1920 he has been the head of the Ukrainian Diplomatic Mission in London.
What is the attitude of the Jews toward the new Ukrainian State?
On the question of independence of the Ukraine the Jews
were split into two camps. On the one side there were the
assimilated Jews who having been brought up in the
All-Russian political spirit took a stand hostile to the
new Ukrainian State. On the other side there were the
majority of the Jews - the nationalists, Zionists and the
Jewish Socialist Parties - who declared their sympathy for
Ukrainian endeavors. The Jews who were themselves an
oppressed nation welcomed with sympathy the national
struggle of the Ukrainians.
The Jews were also split as to their attitude toward the
socialist program of the new state. The left wing of the
Bund and Poalej-Zion went hand-in-hand with the left
Ukrainian parties that were for the exclusion of the
bourgeoisie from the government. The majority of Jews were
on the side of those Ukrainian parties that interceded for
the West-European political system. But in spite of these
differences, almost all Jewish parties and organizations
recognized the right of the Ukrainian nation to its
independence.
What is the attitude of the Ukrainian government toward the Jews?
In the Ukraine which together with Galicia has a population
of 40 millions there live 3 1/2 million (8%) Jews. After
the Revolution the ruling power in the Ukraine rested in a
parliament in which all parties of the country, including
Jewish, were represented. That parliament ("Tsentralna
Rada") granted the Jews more freedom and rights than they
had anywhere in Europe at any time. All national
minorities, of course Jews too, were granted autonomy. It
must be stressed also that the Central Council (the
Parliament) set up a Supreme Court to which those lawyers
were appointed as judges, who had had courage to take a
stand against the Russian government during the Beilis
trial.
Here Margolin narrated the fate of the Ukraine after the overthrow of the
Tsentralna Rada and during the rule of Hetman Skoropadksy, and then
continued:
Hetman's rule lasted only eight months. [After its
overthrow] the Petlura Government renewed the autonomy of
national minorities and again appointed Jewish ministers,
viz. Mr. Goldelman and myself. Jews belong also to the
diplomatic missions which have been sent abroad by the
Ukrainian government. The noted Jewish historian, Dr.
Wischintzer, one of the editors of the Jewish Encyclopedia,
is the secretary of the Ukrainian legation in England.
How does this government's attitude agree with the fact of anti-Jewish