Tag #148512 - Interview #78035 (marina sineokaya)

I still remember those teachers and students; they were very good and intelligent people. I was aware that it was an organized baiting of Jews, but I couldn’t believe that it had been organized by Stalin. When many Jews were fired from important positions at the Academy of Science, I merely thought that the Russians were after those positions. Dignitary positions were taken by Jews, and ignoramuses and untalented people couldn’t achieve that. So there were new opportunities opening up just to get rid of a Jew and take his place. That was the only explanation I could find for that. I knew a lot of cases where the place of a brilliant scientist was taken by a mediocrity, who took advantage of the fruitful work of his predecessor. I was deeply affected by those events as well as my husband and my relatives. There are always a lot of mean people who are ready to achieve the stated goal at any cost, getting rid of those in their way. Such people were happy that the Jews were ousted and took advantage of the situation by taking over their place. I thought that the implication of those people was in the betrayal and maliciousness. I didn’t think it to be political.