Tag #147106 - Interview #95251 (Moisey Marianovskiy)

Once a terrible thing happened. It happened in 1947 during the period of struggle against cosmopolitism. I shared my thoughts with my friends saying that struggle against cosmopolites actually meant struggle against Jews. Somebody reported on me and this became the subject of discussion at the university party bureau meeting. The atmosphere at this meeting was very aggressive. This was something terrible! I was blamed that I did not understand the policy of the party.  It’s hard to find words to describe this event! I did not agree to one single accusation of me or other people blamed of cosmopolitism. I spoke against any accusations. I held them to disgrace! I held the presidium to disgrace. This meeting was hard for me. Professor Cherniayev described this meeting in his book ‘My life and my time’. [the book was published in 1995 in the publishing house ‘International relations’ Moscow.] He also worked at the University and was also a veteran of the war, but I did not know him in person. He was at the meeting. During perestroika [22] he worked at the Central Committee of the Communist party, and now he works in the Gorbachev’s fund [23] [Editor’s note: Gorbachev’s fund is an International public fund established in 1992.] He dedicated a whole page to the problem of struggle against cosmopolitism at the University, and described how I opposed at the meeting. He also wrote: ‘Everyone kept silent’. How did Jews behave? They were mean! They were afraid of supporting me fearing to lose their jobs.  A week later they were fired. I became passionate blaming them. They were saying ‘You don’t understand the policy of the party’ and I replied ‘You do not understand the policy of the party! You organize a campaign against Jews. You! If you are against this horrible and abusive movement, you stand up and say it instead of accusing me’. I don’t remember getting home. I thought ‘Where am I?’ Because nothing like this ever happened in my battalion at the front. It didn’t matter whether one was Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakh or Jew. What mattered was to be brave and honest! I never dealt with anything of this kind at the front. That was why I was stunned. I shivered with hatred and anger. But what was important I was not defending myself but I attacked them. I said ‘You are lying! It’s a lie from beginning to end!’. I said: ‘You are cowards! You know in your hearts that this is not true.’ Cherniayev was good. Fifty years later he reproduced it exactly as it happened. There was one thing he made a mistake about. He wrote ‘He either left or was fired from University.’ He did not know the truth. I did not quit the University or the party. I had many friends and acquaintances at the University. They were much older than me and treated me somewhat fatherly. I still don’t know who was my protector. I think it was Academician Nesmeyanov [Nesmeyanov Alexandr Nikolayevich (1899 - 1980), Soviet organic chemist, academician of the soviet Academy of Sciences, public activist, Hero of Socialist Labor], an outstanding chemistry scientist, who was rector of the State University at the time. He had a great authority in our country and in the world.  He was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet. He was a decent and honest man. His follower was a lecturer at the Chemistry Faculty and secretary of the party committee of the University. I think the two of them saved me. Nesmeyanov must have taken the initiative. It worked so as if there had been no meeting whatsoever! I graduated from the University. What else is remarkable about this meeting is that all lecturers and students became aware of my Jewish identity. They could never guess it before since I looked very much like a Russian guy. I never experienced any opposition at the exams or when I defended my diploma. My examiners knew I was right, but they could not express it openly fearing for their job.