intent to incite national or religious enmity¶

Not only was the USSR not institutionally antisemitic, they considered "intent to incite national or religious enmity" a crime against the state, punishable by imprisonment, or -- during times of war/turmoil -- possibly execution, depending on severity.

https://t.co/0Q4vtXG91u https://t.co/HwW3hUan2v They took it VERY seriously, and saw it as the primary locus of reactionary organizing. Antisemitism wasn't the only instance of national enmity, but it was particularly highlighted due to the privileged position of institutional antisemitism in the history of the Russian Empire. In fact, we can actually see a direct correlation between the laxing of these codes, both in terms of penalties (down to 6 months imprisonment) and purview (language about possession of incendiary literature was removed) and the degradation of revolutionary norms. Glasnost was really the final nail in the coffin of preventing national enmity, including antisemitism. In the name of "freedom of expression," the law was restructured again, to become so broad and vague that incendiary nationalism became all but impossible to police. Hate speech thrived in this era, including in media outlets and the propaganda put out by separatist and liquidationist organizations. The west's beloved "national sovereignty" was necessarily built on the wreckage of national equality. Hate crimes also skyrocketed. The eventual collapse of the Soviet Union, the dream of western liberalism, was ushered in by rising nationalist vitriol, and what followed was a new golden age of hatred and national oppression.

Eastern European Jews have never been safer than they were under Stalin.