Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
Text taken from a page on istmat.org
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics:
[ColonelCassad] Letter of engineer-major Lerner to Comrade Stalin with a request to pay attention to the Jewish question.
Comrade Stalin. Pay attention to the Jewish question SECRETLY Engineer-major LERNER M.I. member of the V.K.P./b/ since January 1930 item number 1029116. Moscow, April 14, 1946 SECRETARY T.K. V.K.P./b/ Comrade STALIN I. IN. I have decided to address you, our dear comrade Stalin, on a matter of great importance for the personal fate of many hundreds of thousands of people, for the benefit of our state, for the common Lenin-Stalin theory and practice of the national question.

THE ESSENCE OF THE QUESTION.
Thanks to the Soviet Power, our country became the only country in the world where anti-Semitism was completely undermined and where it seemed that the ground for the emergence of the ego in any form was cleared. However, over the past hour and a half, we have increasingly heard about a kind of liberation of our state apparatus, especially the central one, from persons of Jewish nationality, about an event secretly but quite widely and systematically carried out by dismissed and refused employment in more or less responsible areas of work, persons of Jewish nationality, in each individual case, under various pretexts.
As a member of our party, I had every reason to doubt the possibility of such a situation in our country, and I refused to believe it for a long time. However, this is apparently so. About the facts. I didn't have to read documents with resolutions about dismissal or refusal to accept a job because of Jewish nationality. I think that it is possible only with rare exceptions, such documents cannot appear in our country under any circumstances.
But the fact that I had to hear about such facts over a very long time, from persons of different nationalities, different official positions /even very responsible/, party and non-party, who worked in various institutions /including people's commissariats, in particular in the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs/ and even in various cities/ in particular, in Moscow, Kyiv and Leningrad/, shows that such facts are widespread. Finally, I faced it myself, when in March Mr. was seconded from the Engineering Department of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, where he worked for the past 4 years.
If you take into account that I have not tarnished myself in anything, neither in the NKVD nor before, I have no faults and I do not have any vices /although I certainly have shortcomings/, and my experience working in the NKVD, my desire to work and the need for employees allowed me to continue to work in the system of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, if you also take into account a number of circumstances and details that I do not cite in order not to clutter up the letters, which show that my secondment was not made for business reasons, then it will become clear that the above-mentioned circumstance was the main reason for my secondment.
I tried to draw Comrade's attention to this. KRUTYKOVA A. D. submitted a report to him, however, the policy of the personnel department turned out to be effective, and comrade KRUTYKOV passed by it. I made an attempt to address Comrade MYKOIAN A. I., but unfortunately I could not do this.
I will add only that I have already been out of work for the second month, despite the fact that the heads of several institutions have expressed their desire and willingness to hire me / in particular, a special letter signed by the Deputy Minister of Aviation Industry was sent to the Personnel Department of the Air Force KA. KUZNETSOVA, under No. K-18/ 1738 dated March 14, 1946. with a request to second me to work in my specialty at the Scientific and Research Institute of Aircraft Special Equipment, Ministry of Aviation Industry / however, as far as the personnel departments of the Air Force Base are concerned, apparently the aforementioned unfortunate reason continues to operate.
Some considerations.
About genuine nationality.
I am a Jew, but I can say that I am a Jew only because I was registered as such at birth. In fact, I do not profess any religion at all, neither Jewish nor any other, it is not that I do not use the Hebrew language, but I do not know it at all, I do not observe any national or religious rituals, my personal qualities as a member of society were formed under the influence of an environment consisting of people of different nationalities / Russians, Ukrainians, Jews, etc. moreover, the influence of the former significantly prevailed/
I was never associated with any national communities or associations. What is important and important to me is not my, I could say assigned, nationality, but my citizenship, the fact that I am a citizen of my family - the Soviet Union. And I don't know if this is consistent with theory or legal science, but when asked about my nationality, I always want to answer - I am of SOVIET NATIONALITY. Perhaps it would also be correct to consider myself as belonging to the nationality in the midst of which I developed as a person and where my main labor activity took place. b/ About Jews in our country.
It seems that in our country, the people of Jewish nationality, in their mass, deservedly appreciated the trust of the Soviet Government and our party, gratefully accepted the fraternal relationship and fellowship between the peoples of our country, selflessly and selflessly devoted themselves to serving the common goals of our country on any part of the peace and military fronts and showed themselves from the best side both in peace and in wartime. Therefore, it is not clear for what hidden reasons, after such a general and decisive victory - the victory of our Soviet Power, the Soviet-socialist system and our Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist worldview, a peculiar reign of anti-Semitism, which Ts. K. probably has more complete information.
Is this fair? And does it correspond to our interests?
ON THE JEWISH QUESTION.
As you know, the Jewish question is an age-old question that has been deliberately raised into an "eternal" problem and is zealously maintained as such, and which those in power have never seriously tried to solve, especially in the era of capitalism, so that there is not left the most convenient and familiar object of distraction for the masses in the face of economic and social contradictions and brewing revolutionary explosions. And as you know, there is no such nation or nationality that would have suffered and suffered greater sacrifices throughout its history than the long-suffering Jewish nationality only during the period of fascism rule abroad and its tyranny in the temporarily occupied regions of our country.
A nationality which, due to its dispersion and peculiar historical development, has absorbed world culture and whose representatives work fruitfully for the benefit of all mankind, in all areas of culture, art and science, and whose descendants include such thinkers and workers as Spinoza, Marx, Einstein and others.
It is known from separate reports of our press that there is a fuss of some governments abroad about the Jewish question about the creation of a Jewish national state somewhere in the region of Palestine, and it is quite obvious that these ideas are being discussed without the participation of broad sections of the Jewish population and regardless of their wishes. It is also known that prominent representatives of both Jewish and other nationalities strongly spoke out against this, and quite rightly so.
Although I am not familiar with the history of the emergence, activities and life of the Jewish national region in our USSR, I am deeply convinced that the broad masses of Jews in our country have never aspired to any kind of national isolation, and that such a national republic is also necessary both for the Jews of our country and for our country itself.
THE PURPOSE OF THE NOTE.
The purpose of this detailed note is to ask YOU for the following.
It would be a real blessing for people of Jewish nationality and a decisive contribution to this specific and exciting question if you, our Leader and Teacher, the brilliant creator and guide of Stalin's national policy, the pinnacle of truth and human thought, would pay attention to this question and say what you think is necessary to say.
Devoted to you with all my heart and thoughts
Mr. Lerner /
Moscow. Oruzheiny lane house No. 25/a/ sq. 3./ tel. D-1-39-53
Archives of RGASPI. F. 558. Op. 11. D. 867 L. 72-76
In 1948 Comrade Stalin supported the creation of the state of Israel.
At the same time, even under Stalin, the fight against political Zionism intensified, after Israel took the side of the West in the Cold War.
Once Leonid Brezhnev convinced Arafat about Palestine, all of that went out the window.
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