Moscow - Putin's Jewish Anomaly Comes as a Surprise

[ephilution]

Quote:Moscow - Anti-Semitism was introduced as official Soviet state ideology during Stalin's reign in the late 1930s. Jews were barred from high positions in virtually all spheres. In the media, literature and films, they were almost never shown in a positive light.

The open propaganda against Jews ran counter to Lenin's heritage and internationalism. For this reason, the Soviet authorities replaced the term "Jews" with "Zionists." Since Zionism was a "legitimate" enemy of socialism, it was easy to carry out an anti-Semitic campaign under the guise of the fight against this movement. Soviet propaganda tended to describe Zionism as a greater evil than the United States, suggesting that U.S. imperialism was merely a tool used by the Jews to conquer the world. The anti-Zionist campaign continued until the last days of the Soviet Union.

But, contrary to what many expected, Putin has been very supportive of Jewish issues and concerns. Hence, his so-called Jewish anomaly. Taking into account all of Putin's publications, meetings and speeches since 2000, he has said more positive words about Jews than all the Russian leaders before him except Lenin. In his memoir, Putin did something that no other Russian or Soviet leader had done. With a high degree of warmth, he described a Jewish family that shared a communal apartment with his family in Leningrad. He talked about his Jewish wrestling coach, Anatoly Rakhlin, as a person who "probably played a crucial role in my life." In a meeting with Russia's chief rabbi in June 2007, he promised to donate a month's salary for the construction of a Jewish museum of tolerance. Speaking in Krakow on Jan. 27, 2005, in connection with the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Putin urged other nations to consider the lessons learned from the Holocaust and warned against anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia worldwide. [themoscowtimes]

http://www.vosizneias.com/2008_02_03_archive.html