Under The First Soviet Occupation Reflection

        The thing that most stands out to me in this chapter is the fact that the All-Union Communist Party (bolshevik) struck so much fear in William Tannenzapf and his wife, Charlotte. Although the party owned the police, the police force is supposed to protect and honour the well being of all citizens, instead they only cared for those that helped to further the communist political aspirations. They were hiring people like Kerzner (William's friend from his work with the Revisionist Zionist movement, ten years ago) to be Soviet agent provoca
teurs. These were people who had the job of spying on people and trying to test them to see if they would be willing to disobey the unreasonable regulations of nationalization. Kerzner had tried to lure William in by inviting him to the burial of a prominent leader in the Zionists movement named Ze'ev Jabotinsky. William, thankfully, said that he could not because he was no longer interested in politics, but rather focused his time and energy on engineering. That seemingly simple response saved William's life as the invitation was really a trap, and all who accepted were arrested for treason. Soon after, when the Germans occupied their city of Stanislawow, all of them were hanged.
          It's interesting to see how this communist government created such division between friends, and even among family. William's cousin, Nuchim Schapira, even went as far as firing him from a job to hire someone that was a firm believer in communism. One must also bear in mind that although the importance of putting family first is often dismissed in modern western society, this was far more uncommon and therefore more harsh in Russia 1940.
          Overall, it is very unfortunate when anyone has to live in constant fear of undue hardship and tribulation simply because of their former beliefs, religion or background. This makes me even more grateful to be living in Canada where we are mostly exempt from such discrimination and gives me even greater concern for those around the world even today who still lay victim to such governments.