Tag #154554 - Interview #78069 (semyon nezhynski)

My parents and I were very happy about the establishment of Israel. In the late 1960s I became proud of Israel. In the middle of the 1960s the USSR sent military counselors to the armies of Egypt and Syria. They mostly sent specialists from Transcaucasia since the climate there was very much like in these countries. People didn't have to spent time adjusting to different climatic conditions. Since I was chief of headquarters of a division I took part in the selection of officers for the Egyptian army. In particular, in 1967 twenty officers from our division were sent as counselors for commanders of battalions, regiment headquarters and regiments of the Egyptian army. After the Six-Day-War 32 they returned home. Some of them were wounded. They treated me with respect. They used to say 'Here, comrade colonel is how one must struggle - like Jews did!' They said the Egyptian army was good for nothing. When listening to their stories I felt proud for Israel, for this small country that has to stand up against the whole Arabic world. It provokes arising admiration of the military that have seen so much in their life. Basically, whenever it comes to any discussion of anti-Semitism I always say, 'Yes, anti-Semitism exists, but it's not as scaring as it used to be in the past, before we got a state of our own'. Now the Jewish country stands for all Jews and anti-Semitism is not scaring at all. We have to struggle against it and beat it, but not be afraid of it.