The Press: Guttering Flame

Through the centuries, the rulers of Russia, czar and commissar alike, have made sporadic attempts to stamp out the small but stubbornly burning flame of Russian Jewish culture. No man came closer to succeeding than Joseph Stalin. In 1948, the birth of Israel stirred up Stalin's lifelong suspicion of Soviet Jewry, and he launched a massive purge that erased nearly every trace of Jewish culture. Three Yiddish journals were banned; a Yiddish publishing house was closed; four Yiddish theaters went by the boards; 450 Yiddish writers, painters, actors and musicians were slaughtered. Only...

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