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==Background==
===Antisemitism in the Soviet Union under Brezhnev===
{{Excerpt|Antisemitism in the Soviet Union#Under Brezhnev}}
Antisemitism in the Soviet Union once again peaked during the rule of [[Leonid Brezhnev]], following Israeli victory in the 1967 [[Six-Day War]]. "Anti-Zionist" propaganda, including the film [[Secret and Explicit (The Aims and Acts of Zionists)|''Secret and Explicit'']], was often antisemitic in nature.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fomin|first=Valery|title=Cinema and power: Soviet Cinema, 1965-1985: Documents, evidence, and reflections|publisher=Mainland|year=1996|pages=120–121|language=ru}}</ref> Many of Brezhnev's close advisors, most principally [[Mikhail Suslov]], were also fervent antisemites.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mlechin|first=Leonid|date=7 July 2019|title="You Give us Little Hawks, Give us Little Hawks!": Why Identifying Jews Became the Most Important Problem in the Post-War USSR|url=https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2019/07/07/81159-vy-nam-rusachkov-rusachkov-davayte|access-date=23 February 2022|website=[[Novaya Gazeta]]}}</ref> Jewish emigration to Israel and the United States, which had been allowed in limited amounts under the rule of Khrushchev, once more became heavily restricted, primarily due to concerns that Jews were a security liability or treasonous.<ref name="Joseph Dunner 1975. pages 69-82">Joseph Dunner. ''Anti-Jewish discrimination since the end of World War II''. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wh3ZUWExDEcC&dq=discrimination+against+jews+in+the+soviet+union&pg=PA75 Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: A World Survey. Vol. 1.] Willem A. Veenhoven and Winifred Crum Ewing (Editors). Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. 1975. Hague. {{ISBN|90-247-1779-5}}, {{ISBN|90-247-1780-9}}; pages 69-82</ref> Would-be emigrants, or [[Refusenik|refuseniks]], often required a ''vyzov'', or special invitation from a relative living abroad, for their application to be even considered by the Soviet authorities. In addition, in order to emigrate, one needed written permission from all immediate family members. The rules were often stretched in order to prevent Jews from leaving, and ability for appeal was rarely permitted. Substantial fees were also required to be paid, both to emigrate and as "reimbursement".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Garbuzov|first=Leonid|title=A struggle to preserve ethnic identity: the suppression of Jewish culture by the Soviet Union's emigration policy between 1945-1985|url=http://www.bu.edu/law/journals-archive/international/volume23n1/documents/159-176.pdf|journal=Boston University International Law Journal|pages=168–169}}</ref>
[[Institutional racism]] against Jews was widespread in the Soviet Union under Brezhnev, with many sectors of the government being off-limits.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dunner|first=Joseph|title=Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|year=1975|isbn=9024717809|location=The Hague|pages=69–82}}</ref> Following the failure of the [[Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair]], in which 12 refuseniks unsuccessfully attempted to hijack a plane and flee west, crackdowns on Jews and the refusenik movement followed. Informal centres for studying the [[Hebrew language]], the [[Torah]] and Jewish culture were closed.<ref>{{cite web|last1=The Refusenik Project staff|title=Historical Overview|url=https://www.refusenikproject.org/history/#historical-overview|access-date=23 February 2022|website=The Refusenik Project}}</ref>
Immediately following the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967, the antisemitic conditions started causing desire to emigrate to Israel for many Soviet Jews. A Jewish Ukrainian radio engineer, Boris Kochubievsky, sought to move to [[Israel]]. In a letter to Brezhnev, Kochubievsky stated:
{{quote|I am a Jew. I want to live in the Jewish state. That is my right, just as it is the rights of a Ukrainian to live in the Ukraine, the right of a Russian to live in Russia, the right of a Georgian to live in Georgia. I want to live in Israel. That is my dream, that is the goal not only of my life but also of the lives of hundreds of generation that preceded me, of my ancestors who were expelled from their land. I want to my children to study in the Hebrew language. I want to read Jewish papers, I want to attend a Jewish theatre. What is wrong with that? What is my crime ...?<ref>{{cite book|last=Beckerman|first=Gal|title=When They Come For Us, We'll All Be Gone|date=2010|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|location=Boston|page=103}}</ref>}}
Within the week he was called in to the KGB bureau and without questioning, was taken to a mental institution in his hometown of [[Kiev]] (for more information, see: [[Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union]]).<ref name="Beckerman 2010 103">{{cite book|last=Beckerman|first=Gal|title=When They Come For Us We'll All Be Gone|date=2010|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|location=Boston|page=103}}</ref> While this may seem as an isolated incident, the aftermath of the Six-Day War affected almost every Jew within the Soviet Union.<ref name="Beckerman 2010 103"/> Jews who had been subject to assimilation under previous regimes were now confronted with a new sense of vigour and revival in their Jewish faith and heritage.
On February 23, 1979, a six-page article was distributed throughout the cities of Moscow and Leningrad, which criticized Brezhnev and seven other individuals for being "Zionist".<ref>{{cite book|last=Korey|first=William|title=Brezhnev and Soviet Anti-Semitism|date=1984|publisher=Duke University Press|location=Durham|page=31|editor=Robert O. Freedman}}</ref> The article contained traces of deep-rooted antisemitism in which the anonymous author, a member of the [[Russian Liberation Organization]], set out ways to identify Zionists; these included "hairy chest and arms", "shifty eyes", and a "hook-like nose".<ref>{{cite book|last=Korey|first=William|title=Brezhnev and Soviet Anti-Semitism|page=31}}</ref>
A major stride was made in the United States in regards to helping the Soviet Jews on 18 October 1974, when Senator [[Henry M. Jackson]], [[National Security Advisor (United States)|National Security Advisor]] [[Henry Kissinger]], Senator [[Jacob Javits]] and Congressman [[Charles Vanik]] met to discuss the finalization of the "Jackson–Vanik amendment" which had been in limbo in the United States Congress for nearly a year.<ref name="Beckerman 305">{{cite book|last=Beckerman|first=Gal|title=When They Come For Us, We'll All Be Gone|page=305}}</ref> After the meeting, Jackson told reporters that a "historic understanding in the area of human rights" had been met and while he did not "comment on what the Russians have done [...] there [had] been a complete turnaround here on the basic points".<ref name="Beckerman 305" /> The amendment set out to reward the Soviet Union for letting some Soviet Jews leave the country.
On February 22, 1981, in a speech, which lasted over 5 hours, Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev denounced antisemitism in the Soviet Union.<ref name="Korey 29">{{cite book|last=Korey|first=William|title=Brezhnev and Soviet Anti-Semitism|page=29}}</ref> While Lenin and Stalin had much of the same in various statements and speeches, this was the first time that a high-ranking Soviet official had done so in front of the entire Party.<ref name="Korey 29"/> Brezhnev acknowledged that antisemitism existed within the Eastern Bloc and saw that many different ethnic groups existed whose "requirements" were not being met.<ref name="Korey 29"/> For decades, people of different ethnic, or religious backgrounds were assimilated into Soviet society and denied the ability or resources to get the education or practice their religion as they had previously done.<ref name="Korey 29"/> Brezhnev made it official Soviet Policy to provide these ethnic groups with these "requirements" and cited a fear of the "emergence of inter-ethnic tensions" as the reason.<ref name="Korey 29"/> The announcement of the policy was followed with a generic, but significant Party message;
{{quote|The CPSU [Communist Party of the Soviet Union] has fought and will always fight resolutely against such phenomena [inter-ethnic tensions] which are alien to the nature of socialism as chauvinism or nationalism, against any nationalistic aberrations such as, let us say, anti-Semitism or Zionism. We are against tendencies aimed at artificial erosion of national characteristics. But to the same extent, we consider impermissible their artificial exaggeration. It is the sacred duty of the party to educate the working people in the spirit of Soviet patriotism and socialist internationalism, of a proud feeling of belonging to a single great Soviet motherland.<ref name="Korey 30">{{cite book|last=Korey|first=William|title=Brezhnev and Soviet Anti-Semitism|page=30}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=none|newspaper=Povada|date=February 23, 1981|page=38}}</ref>}}
While to most, the issue of antisemitism seemed to be dropped very casually and almost accidentally, it was very much calculated and planned.<ref name="Korey 30"/> At this time the Soviet Union was feeling pressure from around the world to solve many human rights violations that were taking place within their borders, and the statement responded to the inquiries of countries such as Australia and Belgium.<ref name="Korey 30"/> While the Party seemed to be taking a hard stance against antisemitism, the fact remained that antisemitic propaganda had long been present in the Soviet Union, making it extremely difficult to solve the problems right away.<ref name="Korey 30"/> Furthermore, Jewish organizations in Washington D.C. were calling attention to the problems of Soviet Jewry to American leaders.<ref name="Korey 30"/>
Antisemitism, however, remained widespread both within and outside the Communist Party; antisemitic media continued to be published with the assent of the government, while antisemitic propaganda (believed variously to be the work of far-right groups or the Soviet government) spread throughout cities in the Soviet Union during the late 1970s.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Klose|first=Kevin|date=15 July 1979|title=Soviet Jews See Growth in Anti-Semitism|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/07/15/soviet-jews-see-growth-in-anti-semitismsoviet-jews-are-fearful-of-rising-anti-semitism/9d822731-c7cc-4d1f-9af7-7fb13827410d/|access-date=23 February 2022}}</ref> [[Mikhail Savitsky]]'s 1979 painting, ''Summer Theatre'', depicted a Nazi [[extermination camp]] guard and Jewish prisoner grinning between a pile of Russian corpses.<ref>{{Cite web|date=31 March 1979|title=Mikhail Savitsky Summer Theatre From the cycle Death Camp Number Tattooed on My Heart|url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-mikhail-savitsky-summer-theatre-from-the-cycle-death-camp-number-tattooed-23067574.html|access-date=23 February 2022|website=[[Alamy]]}}</ref>
===Timeline===
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