Chapter 370
The huge meeting hall was packed with people, and on the podium in front of the meeting hall, all the members of the Central Committee Presidium, including Comrade Stalin, were present. From below, Comrade Zhdanov was on the left of Comrade Stalin, and Andreyev was on the right. Comrade Beria was assigned to the leftmost position, which seemed to indicate that he was not favored by Comrade Stalin.
As for Comrades Malenkov and Kaganovich, their figures had disappeared from their seats on the rostrum. Comrade Stalin explained their absence as follows: the former had made a mistake and must be investigated and punished, while the latter was ill and needed to rest well. In the short term, it would be better not to disturb him with work matters.
Below the rostrum, the position in the center of the first row... belongs to Comrade Kuznetsov. On his left is Voznesensky, on his right is Kosygin, and on Voznesensky's left is Yuri. As for Suslov, he sits on Kosygin's right.
However, the ranking of the first row is not the same as the ranking . It does not mean that whoever sits in the middle is the one with the greatest hope of replacing the person in the presidium. The ranking of the first row is related to the order of speaking on the stage later. Kuznetsov was the last one to speak, so he was in the middle.
What is being held at this time is an extraordinary plenary session of the Central Committee. This is the second plenary session held in the past three days. The issue that needs to be discussed and voted on today is a very sensitive issue - the establishment of a Jewish autonomous region on the Crimean Peninsula.
In fact, this issue had already been raised before the war ended. The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee raised this issue. Due to the special nature of this organization, Comrade Stalin verbally approved the proposal, but he declined to discuss it at the plenary session of the Central Committee after the war.
Today, the war has ended for more than two years. After more than two years of efforts, although Ukraine has not yet completely restored peace, more Tatars have been relocated in the Crimean Peninsula. At the same time, due to the successful establishment of Israel and the very good relationship between Moscow and Israel, all of this gave the Jews in the Soviet Union great confidence.
It was in this situation that a group of Jews led by Lozovsky once again raised this issue and hoped that it could be passed at this plenary session.
Unlike the last time, this time there seemed to be more people who came out to speak up for the Jews. Among them were not only celebrities like Solomon Mikhoels, but also Polina Semyonovna Zhemchuzhina, who served as the chairman of the People's Commissariat of Fisheries and whose husband was Comrade Molotov.
No one knew what Comrade Stalin's attitude was on this issue, because he had never publicly expressed his position on it. However, Yuri knew very well that Comrade Stalin did not agree with this proposal.
Perhaps when the war had just ended, Comrade Stalin still maintained a neutral position on this issue, neither in favor nor against it, but now, with the increasing complexity of Soviet-American relations, he has become an opponent of this proposal.
Especially after the founding of the State of Israel, perhaps inspired by this incident, the Jews in the Soviet Union became increasingly emotional, with some even publicly stating that they were Jews first and Soviets second. In other words, they had placed the Jewish element above all else in the country.
Not only that, on the basis of demanding the establishment of the Crimean Jewish Autonomous Region, those Jewish activists wanted to go a step further and establish the so-called Crimean Union Republic, that is, a union republic in the form of Jewish autonomy.
The union republics and autonomous regions are obviously two completely different entities. In the vast territory of the Soviet Union, there are more than a dozen union republics and many autonomous regions. However, the establishment of any union republic has its specific historical reasons, and the large-scale ethnic migration that occurs from time to time is actually made by Moscow to weaken ethnic centrifugal tendencies. In other words, Moscow's efforts have always been to weaken the separatist tendencies of the union republics and ethnic minorities and maintain the integrity of the entire country.
Now, these Jews who just seized a piece of land in Palestine and established a country in the Middle East are actually trying to create a republic in Crimea. What do they want to do? Are they preparing to establish a second Israel on Soviet land?
Some people may say that the Jewish community in the Soviet Union did not have such an intention, but as a national leader, could Comrade Stalin not think about it? And from Yuri's perspective, from the perspective of Russia's national interests, the Jewish demand is indeed unacceptable. Otherwise, when the Soviet Union disintegrated decades later, the Crimea region would definitely have a second Israel, and the American hand would be able to reach directly across thousands of miles to the doorstep of Russia.
Another question is, as a minority, why did the Jews want to establish an autonomous republic? Moscow had just abolished the autonomy of the Tatars and the Pomeranians, and now the Jews wanted autonomy again. Why? Are the Jews a minority that is superior to other minorities? Is it because they made some contributions to the country during the war? Did they get some aid from the Americans? If so, does this request count as a way of repaying a favor?
Comrade Stalin was not an ordinary person after all. He was the leader of this country. Therefore, when he considered a problem, he would never think so simply. A decision was not made by him on a whim. Instead, there was a huge think tank team that analyzed and summarized for him and finally came to a conclusion.
Not to mention others, even Yuri, who came from another time, did not agree with this proposal from the bottom of his heart, let alone others - what the Soviet Union should do now is to further strengthen centralization and enhance Moscow's decision-making position, rather than create a so-called autonomous republic with a relatively independent political status.
The person who presided over the vote was Mikoyan, who read out the draft drafted by Lozovsky and others on the rostrum. Then, Khrushchev, on behalf of the Central Secretariat, made a preliminary review of the draft.
As expected, in the review results, which Yuri was unaware of, the position of the Central Secretariat was that the proposal to establish a Jewish autonomous region in the Crimea region was not suitable for the current domestic political environment or the current situation in Crimea.
According to the report, Crimea has just ended the autonomy of the Tatars. If a Jewish autonomous region is established immediately, it will intensify the conflict between the locals and the Jews to the greatest extent, and will also attract protests from Turkey.
After Khrushchev finished his speech, it was time for a vote. When voting, Yuri didn't even think twice and directly pressed the "no" button. As a time traveler, he didn't have any so-called anti-Semitic mentality. The reason why he voted against it was because he really did not agree with the proposal. This was a matter of political stance and had nothing to do with personal likes and dislikes.
However, as a time traveler with little knowledge of his previous life, Yuri did not know that behind this vote, there was a huge political turmoil. As one of the pillars of the Soviet core circle, Comrade Molotov, who had been standing in the political arena for more than ten years, was not far from falling. Moreover, his fall was quite severe. Not only did he fall out of the Presidium of the Central Committee, he also fell out of Moscow and almost lost his wife.
Five minutes after the voting ended, the result was announced by Comrade Zhdanov. As expected, less than one-third of the representatives voted in favor, which meant that there was no chance of passing.
As soon as this result was announced, there was a sudden uproar at the conference site. There was even a brief commotion near the corner at the rear right of the venue. It seemed that someone shouted something, but was quickly stopped.
Yuri sat in his seat, forcing himself not to look back, but continued to write and draw in the record book in front of him. At the same time, he glanced at the rostrum with his peripheral vision. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt that the expression on Comrade Stalin's face seemed very gloomy.
Because of this brief disturbance, Comrade Zhdanov, after obtaining permission from Comrade Stalin, announced that the meeting would be adjourned for ten minutes, and the next topic would be discussed again in ten minutes.
The meeting started at 8:30 in the morning and lasted until 11:50 in the afternoon. Although he was just sitting the whole time, the moment the meeting ended, Yuri still felt exhausted all over and just wanted to find a place to lie down.
The Kremlin prepared a working lunch for the delegates attending the meeting. Yuri had eaten it once. Given the living standards of the Soviet Union, this working lunch was still very sumptuous. However, Yuri did not stay here for lunch today, because when he came out of the meeting, he met Kryuchkov who had been waiting for him. The latter told him that Anteliya had arranged someone to come and inform him at nine o'clock, asking him to go home after the meeting.
Thinking of how Anjelia had been feeling uncomfortable when she went out in the morning, Yuri was a little worried. He was afraid that his wife would be diagnosed with a fatal disease. Although he was a little fickle, after being married for such a long time, Yuri had enough feelings for his wife. Perhaps even a playful man would slowly become responsible as he grew older.
