Tag #153187 - Interview #94149 (Mikhail Leger)

I had my first doubts about the Soviet propaganda during the period of the ‘doctors’ plot’ [22]. I was sincerely indignant about somebody daring to infringe upon Stalin’s life. I was sure newspaper articles were true. It never occurred to me then that this was artificial enforcement of anti-Semitism. I realized this, when once I gave my Ukrainian friend, whom I had known since childhood, a sugar candy. He looked at me with dread: ‘You won’t poison me, will you?’ It was then that I thought that somebody made monsters of Jews, who were ready to poison and kill any person… I started taking a closer look at the events trying to figure out what the situation was about. People thought it was dangerous to deal with Jews – who could tell what they have in mind? Patients refused to visit Jewish doctors, or have a Jewish nurse making an injection saying there was poison in the syringe. It seems ridiculous from today’s standpoint, but then it was scaring. However, I never tied this to Stalin’s name. He remained an idol for me. It never occurred to me that he was to blame for anti-Semitism and that nothing at all could happen in the USSR without his knowledge.