Tag #141719 - Interview #78774 (Fania Brantsovskaya)

In those years, young Jewish people in Vilnius followed different political convictions. In opposition to young fascists who propagated racial hatred and also used to break windows of Jewish stores, they formed different unions. There was an underground 'Union of the school youth', fond of antifascist and communist ideas, and there was an underground Komsomol [28] organization. There were two Bund organizations: one for younger and the other one for older members. I belonged to the Zionist Jewish scout organization 'Bin'. We spent much time together going on excursions and hiking tours in summer. We often went to the theater. There were two Jewish theaters and a Jewish conservatory in Vilnius. In spring our schools had a meeting at the Maccabi [29] stadium. I remember that when we passed by the Jewish Bank its employees threw flowers from the balcony of the building. I can still remember the overwhelming feeling of joy that I had.

Young people argued a lot about the Soviet regime: about the period of terror [see Great Terror] [30] in the USSR, trials of the Trotsky [31] and Zinoviev [32] followers [see Zinoviev-Kamenev triumvirate] [33]. Once I even had a fight with my father's apprentice who also stayed with us. He was telling me that there was something horrible happening in the USSR and that Lenin's comrades, such as Trotsky, could not be enemies of the people [34]. Older people also had discussions. Some were for the Soviet regime and were interested in everything happening in the USSR.