i forgot this last one.


"Oh, I can well imagine the scene: Russian-Jewish emigrants from France on sentimental trip "back home", bursting in and asking tactless questions no one really wanted to hear let alone reply to. Your parents must have certainly sent anyone who wasn't there for the KGB screaming down the hill - hardly noticing it, of course, if they were so sure that they "know everything about life in the Soviet-union" - the most alien of all alien Westerners one can think of, of the arrogant variety and for practical purposes the ones whose contacts to the local population would arouse the strongest interest of the "authorities". A former Soviet citizen myself, I'd have taken greatest care myself to keep as much distance as possible. "

LOL
your image is quite biased. As you know Russians are nice people, and the soviet-period was not hell, if not the communist party wouldn't still be the biggest party in Russian parliament and even have the absolute majority trough democratic elections in countries as moldova or Belarus.
My parents didn't came there to lecture the Russians about what they should and shouldn't do, most Russians are very nice people with a wide range of opinions, as well the Jewish Russians, and i still have wonderfull memories about it and some friends.

"And it wasn't just about the Jews either. I've known people in Moscow who lost their jobs in the very same 80ies for the crime of baptizing their children Russian Orthodox. "

well, if this is true it is definately one of the downsides of the soviet-regime, which however doesn't mean it was a) anti-semitic b) had no qualities at all.
by the way i heard myself stories about burocracy, the system was not paradise either, but i would say still better than Russia as it is today, with lots of poverty and corruption worse than in Soviet-times.



"(Btw., it's off-topic, but in case you are interested I can provide you with the reasons why some German, Italian and Swiss employers don't like hiring Frenchmen. With due respect for your patriotism, please don't over-estimate the reputation of your countrymen.)"

many thanks, but no, i'm not interested in another francebashing, i know that France has good employment, good jobs (better than in italy or eastern germany for example) and a very well social security system. french may be lasier than Germans (but than again they live better) but more hard-working than italians or israeli. i never said France is perfect, it has its downsides, but confronted with so much bias, i will defend my country;
in any case i think the german reputation in Europe is worse than the French.