Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public (russian: Антисионистский комитет советской общественности, ''Antisionistsky komitet sovyetskoy obshchestvennosti''; abbreviated AZCSP russian: АКСО) was a body formed in 1983 in the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
as an anti-Zionist propaganda tool. Formation of AZCSP was approved on 29 March 1983 by the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...
in resolution 101/62ГС: "Support the proposition of the Department of Propaganda of the Central Committee and the
KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
about the creation of the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public..."


Anti-Zionist manifesto

On 1 April 1983, the CPSU official newspaper, ''
Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the co ...
'', ran a full front-page article titled ''From the Soviet Leadership'': : "...By its nature, Zionism concentrates ultra-nationalism, chauvinism and racial intolerance, excuse for territorial occupation and annexation, military opportunism, cult of political promiscuousness and irresponsibility, demagogy and ideological diversion, dirty tactics and perfidy... Absurd are attempts of Zionist ideologists to present those who criticize them, or condemn the aggressive politics of Israel's ruling circles, as antisemitic... We call on all Soviet citizens: workers, peasants, representatives of intelligentsia: take active part in exposing Zionism, strongly rebuke its endeavors; social scientists: activate scientific research to criticize the reactionary core of that ideology and aggressive character of its political practice; writers, artists, journalists: to more fully expose the anti-populace and anti-humane diversionary character of the propaganda and politics of Zionism..." (highlights preserved) The fundamental idea of the anti-Zionist manifesto was that potential Jewish emigrants from the Soviet Union were to be considered enemies of the Soviet Union. The anti-Zionist manifesto was signed by 8
anti-Zionist Jews Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region), ...
: * David Abramovich Dragunsky, Colonel-General, twice the
Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...
*Samuel Zivs, law professor *Genrikh Gofman *Yuri Kolesnikov *Martin Kabachnik, Lenin Prize winner *Gregory Bondarevsky, history professor *Boris Sheinin, filmmaker *Henrikas Zimanos, philosopher


Background and history

From late 1944,
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
adopted a pro-Zionist foreign policy, apparently believing that the new country would be
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
and would speed the decline of
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
influence in the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
. Accordingly, in November 1947, the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, together with the other
Soviet bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
countries, voted in favor of the
United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations, which recommended a partition of Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. On 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted the Plan as Re ...
, which paved the way for the creation of the State of Israel. On May 17, 1948, three days after Israel declared its independence, the Soviet Union officially granted
de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...
recognition of Israel,Recognition of Israel
''JSTOR'' - ''The American Journal of International Law'', Vol. 4, No. 3, July 1948. becoming only the second country to recognise the Jewish state (preceded only by the United States' ''
de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' recognition) and the first country to grant Israel ''de jure'' recognition. By 1983, the Soviet regime needed a new propaganda weapon in the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, as well as against an increasingly active internal
dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and ...
movement, to arrest or discredit the mass emigration of Soviet Jews and to alleviate the
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
concerns about its effects on Israel's
demographics Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...
. By the dramatic stepping-up of "anti-Zionist" activities, the AZSCP was designed to solve these problems. David Abramovich Dragunsky, Colonel-General, twice
Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...
and
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
hero (he was the commander of the 55th Guards Tank Brigade), well known inside the country and abroad, was designated its chairman. The writers who specialized in the Soviet-invented and sponsored doctrine of ''
Zionology Soviet anti-Zionism is an Anti Zionist and pro-Arab doctrine promulgated in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. While the Soviet Union initially pursued a pro-Zionist policy after World War II due to its perception that the Jewish state woul ...
'' ("сионология") considered any expressions of
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ishness as
Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
and therefore subject to being stamped out. In November 1975, the leading Soviet historian academic M. Korostovtsev wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Central Committee,
Mikhail Suslov Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov (russian: Михаи́л Андре́евич Су́слов; 25 January 1982) was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1965, and as uno ...
, regarding the book ''The encroaching counterrevolution'' by prominent Zionologist
Vladimir Begun Vladimir Yakovlevich Begun (russian: Влади́мир Яковлевич Бегу́н; 1929 - 1989) was one of the leading official Zionologists in the Soviet Union; senior fellow in Institute for Philosophy and Law of Belarusian Academy of Sci ...
: "...it perceptibly stirs up
anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
under the flag of anti-Zionism". In addition to propaganda in the mass media and publishing, the AZCSP's projects included the "International symposium on contemporary problems of anti-Zionism" and preparation for an "International anti-Zionist congress". By the end of the 1980s, with the new policies of
glasnost ''Glasnost'' (; russian: link=no, гласность, ) has several general and specific meanings – a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information, the inadmissibility of hushing up problems, ...
and
perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
, and with the impending
dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
, the old Soviet regime had lost its stability and many of those plans had to be cancelled. Finally it was dismantled in October 1994. Some materials produced by the AZCSP were used by
ultra-nationalist Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its sp ...
groups such as
Pamyat The Pamyat Society (russian: Общество «Память», russian: Obshchestvo «Pamyat», ; English language, English translation: "''Memory''" Society), officially National Patriotic Front "Memory" (NPF "Memory"; russian: Национал ...
.


List of members

*
David Dragunsky David Abramovich Dragunsky (russian: Давид Абрамович Драгунский; – 12 October 1992) was a tank officer in World War II who was twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Early life Dragunsky was born on to a ...
, chairman – Colonel-General, Hero of the Soviet Union (twice) * S.L. Zivs, v.c. – doctor of jurisprudence * M. B. Krupkin, v.c. – vice-chairman of ''Agenstvo Pechati Novosti'' (APN) publishing house, director of department of ''Literaturnaya Gazeta'' *
Elina Bystritskaya Elina Avraamovna Bystritskaya (4 April 1928 – 26 April 2019) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actress and theater pedagogue. She is regarded as one of the most prominent actresses in the Soviet and Russian film industry. Her career spann ...
, actress * I. P. Belyayev – doctor of economics * Yury A. Kolesnikov – writer * M. I. Kabachnik – academician, Hero of Socialist Labor *
Teodor Oizerman Teodor Ilyich Oizerman (russian: Теодо́р Ильи́ч Ойзерма́н; – 25 March 2017) was a Soviet and Russian philosopher and academician. Biography Oizerman was born in Petroverovka village, Tiraspolsky Uyezd, Kherson Govern ...
– philosopher and academician * V. N. Kudryavtsev – member of the Academy of sciences of the USSR *
Matvey Blanter Matvey Isaakovich Blanter (russian: Матве́й Исаа́кович Бла́нтер) (27 September 1990) was a Soviet composer, and one of the most prominent composers of popular songs and film music in the Soviet Union. Among many other work ...
– composer, Hero of Socialist Labor *
Angelina Stepanova Angelina Iosifovna Stepanova ( rus, links=no, Ангели́на Ио́сифовна Степа́нова, , ɐnɡʲɪˈlʲinə ɪˈosʲɪfəvnə sʲtʲɪˈpanəvə; 23 November 1905 – 17 May 2000) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actre ...
– artist, Hero of Socialist Labor *
Tatyana Lioznova Tatyana Mikhailovna Lioznova (russian: link=no, Татьяна Михайловна Лиознова; 20 July 192429 September 2011) was a Soviet film director best known for her TV series ''Seventeen Moments of Spring'' (1973). Film career All ...
– film director, the State Award nominee * B. S. Sheinin – cinematographer * A. K. Marinich – director of a
kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...
, Hero of Socialist Labor * G. B. Gofman – writer, Hero of the Soviet Union * Caesar Solodar – writer *
Aron Vergelis Aron Vergelis (Yiddish: אהרן װערגעליס; Russian: Аро́н А́лтерович Верге́лис; 7 May 1918, in Liubar (now in Zhitomyr Oblast) – 7 April 1999, in Moscow) was a Soviet poet and Jewish journalist who wrote in Yiddish ...
– poet * G. O. Zimanas – professor *
Yakov Fishman Yakov Leybovich Fishman (russian: Яков Лейбович Фишман; 20 March 1913 – 4 June 1983) served as the Chief Rabbi of the Moscow Choral Synagogue from 1972 to 1983. Fishman studied at the rabbinical seminary of Moscow. His wif ...
– chief rabbi of Moscow (died a few months after the creation of the committee) *
Adolf Shayevich Adolf Solomonovich Shayevich (russian: Адольф Соломонович Шаевич; born 28 October 1937)Anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
*
Anti-Zionism Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestin ...
*
History of the Jews in Russia and Soviet Union The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
*
Soviet Anti-Zionism Soviet anti-Zionism is an Anti Zionist and pro-Arab doctrine promulgated in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. While the Soviet Union initially pursued a pro-Zionist policy after World War II due to its perception that the Jewish state woul ...
*
Refusenik Refusenik (russian: отказник, otkaznik, ; alternatively spelt refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authori ...
*
Jackson–Vanik amendment The Jackson–Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974 is a 1974 provision in United States federal law intended to affect U.S. trade relations with countries with non-market economies (originally, countries of the Communist bloc) that restrict fre ...
*
Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, ''Yevreysky antifashistsky komitet'' yi, יידישער אנטי פאשיסטישער קאמיטעט, ''Yidisher anti fashistisher komitet''., abbreviated as JAC, ''YeAK'', was an organization that was created i ...
*
Doctors' plot The "Doctors' plot" affair, group=rus was an alleged conspiracy of prominent Healthcare in Russia, Soviet medical specialists to murder leading government and party officials. It was also known as the case of saboteur doctors or killer doctors. ...
*
Rootless cosmopolitan Rootless cosmopolitan () was a pejorative Soviet epithet which referred mostly to Jewish intellectuals as an accusation of their lack of allegiance to the Soviet Union, especially during the antisemitic campaign of 1948–1953. This campaign ...
*
Yevsektsiya A Yevsektsiya ( rus, евсекция, p=jɪfˈsʲektsɨjə; yi, יעווסעקציע) was a Jewish section of the Soviet Communist Party. These sections were established in fall of 1918 with consent of Vladimir Lenin to carry communist revoluti ...


References

* ''Russian Antisemitism, Pamyat and the Demonology of Zionism (Studies in Antisemitism)'' by William Korey *Robert O. Freedman, The Politics of Anti-Semitism and Emigration and the Dynamics of Resettlement, Duke University Press, 1989 {{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Zionist Committee Of The Soviet Public Anti-Zionism in the Soviet Union Jews and Judaism in the Soviet Union Soviet propaganda organizations Israel–Soviet Union relations 1983 establishments in the Soviet Union