VLADIMIR MAHLIS
(Continued from May 2023)
Last time you spoke about the fact that being
Jewish was the reason for your expulsion from
the flight school. Tell me, please more about this
incident.
In 1964, during my studies at the Kremenchug Flight School, I studied Hebrew on my own, without teachers.
Did you follow the textbook? How did he get to you?
That's the whole point. On one of my visits to
Moscow during my vacation, I decided to go on
Shabbat to the central synagogue on Arkhipov
Street. Since the usual visitors to the synagogue
were mostly elderly people, the appearance of each young person was a surprise
to those present. One man came up to me and asked what I was doing in the
synagogue? It was evident that I did not know how to pray. And I couldn't even
read Hebrew. Moreover, I did not even know that such a language existed. But
the old man said to me: “It is very good that you came to the synagogue. You
know, all our prayers are in Hebrew.” And I asked him: “What is Hebrew?” He
replied, “What, you don’t know?! It is the official language of the State of Israel!”
I asked how I could learn this language? He said: “Well, we will not discuss this
topic in the synagogue,” and made an time to meet later. When we met, he gave
me a small bundle and said: “Don’t open this here. Leave immediately, and open
it at home.” I could not wait until I got home. I went into the bathroom stall and
unfolded the cherished bundle. There was a textbook – a Hebrew self-teaching
manual, published in Israel in 1963.
How did the book get to Moscow?
At that time I did not know how it ended up in Moscow. I did not ask anyone
about it and did not show the textbook to anyone. Subsequently, it turned out
that such literature came through employees of the Israeli embassy, which at
that time was still functioning in Moscow. In the preface, addressed to the Jews,
it was said that if the reader opened this tutorial, then he was interested in the
history of his ancient people. I, who had not yet learned a single word, had the
feeling that I had been robbed: after all, it turns out that I had wealth that I had
no idea about!
During this summer vacation, I canceled all my plans: before that, I was going
to go on vacation to the Black Sea. Instead, I spent the whole month with this
textbook and learned the language well. At the end of the vacation, I took the
textbook with me and brought it to the school, where I carefully hid it. About
a year later, one of our cadets found this book and, of course, informed the
authorities. A terrible scandal arose, they immediately reported to the political
officer (deputy head of the school for political affairs), who perfectly understood
what kind of book he had in his hands. The fact is that the self-instruction
manual was intended specifically for Russian-speaking Jews, and it was written
in Russian where, by whom and when this textbook was published. Soon a
teachers' council took place, at which I was expelled from the school four months
before graduation. I appealed my expulsion to the Department of Civil Aviation
Educational Institutions in Moscow. The head of this Directorate, Lieutenant
General Pogrebnyak, immediately reinstated me.
Why did he help you?
The fact is that the general belonged to the generation of war veterans, and the
people of this generation went through the war side by side with the Jews, and
therefore anti-Semitism was alien to them. When I was already leaving his office,
the general said after him: "You are very lucky: we do not live under Stalin."
What happened next?
After graduating from college, I returned to Moscow and began teaching
Hebrew. It was not so easy to find those willing to study it. At that time, in 1967,
no one thought about it. I was the only Hebrew teacher in Moscow, but by 1971
there were about thirty teachers of the Hebrew language in the Soviet Union. As
a rule, they were, like me, refuseniks. I applied to leave for Israel in 1971, and I
was immediately asked to resign from Aeroflot.
What did you do for a living?
I submitted an application to the regional financial inspection that I intend to teach
Hebrew. They refused me there. To which I objected: there is no law prohibiting
the teaching of a foreign language. However, I got rejected. After fifteen minutes
in the same building, I went to the office of the district prosecutor, who asked
me: “Do you know Hebrew?” “Yes,” I replied, “If you want to check, please do!
I am also ready to pay income tax.” The prosecutor said he would look into the
matter. Literally a few days later, a representative of the financial inspection came
to the classes of my group, counted the number of students and gave me a large
bill for the first installment of income tax. After leaving the Soviet Union, both in
Israel and Canada, I also taught Hebrew. In Canada, I taught at Jewish schools
attached to synagogues and even at a secondary school.
