When the Soviets finally allowed some Jewish emigration from the USSR, they also ensured the expulsion of some of their greatest literary talents, Jewish and non-Jewish. Although there is now a considerable wealth of contemporary Russian language writers in thewest, very little is heard of specifically Jewish writers from the USSR. David Markish’s book is … Read more
Kontinent 1: The Alternative Voice of Russia and Eastern Europe 180pp, published by Andre Deutsch 3.95 Since the Soviet authorities crush all forms of uncontrolled art and literature, it is not surprising to find that the best known of the country’s creative intelligentsia are emigrés. As the only creative literature is samizdat, it was only … Read more
LENIN IN ZURICH, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. (Bodley Head). £3.75. Sozhenitsyn’s latest book consists of chapters extracted from his panoramic history of the Russian Revolution. The first is the is the missing chapter 22 of August 1914. The rest comes from the still-to-be-published parts two and three, October 1916 and March 1917. ‘Lenin in Zurich” parallels … Read more
Colonel Yefim Davidovich, a Red Army hero and one of the Leaders of the Soviet-Jewish exodus movement, died last Saturday in Minsk at the age of 52 after suffering a fifth heart attack. Davidovich symbolised the heroism of the Jewish activists in the USSR. He survived one assault after another on his integrity yet his … Read more
Calls for a change in the basis of the Soviet Jewry campaign has been made frequently in the past few years and have even included demands that it should be turned into an overtly anti-Soviet action. Such a policy would clearly appeal to people whose prime motive is ideological anti-Communism and not concern for the … Read more
Malcolm Lewis, one of the founders of the campaign in Britain for Soviet Jewry, has been killed at the tragically young age of 29 in a car crash in Israel. He leaves a widow, Yael, and a month-old son. Malcolm was one of the handful of idealistic students in the rnid-1960s who showed the way … Read more
ROSH HASHANA, 1950: an old, frightened Moscow Jew hurriedly passes a scribbled note to a surprised Israeli diplomat stationed in the Soviet capital. Later, in the privacy of the embassy, the diplomat glances at the note. It reads: “You will not see the truth here — only what you are shown. Everything in reality Is … Read more
When they brought Leonid Ivanovich into the visiting room, it was impossible to recognise him. His eyes were filled with pain and misery, he spoke with difficulty and brokenly, frequently leaning on the back of the chair in search of support. His effort at self-control was evident as from time to time, he closed his … Read more
TO DEFEND THESE RIGHTS: HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE SOVIET UNION. By Valery Chalidze, translated by Guy Daniels 340pp (Collins and Harvill) 4 pounds Valery Chalidze was a founder member of the Soviet Human Rights Committee together with the Nobel Prize winner, Andrei Sakharov. Chalidze was the legal expert of the group. His political weapons … Read more
An elderly Jewish woman ‘rom Leningrad has been committed to a closed psychiatric hospital for an indefinite period. The woman, 63-year-old Meita Leibovna Leikina, was accused of dealing with contraband and concealing crimes against the state. Her “crime” was that she sent violin to her daughter Anna 1n Israel via a friend. She wrote a … Read more