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**Interview With Monica, A First-Hand Witness of Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes**[[image:http://www.worldclassflags.com/productimages/cf_ussr.gif width="104" height="67" align="right" caption="USSR Flag"]]
Monica, my mother, came to this country at about the same age that I am now: seventeen. She grew up in [|Latvia], a small country that was still part of [|The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics] during her childhood. Now it is its own democratic state, but go just a few years back, and it is another province of Russia. Growing up in the USSR was considerably different than growing up in the United States at the time. The obvious difference is in the economic policies of each, but those are not the topic of this interview.

We as Americans are known for preaching equality and tolerance in our regulations and laws. If someone were to commit a crime against another human driven solely by race, it would be tried as a [|hate crime], making the punishment much worse. She saw these crimes every day and could not do anything to stop them, for they were against her religion, [|Judiasm].

A quiet, nostalgic look spread across Monica's face as she started recalling her childhood. She seemed lost in her thoughts as bits and pieces of old memories were coming together. Suddenly, her face became one of pure determination, as if she wanted to reveal to the world the crimes she witnessed. At once Monica told me about her first experience with the [|anti-Semites]. She was only five, and living with her mother and father. Everything was going fine, until one day her parents made her stay for a few days with relatives that lived half an hour away. At the time, she did not know the true reason that her parents made her move (how could she?). A few years later, Monica asked her parents about the event, and they explained, "The Jewish neighbor's thirteen year old son was beat up on his way home from school only because he was a Jew. And instead of being punished, the attackers were encouraged by the neighbors". She now came to the realization that her religion was not tolerated and that the whole Jewish community was in danger.

Fortunately, Monica never had any direct face to face experience with the mobs, but she still was indirectly affected. Mobs that congregated in the streets at night prevented Jews from leaving their homes because they were "afraid for their lives". Monica recalled her parents telling her stories about their friends who had hard times getting promoted in their jobs, and some who could not even find work at all. Educational institutions were also extremely hard for Jews to get in to. "High school students with obvious Jewish last names were told in their faces by university officials, 'With a name like yours, don't even think about being accepted into this university'". Because of this, many teenagers forfeighted higher education or travelled to distant universities in the middle of nowhere. She also told me that this was one of the main reasons that her family left Latvia. They wanted their daughter to have a proper education, and there was no way that any school in Latvia could give her that.

Monica’s plane ride into the land of the free completely changed her life. Everything was different, she said. The people, the cities, the food, and most importantly, the religious freedom. "For the first time in our lives, we were able to go to temple without having to look over our shoulders". It took a little time for Monica to learn English, but as soon as she did, she attended university because people in America did not discriminate against religions. Looking back on it, Monica says that she is very happy that she moved. "It is great to see that my children have the ability to attend Hebrew School and celebrate Jewish holidays: things that I never had the pleasure of experiencing". Now that she knows how great America is, there is no way that she can see her family living back in Latvia. As I closed my notebook, there was a relieved look on her face, because she had let another person know about the crisis that she lived through as a child.

perspectives about antisemitism and hatred today.
 * Voices on Anti-Semitism Podcast features a broad range of

media type="custom" key="2418615" If the podcast doesn't load, [|here is a direct link].


 * A video about hate crimes in the present:

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**1984 Lessons**
=Book 1=

Lesson Plan - [|Here]

Handout - [|Here]

=Book 2= = =

Lesson Plan - [|Here]

Handout (front) - [|Here]

Handout (back) - [|Here]

=Book 3= = =

Lesson Plan - [|Here]

Handout - [|Here]

Web links [|One]

[|Two] [|Three]