Jewish problems

This is a special collection of problems that were given to select ap-plicants during oral entrance exams to the math department of Moscow State University. These problems were designed to prevent Jewish people and other undesirables from getting a passing grade. Among problems that were used by the department to blackball unwanted candidate stu-dents, these problems are distinguished by having a simple solution that is difficult to find. Using problems with a simple solution protected the ad-ministration from extra complaints and appeals. This collection therefore has mathematical as well as historical value. 1 A personal story of Tanya Khovanova In the summer of 1975, while I was in a Soviet math camp preparing to compete in the International Math Olympiad on behalf of the Soviet Union, my fellow team members and I were approached for help by Valera Senderov, a math teacher in one of Moscow’s best special math schools