European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Soviet jews seeking immigration visas for Israel in Moscow crowd the Entrance of the Netherlands embassy which acts As israelis diplomatic representative in the soviet Union. Apo by Andrew Katell associated press a Small Black axe hangs just inside the door to Veniamin Gaufberg a apartment in Moscow. Reinforcement strips Glisten in the doors Frame. The gaunt 69-year-old jew who fought the germans in world War ii is preparing for a new Battle against racial attacks. Quot if they open the door ill Cut off their fingers. What else can i do Quot asked Gaufberg. Although not All have resorted to axes Gaufberg is typical of soviet jews anguished by what they say is a resurgence of anti semitism dating Back centuries. Like record numbers of his countrymen Gaufberg has had enough and is planning to leave his Homeland for Good something he vowed he would never do. Quot i have one goal now to survive until the Day i leave Quot he said in the Western Moscow apartment he shares with four relatives. Jewish writers have been beaten anti jewish Graffiti has appeared and hate mongers openly distribute leaflets that borrow from Hitler to condemn the Quot zionist menace Quot and Call for attacks on jews. Even the official press has carried blatantly anti semitic articles. Alexander Bushkov wrote in the newspaper Krasnoyarsk Koms molets last june that jews in the soviet leadership Quot participated in All the cases of genocide against the russian  no recent mob violence against the soviet Union s 1.4 million jews has been reported but rumours and threats of pogroms or organized Racia attacks Are instilling a Strong sense of danger even panic. It has added to a jewish exodus of unprecedented proportions. Aided by easier soviet emigration policies about 71,000 soviet jews left last year the highest annual total since the june 1967 Middle East War began a new wave of emigration. Nearly 5,000 left in january. Quot everyone i know is planning to run away wherever possible Quot said Gaufberg. The situation is so intolerable. Every Day i fee it Quot said Roza Gutman a 23-year-old jew from the Crimea. Huddled in a crowd of would be emigres at the . Embassy in Moscow waiting to learn whether she and her family would be allowed to enter the United states she explained the forces driving them away. She entered a Moscow music teachers College because she Felt that As a jew she stood Little Chance of being accepted at the More prestigious conservatory. But today there is greater danger than discrimination. Gutman said she is considering buying a gun to protect herself from threats which she said included vandalism to her dormitory room and shouts from classmates to Quot Clear out of our country Quot Quot it s become so acute that every sunday my friends say there will be a pogrom and Don t go out Quot she said. Quot now it s simply dangerous. There san elementary threat to life Quot she said. In december the soviet unions first National jewish Congress in decades condemned the Quot orgy of anti semitism Quot sweeping the country and said it was causing an Quot unprecedented panic among the jewish  president Mikhail s. Gorbachev s liberalization drive has been a mixed Blessing for soviet jews. It has allowed Freer emigration and the Opportunity to practice their religion and culture without official harassment. But it has also allowed russian nationalists to speak out in some cases with anti semitic messages. The worsening Economy and political upheaval of Gorbachev s Rule have caused Many soviets to look for scapegoats and jews have been prime targets. Some jews like Gutman suspect High level complicity in anti semitism but can offer Little proof. The record of the country a previous rulers however is far from clean. Czar Nicholas i said in 1816, nine years before ascending the throne that jews were Quot full fledged leeches Quot and his regime portrayed jewish traders As exploiters of the masses. Czarist forces either stood by or participated in beatings murders and looting of Homes of jews in pogroms of the 1880s and Early 1900s. After the soviets took Power with Strong support and participation of jews jews no longer were confined to a Section of Western Russia known As the Pale of settlement. And although it was poorly enforced a 1918 decree signed by soviet founder Vladimir Lenin outlawed anti semitism. His successor Josef Stalin however launched a Campaign against Quot cosmopolitanism Quot after world War ii in which jews were arrested and executed. The official soviet encyclopedia boasted in 1953 that soviet policy Quot led to the disappearance of the a jewish question Quot but anti semitism continued. Jews faced discrimination in education jobs and the practice of their religion. The government has been accused of taking a lax attitude toward the threats. Authorities have countered with a propaganda Campaign of their own. The regional communist party chief in Odessa went on television in late january to report that a commission Quot condemned nationalist and chauvinist activity Quot in the Black sea port which has a Large jewish population. Leaflets quoting Hitler s mein kampf and calling for jewish pogroms had been spread in Odessa. In Moscow the Interior ministry said rumours of impending pogroms Are unfounded and that soviet press articles reporting the threats Quot mislead the Public and can serve to promote ethnic strife and  the strongest official response has been the filing of criminal charges of Quot inciting National and racial hatred and strife Quot against Pamat the russian Ultra nationalist group closely linked to the wave of anti semitism. The weekly newspaper Litera Turnay gazeta said the charges were filed after Pamat published a statement that said in part Quot jews and their relatives must not be allowed to defend dissertations to acquire knowledge and aet academic titles to join the soviet communist  about 50 people identified in the official press As Pamat members stormed a meeting of a Liberal writers group Jan. 18 in Moscow and beat participants some of them jews. An account in the Magazine Ogo Nyok said the attackers called them Zids a a derogatory term for jews a and vowed Quot today we came with a megaphone the next time it will be with machine  monday March 19, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13