House Hears Plea for Russian Jewry

(Continued from Page 1)
the situation of Soviet Jewry and
that such intervention would
prove inefficacious and futile."
He stressed that "we believe
these reasons for inaction are
invalid. Especially now, for this
is a singularly opportune mo-
ment in the relations among
states. For years it might have
been expected that any expres-
sion by the United States on the
matter of Soviet Jews would be
dismissed in the USSR as a
mere tactic in the management
of the cold war. Today, at least
to some degree, these conditions
have been altered. There is
reason to hope that the Soviet
government and the Soviet peo-
ple are no longer indifferent to
the good opinion of the United
States."

In calling upon the members of
the committee to adopt the resolu-
tions before it, Dr. Prinz said,
"We do not ask that the Soviet
government compel Soviet Jews to
manifest a contrived affinity for
their Jewish heritage. We do not
desire for Jews or anyone else to
be coerced into a feeling of fel-
lowship or identity that is not
indigenous and,. authentic. But we
challenge Soviet authorities to al-
low the establishment in the So-
viet Union of a single Yiddish
school, a Yiddish newspaper, a
Yiddish theater, a Yiddish publish-
ing house, as a means of demon-
strating the response of Soviet
Jews. And if the school is not
filled to capacity and the news-
paper is not oversubscribed and
the theater is not sold out and if
the supply of books is not ex-
hausted — only then will we be
prepared to accept the unjustifi-
able allegation, the canard of Jew-
ish self indifference."

Dr. Eric Goldhagen, director
of the Institute on East Euro-
pean Affairs at Brandeis Uni-
versity, told the committee that
he could predict "with statistical
accuracy" the "extinction of
Jewish life in the Soviet Union

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if the government's current poli-
cies continue."
He said that the restrictions im-
posed by the Soviets on other re-
ligious groups in no way compare
with the suppression of Jewish re-
ligious life.
"It is true that the Communist
dictatorship constricts all religions
under its sway seeking to hasten
the day of their disappearance,"
Dr. Goldhagen pointed out, "but
the day of the disappearance of
the Russian Orthodox, Baptist and
Muslim religious establishments is
remote." He noted that these
church groups maintain theologi-
cal seminaries, central organiza-
tions, print prayer books and pub-
lications and can send delegations
abroad.

On the other hand, Dr. Gold-
hagen said that for millions of
Jews "there are only 40 or 50
rabbis in the country whose
average age is 65. There are no
theological seminaries, produc-
tion of religious articles is pro-
hibited, prayerbooks or publica-
tions cannot be printed, and no
religious group can send repre-
sentation abroad." He estimated

that there were about 50 or 60
synagogues in Russia.
As a result, he told the Con-
gressmen, "synagogues are made
leaderless, and tradition robbed of
its custodians and fosterers will
fall into oblivion." Dr. Goldhagen
forecast that in 10 to 15 years "it
will be difficult to find within the
Soviet Union a man capable of
performing a Jewish religious
burial ceremony, a Jewish wed-
ding ceremony or a Bar Mitzvah."
Rabbi Meir Felman, represent-
ing the Synagogue Council of
America of Orthodox, Conserva-
tive and Reform Judaism, added
the documentation of Jewish sup-
pression by enumerating to the
committee that many cemeteries
had been desecrated and destroyed
outright and that permission to
open new cemeteries is not being
granted. The religious leader, who
visited the Soviet Union last year,
said "those who hold firmly to the
tenets of their faith are many
times subjected to violent dia-
tribes."
"There is not a single Jew in
the highest echelons of the Soviet
government," he told the commit-
tee. "The last to be eliminated
were Lev Mekhelis in 1950 and

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Lazar M. Kaganovich in 1957."
He said that in November 1962,
a Jew, engineer Veniamin E.
Dimshitz, was appointed to a non-
political job, as chairman of the
Soviet state planning committee,
and later to the rank of deputy
premier.
"Jews are also strikingly under-
represented in the legislative
bodies of the Soviet Union, and
their representation is steadily
shrinking," Dr. Schechtman said.
He noted: "In 1934 Jews com-
prised 5.1 per cent of the member-
ship of the two houses of the
Supreme Soviet of the USSR. By
the end of 1947 there were 32
Jews out of a total of 596 (5.3
per cent). Now among the 5,679
elected members only 13 are Jews
— 0.22 per cent, as against the
Jewish population ratio of 1.09 per
cent, almost one fifth of the proper
percentage."
Dr. Judd L. Teller, writer on
Soviet affairs, told the repre-
sentatives that "it was essential
that the Congress of the United
States express its indignation
over Soviet anti-Semitism be-
cause such expression might
compel the Soviet authorities to
desist and perhaps even to take
ameliorative action."
"The circumstances which have
persuaded the Soviet authorities to
indulge in this practice are not
very likely to change in the very
near future," he predicted. "Hence,
unless checked by an outraged
public opinion abroad, the Soviets
might react to these circumstances
by capitalizing even more on anti-
Semitism as a political advantage."
Noting that Russia's overt anti-
Semitic policies originated during
the final decade of the Stalin re-
gime, Dr. Teller said that:
"1. It is government-sponsored,
practiced and communicated by
public agencies ranging from the
prosecutors offices through the
newspapers and periodicals
`2'. It is not inherent in Com-
munist doctrine and is in violation
of Soviet law itself and
"3. The Soviet government is the
only Communist government en-
gaged in anti-Semitic discrimina-
tion and persecution."
Rep. Kelly commended Wed-
nesday the leaders of American
Jewry who testified here on
those proposals before her com-
mittee.
Mrs. Kelly and another subcom-
mittee member, Rep. James G.
Fulton, who conducted most of the
questioning of witnesses Tuesday,
emphasized that the witnesses had
given "excellent advice" to Con-
gress and agreed specifically with
those witnesses who had advised
that "firmer action on the part of
the U.S. Government" is needed
on this issue.
Noting that Russia has responded
to American opinion on the partial
test ban t r e a t y agreements on

The assistant secretary of state
for Congressional relations, Doug-
las MacArthur II, telephoned Rep.
Farbstein that a "misunderstand-
ing" resulted from a May 5 letter
in which MacArthur said official
American government intercession
was undesirable.

MacArthur, in an official mes-
sage sent Tuesday by special
courier to Rep. Farbstein, a mem-
ber of the Foreign Affairs Com-
mittee, reassured Rep. Farbstein
that despite the phrasing of the
May 5 letter the department has
not reversed itself on the pending
resolutions.
The official said "There has been
no change in the position that the
department has made known, sev-
eral weeks ago, that the depart-
ment does not object to the pas-
sage of these resolutions."
At the hearings, a number of
members of Congress strongly
urged the adoption of the resolu-
tion, which is backed by 120
members of the House. Testify-
big were Rep. Farbstein, Rep.
Benjamin Rosenthal, New York
Democrat; Rep. William Fitts
Ryan, New York Democrat; and
Rep. Richard C. Schweiker,
Pennsylvania Republican. Rep.
Farbstein offered details of Sov-
iet- moves to suppress Jewish re-
ligious and cultural life. He link-
ed this with attempts to infil-
trate the Arab world.
Rep. Schweiker charged that
"our government has not taken
sufficient action recently to pro-
test increasing Soviet discrimina-
tion against the Jews." He stressed
that "silence in the face of oppres-
sion only inspires increased op-
.pression."

According to Rep. Schweiker,
"the only reaction by our govern-
ment during the past six months
has been silence." He criticized
President Lyndon B. Johnson for
failing to speak out in his State
of the Union message against So-
viet anti-Semitism and said "I deep-
ly regret his omission of attention
to this grave- problem." Rep. Edna
Kelly, New York Democrat who is
subcommittee chairman, defended
the President but agreed that
strong action was needed in re-
sponse to the plight of Russian
Jewry.

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treaty on the antarctic region, Rep.
Fulton said the Russians would
not prove insensitive to American
government intervention on behalf
of the Jews. He stressed that "flow-
ery phrases of sympathy" for Rus-
sian Jews were ineffective and
nothing less than direct diplomatic
action by the State Department
was vital.
He said he hoped for a resolu-
tion calling for an affirmative
policy by President Johnson and
the Secretary of State—imple-
mented on the diplomatic level
by direct intercession.
Rep. James Scheuer, New York
Democrat, commenting on the
hearing said "care must be taken
not to water down the resolution."
The Department of State, in the
face of strong protests by members
of the House Foreign Affairs Com-
mittee, Tuesday "clarified" a let-
ter to Rep. Leonard Farbstein
(New York Democrat) by a new
assertion that the department does
not object to a pending Congres-
sional resolution denouncing So-
viet anti-Semitism.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
14—Friday, May 14, 1965

9, Sun, 11-4

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