ODESSA AND THE POGROM 9 



was raging; for all the panic spread by the thick net 

 of secret organizations. It was not difficult to find that 

 scapegoat. Among the many, many Terrorists it was 

 but natural that there should be a proportionate quota 

 of Jews. The press, subsidized by the government, 

 began a systematic hounding of the Jews, and de- 

 nounced them as "the cause of all the trouble, inciting 

 the people to riot and bloodshed." This cry found its 

 echo in the universities. The Jewish students began 

 to feel a change in atmosphere. They began to feel 

 the animosity, not only of the Christian students, 

 but of some of the professors as well. It was not 

 enough to hear talk of Pogroms on the streets, in the 

 cafes, in the places of amusement ; it finally entered the 

 university, too. A great many of the Christian stu- 

 dents, organized in a body "to help kill the Jews." The 

 Jewish students, to their bewilderment and sorrow, 

 discovered the existence of the organized body and its 

 terrible aim. All this made a lasting impression on 

 my husband. 



Some of the Jewish students called an indignation 

 meeting, and a "Self-Defence League" was organized. 

 Its purpose was to protect the Jewish populace during 

 the Pogroms, which every one knew would take place 

 during the Passover holidays. Ten of the ablest young 

 Jews in the student body took the lead, my husband 

 being one of them. At once they began to organize 

 the Jewish butchers, grain-shovelers, bricklayers, and 

 other young workers of strength and courage. They 



