pressure to guarantee each nationality its own literature and culture. This policy was reflected in the numerous magnificent publications of the works of Yiddish writers, and in the support given to Yiddish writers. Salomea L. frequently heard the names of young Yiddish writers who received support, were aided in their studies and research, and were given the opportunity to pursue their activities without constraint. Scholars enjoyed similar support. In this case, no distinction was even made between people with a positive [13(25)] attitude about communism and those who were indifferent. Several young Jewishmathematicians whom she knew from Warsaw found themselves in Lvov and had all obtained responsible, well-paid positions – whether it was the well-known professor Saks,154 whose outspoken leftist convictions had preventedhim from obtaining a chair in Warsaw, or the convert Szpilrajn,155 a giftedmathematician, or the very young Wojdysławski:156 all of them had respon-sible posts and occupied high-level and important positions in the academicworld. The deciding factor was their ability rather than their national affil-iation. However, when it came to fields of study with a pronounced national character, the regime pursued very extensive, liberal policies and created opportunities for their development. Despite these efforts, the results werenot impressive. Neither the Yiddish theatre nor Yiddish cinema could boast of great achievements. In just under 2 years Salomea L. saw the above-mentionedfilm about Birobidzhan and not a single acclaimed Yiddish theatre production.
Needless to say, after the arrival of the Germans everything wasdestroyed. Only the first two years of primary schools remained in the schoolsystem. The secondary schools, libraries, press, theatre, and so on disappeared.
[13a] The Soviet government’s attitude to the Jewish religion was the sameas with other religions. In no respect was there any sign of another attitude,
