Selected text
Certainly, I, as any other citizen of the USSR, perfectly knew that
Jews could get jobs only by acquaintance or due to very outstanding
abilities. In the design institute of shipbuilding, where I had worked most
part of my life, a colleague had confidentially told me that there was a
secret instruction not to hire Jews at all, with an exception of relatives
or if by recommendation. For me it was like a thunder among the clear
skies! In the Institute of Construction Engineering, where I studied in
Leningrad, 50% of those enrolled must have been Jewish as were many of the
teachers.
Jews could get jobs only by acquaintance or due to very outstanding
abilities. In the design institute of shipbuilding, where I had worked most
part of my life, a colleague had confidentially told me that there was a
secret instruction not to hire Jews at all, with an exception of relatives
or if by recommendation. For me it was like a thunder among the clear
skies! In the Institute of Construction Engineering, where I studied in
Leningrad, 50% of those enrolled must have been Jewish as were many of the
teachers.
Period
Interview
emma nikonova