This Shabbat, August 12, we mark the anniversary of the “Night of the Murdered Poets.” This is recalled on "Facebook" Prof. Alexander Oscar.
On this day in 1952, 24 prominent Jewish intellectuals (poets, writers, artists) were executed at the KGB headquarters in Moscow, on Stalin's orders.
They were all part of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee and had been arrested in 1948 on charges of treason.
Among those killed were the writers David Bergelson, Leib Kvitko and Itzik Fefer, as well as the actor and director Benjamin Zuskin.
After this tragic incident, Stalin continued the persecution of Jews and the following year, in a similar manner, ordered the arrest and execution of dozens of Jewish doctors, again on charges of treason. This anti-Semitic campaign went down in history as the “Conspiracy of Jewish Doctors”.
“The Night of the Murdered Poets”, as well as the “Conspiracy of Doctors” are examples of the aggressive anti-Semitism of Stalin and the USSR. Unfortunately, this policy continued after his death, and we see many of its manifestations in today's Russia.
And since they ask me what my opinion is about the monument to the Soviet Army, better known as the Monument to the Occupation Red Army (MOCHA), it cannot be positive. Because I cannot have positive feelings towards a monument praising a misanthropic ideology.
We Remember!