In the extremely harsh polemics that followed the first edition of this book, as soon as its title was not changed - "How I became an anti-Semite", "How to become an anti-Semite", "Why I am an anti-Semite"... The author still insists on his version of the title of this collection of articles. If we see manifestations of Russophobia among the inhabitants of the former Soviet republics, then it makes sense to think about whether this Russophobia is only a misfortune for the "Russian migrants" or at least partly also their fault? Exactly the same question arises in connection with anti-Semitic sentiments, which surround a large part of the history of the Jewish people. Is there not something in the polemical devices adopted by some Jewish preachers and journalists that contributes to the birth of anti-Semitism? The author of this book believes that anti-Semitism is a disease. But to treat a disease, you need to know its origin. After all, sometimes a sick state of the body is just a normal reaction to poisoned food.
5. Если такие проблемные черты все же есть – то в том, что они «проблемны» виноваты ли только не-евреи?
6. Полагаете ли Вы, что любая попытка поговорить о таких чертах еврейского мировоззрения и образа жизни, которая не будет комлиментарна, уже есть антисемитизм?
7. Вы полагаете, что нельзя критически отзываться о любой культуре и любом народе, или только о еврейском?
Если Вы отвечаете положительно на все вышеперечисленные вопросы - то, пожалуйста, попросите и еврейских журналистов воздерживаться от каких бы то ни было критических замечаний в адрес России, русского народа, культуры и истории227.
Если же Ваши ответы отрицательны – значит, Вы сторонник спокойного и непредвзятого разговора. Вы не путаете богословие и культурологию. И слова апостола Павла от отсутствии евреев и эллинов не переносите из богословия в географию и культурологию.
Те, кто твердят «нет ни эллина, ни иудея», на самом деле в своей среде очень четко отслеживают - кто «свой». В своей среде они ставят жирный акцент на национально-семейной спайке: «Все евреи в ответе друг за друга»228. Но «эллин» не имеет права в проступке одного из членов еврейской семьи увидеть результат общесемейного воспитания. При критике очевидной и очередной оплошности одного из евреев ни в коем случае не разрешено обращать внимание на его национальность. Национальность можно подмечать лишь у талантов («талантливый еврейский музыкант»); преступники, лжецы и хамы, если их уже нельзя выгородить, тут же должны быть представлены в качестве «космополитов» и «общечеловеков».
Да, «каждый народ имеет право иметь своих подлецов».
The question is: was this meanness (for example, a pogrom and blasphemous attitude towards someone else's shrine) brought up in him precisely by his national and religious culture?
A. Vaksberg proves the thesis that at the end of the 1930s state anti-Semitism began to gain strength with the help of very interesting figures: "If in the summer of 1934 Jews made up 31 percent of all employees of the highest echelon of the NKVD, in the autumn of 1936 - 39%, in the spring of 1937 - 37%, in the autumn of 1938 - 21%, and already in the summer of 1939 only about 4%."229
Yes, yes – every nation has its own scoundrels. But we must also think about why among the executioners there were so many people brought up in one of the cultures of a multinational country.
Have there been anti-Jewish pamphlets in the history of Christian theology? –Were. Could they have played any role in the merciless attitude towards Jews in the minds of at least some Germans? – Yes, they could.
But there were also anti-Christian pamphlets published by Jewish polemicists. Could they have played some role in the merciless attitude towards Russian priests in the minds of at least some Chekists and their then and current journalistic servants?
And when talking about "scoundrels" and "peoples", it is also important to ask how his native community reacted to his not-so-secret pogrom antics – condemned or encouraged.
In the first of the catastrophes experienced by Russia in the twentieth century, at least there were attempts by Jewish communities to besiege some of their overzealous members. For example, in 1918 the envoys of the Volhynia and Podolsk rabbinates begged Trotsky to retire, since all his fellow tribesmen would have to answer for him. In turn, the Soviet instruction on the creation of commissions for the confiscation of church valuables prescribed the creation of two parallel commissions: official and valid. With regard to the official commission, it was prescribed "to observe strictly that the national composition of these official commissions should not give rise to chauvinistic propaganda." This means that at that time, both those Jews who were religious and those who were immersed in secular and political life understood that the Jews themselves must make efforts not to provoke a reaction.