Many Jewish teachers were transferred from towns to villages in order to conduct agitation in favour of joining a kolkhoz, and their teaching skills were exploited for propaganda purposes. This gave the peasantry the impression that, in this case too, the Jews were to blame. Private trade was tolerated initially, and the authorities even promised lenient treatment. That was still in the early months when the central authority applied the NEP764 policy to the occupied territories. During that period a small number of Jewish tradesmen ran shops, mostly grocery stores or haberdasheries. The authorities needed the NEP only for the first few months, until the regular apparatus of various “markets” came into operation, so that [13] the local population would not suddenly feel the lack of basic necessities during the transition period.
As early as May 1940, the situation changed entirely in that respect too. Taxes were imposed on tradesmen, which they were quite unable to pay. As a result, most private shopkeepers handed in their licences and closed down, so that only a few Jewish shops remained in the town.
State institutions:
Jews are strongly represented in the state apparatus, which, as well as the political and military authorities, covers the whole of economic life. One has the feeling that the top leadership is disposed to make the greatest possible use of Jewish skills in that area. Thus cases of Jewish managers or bookkeepers in the State Bank are by no means exceptional. Bank clerical staff in the occupied territories was 90% Jewish. The same situation prevails in all “trusts” and “markets”. In a word, Jews are strongly represented in [14] state economic institutions.
Cultural life:
The authorities attached great importance to the development and prosperity of cultural life in general. Large sums were devoted to development of the school system in both towns and villages, to the organisation and support of people’s art in all its aspects, to travelling theatre troupes, and to the establishment of rich libraries. It goes without saying that all cultural activity always goes hand in hand with the Party’s tendentious political work. School textbooks are written in that way, theatrical performances are produced with that aim in mind, and the libraries are almost all of one kind – all of which
