Isaak Fefer

Public figure and Yiddish poet. A member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since 1919. He served on the Board of the Union of Soviet Writers. From 1942, he was a member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC), established in 1942 to raise support for the Soviet Union from ‘Jewish brothers throughout the world’. The Committee's activities helped facilitate the opening of the Second Front.

He was arrested in December 1948 and charged with Jewish nationalism, creating an anti-Soviet underground organization, maintaining ties with American intelligence, and treason. The testimony against him was fabricated, and he was subjected to beatings and torture. The trial was held behind closed doors–without the public, the prosecution, or the defense present. In July 1952, he was sentenced to death by firing squad with confiscation of property. He was executed on 12 August 1952. His ashes were buried in Common Grave No. 3 for unclaimed remains at the New Donskoy Cemetery in Moscow. He was rehabilitated in 1955.

1950s

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The Final Statement

‘In my articles, I always wrote that the achievements attained by the Jews in the Soviet Union were the result of implementing Stalin’s doctrine on the nationalities question…’

Mr. Presiding Judge, Honorable Judges! I have already told the court everything I knew about this case.

I wish to assure you that throughout my life and my literary career I was never a migratory bird.

My life has always been inseparably intertwined with my work, and my very first poem was about Budyonny’s cavalry. My entire life and literary work were bound to the Communist Party. My works were always published in Communist newspapers and journals in various capitalist countries.

In my articles, I always wrote that the achievements attained by the Jews in the Soviet Union were the result of implementing Stalin’s doctrine on the nationalities question and the great example set by the Russian people.

For thirty years, I had the privilege of celebrating the heroic labor of the Soviet people, and I wrote more about Russia and Ukraine than about the Jews, for which some even criticized me.

I ask the court to take everything I have said into consideration and not to deprive me of the opportunity to serve the Soviet people until my last breath.

11 July 1952,
Military Collegium of the Supreme Court, Moscow, USSR.
Source: Unjust Trial. The Last Stalin-Era Execution.
Further reading: Wikipedia.
Photo: Wikipedia.