Divergent opinionson The past, present and future
of Jews in the Soviet Union

world peace, national
liberation at UN ~

UNITED NATIONS — Two
approaches to the developing
world and its problems were
clearly evident at the 31st Session
of the United Nations General
Assembly. The same approaches
Were also evident on key matters
of peace, disarmament and
€conomic cooperation.

According to APN writer Alex-
ander Lavrentiev, many of the
UN’s decisions taken at its 31st
Session may encounter serious
difficulty because they were
adopted against the will of the
leading capitalist states in the UN
which are now a minority in that
body.

Lavrentiev catalogues the
three-month UN debate and the
key issues which saw the United
States and its allies support the
old privileges wrested from Asia,
Africa and Latin America and the
position of the socialist world
which fought in the UN to resolve
the many problems faced by the
developing nations.

This difference, says the Soviet
writer, showed up right at the be-

ginning whén the U.S. represent-. ~

ative in the Security Council vet-
oed the admission of Vietnam to
the UN and abstained on Ango-
la’s admission.

The U.S. voted against the
USSR’s proposalsfora declaration
on the strengthening of interna-
tional security and a resolution on
the early granting of indepen-
dence to colonial nations and
peoples. The U.S. abstained dur-
ing a vote on the Soviet proposal
for a world treaty on the non-use
of force in international relations.

On debates on problems di-
rectly related to the developing
world, the two approaches were
also clearly seen. The U.S. alone
Joined Israel in opposing a resolu-
tion expressing anxiety. over lack
of progress toward a lasting Mid-
dle East’ settlement. It took a
negative position in voting con-
demning political, economic and
military aid to racist regimes in
Southern Africa. The United
States could not support UN

3 fh arm

Two approaches were evident
at the 23rd assembly of the UN on
Key matters of peace and
economic cooperation.

resolutions expressing deep op-
position to the violation of all hu-
man rights in Chile.

An extensive discussion,
writes Lavrentiev, over problems
of international economic coop-
eration also showed the differ-
_ence in approach between social-
ism and capitalism. Many dele-
gates stressed the developing
countries were still suffering from

the consequences of centuries-old.

colonial rule and from the neo-
colonial policies of imperialism.

The USSR’s appeal for the es-
tablishment of a ‘‘new inter-
national economic order’’ based
on equality and mutually-bene-
ficial cooperation met with a
complete lack of support from
Wester powers which strove to
hold on to their privileged posi-
tions around the world.

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By ALAIN PATRIE

An authoritative spokesman
for the Jewish community in the
Soviet Union is Aron Vergelis.
Born in the Jewish Autonomous
region of Birobijan, Vergelis won
international recognition with
poems and novels written in a lyr-
ical Yiddish. Later he became
editor of the Birobijaner Shtern
and today is editor in chief of the
prestigious magazine, ‘‘Sovietish
Heimland.”’

Mr. Vergelis is a compact
cheery man with a great love and
understanding for the human
condition. He is steeped in the
arts, particularly those of the
Jewish culture. He is eloquent
about the painting and music that
Soviet Jewish artists are produc-
ing.

In a rare opportunity, I was
able to share a number of hours
with Mr. Vergelis and thereby
subject him to numerous ques-
tions about the past, present and
future of the Jews of the Soviet
Union. What follows is a compo-
site of the questions and answers
obtained.

Q: In Canada the Jewish iden-
tity is a reflex one for the majority
of Jews. It is bound together by
religion and discrimination and
little if any ‘‘Yiddish’’ culture.
How do you perceive the identity
of Jews in the Soviet Union?

A: If one seeks the paradigm of
Jewishness then one must come
to this country. The essence of
Jewish living, of Jewish culture,
language and style is really to be
found in the Soviet Union. All the
traditions, the million webbed
heritage has come to us Soviet
Jews, to preserve and develop.
You musn’t confuse this with a
kind of chauvinism or
exclusivism. What is clearly evi-
dent today is that the greatness of
our past is being legitimately con-
tinued among Soviet Jews and not
among others.

Those who know of Jewish life
know that to be a fact. In capitalist
countries very few if any Yiddish
criteria can be cited as having a

meaningful part in social life. In

our country it is different. We
have artists who work and create
in Yiddish for the Yiddish audi-
ence. We have viable theater in
Yiddish, we have ensembles en-
tertaining in Yiddish and we have
poets and prose writers: publish-
ing in Yiddish all the time.

It is not by accident that this
phenomenon exists. It is realized
by the role our socialist govern-
ment plays in truly reflecting the
aspirations and wishes of the
whole community. We. never
have to rely on private philan-
thropy or unique benefactors.

Q: In Canada the assimilation
of Jews into the fabric of the do-
minant culture is a fact. I detect an
analogous process here in your
country. Is this correct?

A: The perspective one takes
on the process of assimilation in
the Soviet Union must not be a
categorical one. Assimilation is a
world wide phenomenon, the re-
sult of industrialization, technol-
ogy, comunications and modem
transport. But alongside the ob-
jective factors there are subjec-
tive factors and many of these are
so subtle they defy simplicity.
Assimilation is a dialectic.

I was born and raised in Birobi-
jan. I went to Yiddish school
there and became a poet. In the
early thirties there were many

Yiddish schools where today
there are none.

If a student goes into the
humanities there is less difficulty

in studying in Yiddish, but the.

vast industrialization of our coun-
try thrust science to the forefront.
The sciences present a formida-
ble problem. To support the sec-
ond level of schools in Yiddish
becomes quite complex. The
technological requirements need
a capital investment of enormous
sums. It is not practical for each
and every language. The upper
sciences are therefore in Russian.

If this aspect of assimilation is
one of self interest then there is
the more human side. There is
what I call the ‘“‘shtetl’’ nuance.

When some community figures
urged attendance in Yiddish
schools, parents claimed that it
would lead to separation of the
Jewish children from the others.
They asserted that a national
ghetto would be revived. They in-
sisted that such a structure would
label a child and therefore they
would have no part of it. Let me
underline that if the parents of
Jewish children really want to
send their offspring to Yiddish
schools, those schools would be
organized anywhere and im-
mediately. That is the kind of re-
sponse we receive from a socialist
government. -

In fact, we as interested ac-
tivists in the Yiddish language
‘tried to form after-school classes
for children who might wish to
study in Yiddish. The response
was less than enthusiastic. It was
simply something without a vital
appeal. It was something we tried
‘to impose and not having been
requested it was not successful.

Now all this may differ with the
Canadian concept and psyche,
but it must be understood that his-
torically Russian Jews kept their
culture in the family cell. In our
land Jews were more rigid tradi-
tionally and the grandmother or
mother was the main per-
petuators of Yiddish as a lan-
guage.

Q: Viewed in this fashion one
may ask in sadness, can the
Jewish identity survive?

Now in its 16th year of publication ‘Sovetish Helmland” (Soviet

A: When we talk about assimi-
lation I admit it is a phenomenon
with aspects of sadness. But that
aspect cannot dominate one’s es-
timation. What we see perhaps is
anacceleration in the assimilation
of language. But is it certain that
language alone is responsible for a
national character? How many
self identified young Jews in
Canada speak English?

Historically we Jews had a
thousand years of Yiddish. Be-
fore that we had a Spanish period
in which the language was
Spanish and the epoch known as

_the golden age. And prior to that

was the Hellenic period and Jews
spoke Greek. Today there ap-
pears to be a real renaissance of
Hebrew. Does it mean that Israeli
Jews who speak no Yiddish are
less Jewish?

Some Yiddish writers wax
negative because of this evolu-
tion. I think we must have cour-
age and hope. We look to new and
wider horizons. This of course is
my opinion. There are others who
differ.

But whimsically as I speak to
you I think that my own daughter
cannot speak Yiddish. She is at
present a student at Moscow
University in molecular biology
and speaks fluent English. But no
Yiddish!

Q: Do.you see any relationship
between Soviet and Canadian
Jews?

A: I think that the Jews of
Canada weave a powerful web in
the progressive movement. I-
think that their democratic roots
will help them to contribute to the
struggle for peace and justice in
the world.

Jewish progressives should ex-
press their desire for a free ex-
change of ideas. We would like to
enter into cultural exchanges as
well. lam convinced there is stilla
considerable part of the Canadian
Jewish community who enjoy
Yiddish theatre or Yiddish en-
sembles.

Our magazine will continue to
tell the truth about Jews and the
Soviet Union.

Motherland) is circulated in 31 countries including the U.S. and Israel. Its
contributors include leading Soviet and foreign Jewish writers and jour-
nalists. The editorial board pictured above is headed by the well-known
Soviet poet Aron Vergelis (centre of picture). In a Tribune interview
Vergelis comments on the state of Jewish culture in the Soviet Union.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JANUARY 14, 1977—Page 5