in English, for those interested.
It is bit more complex.
Socialism discriminated 'intellectuals' in favor of 'proletariat'. For example son of doctor had lower chances compared to son of factory worker. Jews were perceived as intellectuals.
Similar discrimination is today in US. Jews are discriminated for being white.
Socialism discriminated 'intellectuals' in favor of 'proletariat'. For example son of doctor had lower chances compared to son of factory worker. Jews were perceived as intellectuals.
Similar discrimination is today in US. Jews are discriminated for being white.
Unless you claim that the officials of MGU went great lengths to keep young Edward Frenkel out of the university for some other reason than his Jewish surname, you are giving an ex post facto excuse for the continued and long-standing discrimination against Jews that the Soviets inherited from the Russian Empire.
Although it was nowhere as bad as in the Old World, Jews were historically discriminated against in the U.S.—universities had Jewish quotas, for example. This had nothing to do with "being white", even if we limit ourselves to white European Jews. The whole "reverse discrimination" angle you try to bring in is neither here nor there.
Although it was nowhere as bad as in the Old World, Jews were historically discriminated against in the U.S.—universities had Jewish quotas, for example. This had nothing to do with "being white", even if we limit ourselves to white European Jews. The whole "reverse discrimination" angle you try to bring in is neither here nor there.
> Unless you claim that the officials of MGU went great lengths to keep young Edward Frenkel out of the university for some other reason than his Jewish surname
That is exactly what I am saying. Examiners could got orders to fail him, if for example his uncle lived on west. Officially there was no discrimination, so it was mostly done by bulling people at exams.
White (perhaps even heterosexual male) has statistically lower chances to study for free. It fits definition of discrimination as a glove.
That is exactly what I am saying. Examiners could got orders to fail him, if for example his uncle lived on west. Officially there was no discrimination, so it was mostly done by bulling people at exams.
White (perhaps even heterosexual male) has statistically lower chances to study for free. It fits definition of discrimination as a glove.
What you say might have made sense if not for the fact that countless other Jewish students were similarly denied from MGU. Did they all have uncles that lived in the West?
In Frenkel's story, the lady from the correspondence school hears his name and that he wants to apply to MGU, and immediately asks for his nationality. When he replies "Russian", she keeps asking until he replies that his father is Jewish. Then she flat-out says, "Do you know that Jews are not accepted to Moscow University?". I think it is fairly clearly established that this is the reason he was denied a place there.
In Frenkel's story, the lady from the correspondence school hears his name and that he wants to apply to MGU, and immediately asks for his nationality. When he replies "Russian", she keeps asking until he replies that his father is Jewish. Then she flat-out says, "Do you know that Jews are not accepted to Moscow University?". I think it is fairly clearly established that this is the reason he was denied a place there.
Anti-Semitism in Russia is a lot older than Socialism.
Please read something about Russian history. Most early socialists leaders were Jews. Some prominent anti-socialism authors are bordering antisemitism (Solzhenitsyn).
Places at universities were not 'for everyone'. One needed political connections, family history and bribes. If your father would emigrate to west, you may forget about higher education.
Most restricted were elite humanitarian studies (philosophy, film-making...). Technical studies were bit more free, but still had lot of restrictions.
Places at universities were not 'for everyone'. One needed political connections, family history and bribes. If your father would emigrate to west, you may forget about higher education.
Most restricted were elite humanitarian studies (philosophy, film-making...). Technical studies were bit more free, but still had lot of restrictions.
How does any of that contradict the assertion that antisemitism is older than Socialism? Are you denying that antisemitism continued under the Soviet Union, even after the death of Stalin, couched in the language of anti-Zionism?
If you are saying that being Jewish was only one of several reasons for being discriminated against in the Soviet Union, then I agree. If you deny that Jewishness had nothing to do with it and it all had to do with being intellectuals, not having the right connections, etc., then you are losing me.
If you are saying that being Jewish was only one of several reasons for being discriminated against in the Soviet Union, then I agree. If you deny that Jewishness had nothing to do with it and it all had to do with being intellectuals, not having the right connections, etc., then you are losing me.
> Are you denying that antisemitism continued under the Soviet Union
Yes I do. There were so many Jews in soviet party, there is even "theory" that soviet revolution was Jewish conspiracy. [1]. Stalin initially supported Israel state with weapons.
Antisemitism started in 60ties, after Israel becomed US oriented and several people from soviet union emigrated there. After that several soviet jews had relatives on west and were perceived as 'politically unreliable' and potential spies. There were mainly political reasons for discrimination, it really turned into antisemitism in 90ties after soviet union.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Bolshevism#Jews_in_the_B...
Yes I do. There were so many Jews in soviet party, there is even "theory" that soviet revolution was Jewish conspiracy. [1]. Stalin initially supported Israel state with weapons.
Antisemitism started in 60ties, after Israel becomed US oriented and several people from soviet union emigrated there. After that several soviet jews had relatives on west and were perceived as 'politically unreliable' and potential spies. There were mainly political reasons for discrimination, it really turned into antisemitism in 90ties after soviet union.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Bolshevism#Jews_in_the_B...
So the whole Doctor's Plot purge in the fifties just so happened to target mostly Jews and people with Jewish names? This was the most overtly antisemitic episode in Soviet history. Just because Jews were overrepresented in the Bolshevik Revolution, it doesn't mean that antisemitism simply disappeared overnight. Remember, the most prominent Jew in the Bolshevik Revolution was Leon Trotsky, who became Stalin's enemy.
As for Stalin's initial support of Israel, well, he initially signed a secret non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany as well. One can read too much into foreign policy decisions.
Stalin, despite being non-Russian himself, targeted non-Russians in the Soviet Union in purges and deportations on the pretext that they were politically unreliable and potential spies. You can choose to take these excuses at face value, but in the end you have to recognize that in effect they suffered largely because of being the wrong ethnicity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalin_and_antisemitism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_the_Soviet_Unio...
As for Stalin's initial support of Israel, well, he initially signed a secret non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany as well. One can read too much into foreign policy decisions.
Stalin, despite being non-Russian himself, targeted non-Russians in the Soviet Union in purges and deportations on the pretext that they were politically unreliable and potential spies. You can choose to take these excuses at face value, but in the end you have to recognize that in effect they suffered largely because of being the wrong ethnicity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalin_and_antisemitism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_the_Soviet_Unio...
Stalin killed millions, mostly Russians. For example huge part of army officers were executed just before German invasion.
He hated everyone, Jews were not exception.
He hated everyone, Jews were not exception.
Yes, Stalin killed people of all backgrounds. But so-called reactionary nationalities were specifically targeted for NKVD operations. For example, the NKVD would round up people with Polish-sounding names from telephone books during the Great Purge. Entire peoples were deported to Central Asia—you can't deny an ethnic dimension to his Terror.
Whatever Stalin's initial intentions were for the Doctors' Plot case, it ended up taking on a clearly antisemitic character, with the media hyping up the threat of Zionism. We may note that while Khrushchev denounced the Doctors' Plot as having been fabricated by Stalin, he didn't denounce the antisemitic rhetoric.
Whatever Stalin's initial intentions were for the Doctors' Plot case, it ended up taking on a clearly antisemitic character, with the media hyping up the threat of Zionism. We may note that while Khrushchev denounced the Doctors' Plot as having been fabricated by Stalin, he didn't denounce the antisemitic rhetoric.
As far as I know NKVD did not massacred Jews. A few dozens arrests and closed elite universities does not really compare to tragedies of other nations (hint: I am Polish).
Anti-zionism is not antisemitism.
Anti-zionism is not antisemitism.
My point is that there were instances of Jews being discriminated against in the Soviet Union, and in the case of the Doctors' Plot, even being targeted in purges. I agree that many other nations suffered far worse under the Soviet regime, though the Soviet Jews obviously suffered much more under different hands during WWII.
Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, but when Anti-Zionist rhetoric is used to condemn anyone with Jewish names, that sounds pretty antisemitic to me.
Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, but when Anti-Zionist rhetoric is used to condemn anyone with Jewish names, that sounds pretty antisemitic to me.
@Altero. You are wrong on many different levels.
Antisemitism in USSR was rampant before 60s as well, and in Eastern Slavic regions in general, even before USSR
Read history of cities such as Gomel or Bobruysk.
http://www.jewishgomel.com/en/Jewish-history-og-Gomel "... The wave of pogroms in Imperial Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century did not bypass Gomel. From August 29 - September 1, 1903, there was a pogrom in Gomel, during which ten Jews were killed, many were wounded and much Jewish property was looted. A Jewish self-defense was able to rebuff the pogrom, the first time in the history of the Russian Empire. After the pogrom there was a famous trial in Gomel (October 1904 - January 1905, November 1906), where not just the perpetrators of the pogrom were tried but also the 36 members of the Jewish self-defense. ...."
Also please do not forget one of the main drivers for the subsequent prosecutions, a document forgery called 'Protocols'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protocols_of_the_Elders_of_...
"... The Protocols appeared in print in the Russian Empire as early as 1903. The antisemitic tract was published as a serialized set of articles in Znamya, a Black Hundreds newspaper owned by Pavel Krushevan. It appeared again in 1905 as a final chapter (Chapter XII) of a second edition of Velikoe v malom i antikhrist (The Great in the Small & Antichrist), a book by Serge Nilus. In 1906, it appeared in pamphlet form edited by G. Butmi.[25] ..."
So your claim "... Antisemitism started in 60ties, after Israel becomed US oriented and several people from soviet union emigrated there. ..." is patently false.
This story in the OP brought tears to my eyes. I was no where near as good in mathematics as E Frenkel, but having a Jewish mother, and half Armenian father (and therefore Armenian last name) -- insured that even if I had 5 times more talent I did -- I would still not win the admission game.
Essentially the 'rektor' (or the dean) of University I was going to, apparently said (and, no, I did not hear it directly) -- that '... he was not going to prepare workforce for israel, and that's why admitting Jews was not in his interest).
Having parents whose last name is Armenian or/and Jewish-sounding, is the an obstacle that could realistically be overcome either by avoiding it (e.g. going to a place where Jews could get in) or 'special friends', or a bribe.
My grandparents, especially my maternal granddad had it much worse. Every time I think I am stressing over things -- all I had to do is to remember what he went through (Buchenwald than Russian prison, where he was tortured by authorities asking him how he could survive Buchenvald while being a Jew)
Important though that neither my grandparents, nor I, nor my parents -- ever wanted to have some kind of 'affirmative' action or 'institutionalized help' as a repayment for previous mistreatment. Instead, all we ever wanted is to be treated 'the same'.
I rarely write or reply on this kinds of topics, but seeing this story, and then a Altero's statement based, I presume, on the lack of knowledge, elicited this reply.
Apologies if it was a bit emotional.
Antisemitism in USSR was rampant before 60s as well, and in Eastern Slavic regions in general, even before USSR
Read history of cities such as Gomel or Bobruysk.
http://www.jewishgomel.com/en/Jewish-history-og-Gomel "... The wave of pogroms in Imperial Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century did not bypass Gomel. From August 29 - September 1, 1903, there was a pogrom in Gomel, during which ten Jews were killed, many were wounded and much Jewish property was looted. A Jewish self-defense was able to rebuff the pogrom, the first time in the history of the Russian Empire. After the pogrom there was a famous trial in Gomel (October 1904 - January 1905, November 1906), where not just the perpetrators of the pogrom were tried but also the 36 members of the Jewish self-defense. ...."
Also please do not forget one of the main drivers for the subsequent prosecutions, a document forgery called 'Protocols'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protocols_of_the_Elders_of_...
"... The Protocols appeared in print in the Russian Empire as early as 1903. The antisemitic tract was published as a serialized set of articles in Znamya, a Black Hundreds newspaper owned by Pavel Krushevan. It appeared again in 1905 as a final chapter (Chapter XII) of a second edition of Velikoe v malom i antikhrist (The Great in the Small & Antichrist), a book by Serge Nilus. In 1906, it appeared in pamphlet form edited by G. Butmi.[25] ..."
So your claim "... Antisemitism started in 60ties, after Israel becomed US oriented and several people from soviet union emigrated there. ..." is patently false.
This story in the OP brought tears to my eyes. I was no where near as good in mathematics as E Frenkel, but having a Jewish mother, and half Armenian father (and therefore Armenian last name) -- insured that even if I had 5 times more talent I did -- I would still not win the admission game.
Essentially the 'rektor' (or the dean) of University I was going to, apparently said (and, no, I did not hear it directly) -- that '... he was not going to prepare workforce for israel, and that's why admitting Jews was not in his interest).
Having parents whose last name is Armenian or/and Jewish-sounding, is the an obstacle that could realistically be overcome either by avoiding it (e.g. going to a place where Jews could get in) or 'special friends', or a bribe.
My grandparents, especially my maternal granddad had it much worse. Every time I think I am stressing over things -- all I had to do is to remember what he went through (Buchenwald than Russian prison, where he was tortured by authorities asking him how he could survive Buchenvald while being a Jew)
Important though that neither my grandparents, nor I, nor my parents -- ever wanted to have some kind of 'affirmative' action or 'institutionalized help' as a repayment for previous mistreatment. Instead, all we ever wanted is to be treated 'the same'.
I rarely write or reply on this kinds of topics, but seeing this story, and then a Altero's statement based, I presume, on the lack of knowledge, elicited this reply.
Apologies if it was a bit emotional.
Emm... if memory serves, Zionism is quite a new thing, and antisemitism prospered since we collectively killed Jesus.
Take a look at what I said. I said that after the death of Stalin, antisemitism in the Soviet Union was couched in the language of anti-Zionism. Stalin died in 1953, by which time the state of Israel was already a few years old. Incidentally, Zionism dates from the end of the 19th century.
You maybe quite right, but from materials I presented in this thread one may suggest that there was a policy of enforced brain supply to regional applied sciences institutions, that is why guys were refused entry to Moscow best universities. The reasons for this hidden regulation may have been purely pragmatic.
[deleted]
Jews were perceived as intellectuals.
Similar discrimination is today in US.
Jews are discriminated for being white.
In my personal experience, Jews are discriminated for being non-Christian.
Not an issue in communist countries where atheism was the state's policy.
I shall tell you one name - Landau.
The "fifth line" was not a problem. What is a problem is when russian jew with Soviet M Sc in maths goes through NARIC in the UK, he gets B Sc only. It is the West who is discriminating Soviet degrees.
The "fifth line" was not a problem. What is a problem is when russian jew with Soviet M Sc in maths goes through NARIC in the UK, he gets B Sc only. It is the West who is discriminating Soviet degrees.
Oh please. Nobody discriminated against my degree from Kerosinka, the 5-year course of classes was admitted as equivalent of MS in Applied Math. There is discrimination, in a very certain way, against medical degrees, for a variety of reasons, some are good reasons, some not; that seems to be an exception.
Oh man, you trapped. There was a special research about disproportionally high level of Jewish students and graduates in Kerosinka. http://kerosinka.livejournal.com/1633.html
Do you even understand what I said? The conversation was about (alleged) discrimination against Soviet education in Western countries. I said I graduated from Kerosinka and was not discriminated against (in the US), on the contrary, my 5-year course of education was counted (in the US) in as an equivalent of an MS degree in Applied Math. Don't play a fool.
For those interested in deeper understanding and more interesting facts (yes, distribution of Jewish Math university entrants was not even, and applied sciences in the USSR gained a lot from that) - the classy article by Mark Saul, Kerosinka: An Episode in the History of Soviet Mathematics. Notices of the AMS, vol.46, no.10, November 1999. (http://www.ams.org/notices/199910/fea-saul.pdf)
Propaganda at those times said that Jewish people will get "the best education in the world" for free and then leave the USSR without paying back for it.
Mass immigration to Israel from USSR was true though. Stalin was also irked that Israel didn't go communist. So their fears were well founded at that time
Their fears were well-founded only if you use the hateful and twisted "logic" that the USSR used at the time.
My American university provided lots of financial aid to international students. Need-blind! Many of these students came from countries with very un-American political systems. And many of them simply returned to their home countries after college.
And yet these students did not have to go through the Kafka-esque (and just plain wrong) system that this author describes. They were treated like everyone else.
My American university provided lots of financial aid to international students. Need-blind! Many of these students came from countries with very un-American political systems. And many of them simply returned to their home countries after college.
And yet these students did not have to go through the Kafka-esque (and just plain wrong) system that this author describes. They were treated like everyone else.
You have to understand the place the time this "logic" was applied. America was not brutally attacked twice with a span of couple of decades. America did not loose 30 million people in resource/territorial aggressions. America was not surrounded by technologically and economically advanced nations salivating at its riches.
Happened to my dad as well. He couldn't get accepted into a PhD for quantum physics so ended up studying physical chemistry.
See also: http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.1556
Previous HN discussion:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4752047
Top thread points out that the US obviously does the same thing.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4752047
Top thread points out that the US obviously does the same thing.
What if Edward Frenkel's father had been Russian and his mother Jewish instead of the other way round? Well, the commander of the Soviet Air Force in Ukraine when the Soviet Union broker up was Kostyantyn Morozov, then Konstantin Morozov. He had a Russian surname and his nationality was listed as Russian. If it had been known that he had a Ukrainian mother and had Ukrainian sympathies, he would never have been given such a powerful post by the Soviet authorities. As it was, Morozov announced his allegiance to the pro-independence cause to become the first defense minister of an independent Ukraine and to establish the Ukrainian armed forces.
Would the breakup of the Soviet Union have gone differently if all the high-ranking generals in control of Soviet forces in the biggest non-Russian republic were pro-Russian? It makes you wonder how many accidents of history can be traced to the arbitrary custom of inheriting surnames from fathers.