`Nixon Conveyed U. S. Position on Jewish prisoners in Moseow'
NEW YORK—A U.S. gov-
ernment "position" with re-
,pect to Jewish political
prisoners in the Soviet Union
was communicated by Presi-
dent Nixon to `Soviet govern-
ment leaders during the re-
cent summit conference, ac-
cording to Elliot Richardson,
secretary of health, education
and welfare.
In response to a request
that he protest to the Soviet
minister of health over con-
tinued confinement and mis-
treatment of Jewish and other
political dissidents in Soviet
mental institutions, Richard-
son stated in an Aug. 31 let-
ter to Shulamit Magnus of
the liational Center for Jewish
Policy Studies of Washing-
ton, D.C. that "during the
recent summit conference in
Moscow President Nixon
made clear to the Soviet
leaders the U.S position with
regard to the Jewish prison-
Although administration
spokesmen have previously
indicated generally that the
question of Soviet Jewry was
raised during the recent
summit tlaks in Moscow,
Richardson's letter is the first
statement from a high ad-
ministration official that the
United States has formulated
a position with respect to the
Jewish prisoners and that
President Nixon has person-
ally communicated American
concern for Soviet Jews to
the Soviet government.
Some Jewish leaders here
and in the Soviet Union feel
tthat the Soviet government
has hardened its attitude to-
ward Jewish citizens since
President Nixon's visit to
Moscow, as evidenced by the
dramatic increase in the
price of exit visas and by in-
creasingly harsh criticism of
Jewish dissidents in the So-
viet press.
The National Center for
Jewish Policy Studies, a
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Washington-based organiza-
tion which carries out re-
search projects on matters
of public policy relating to
Jewish interets, has asked
Richardson and the White
House for details of the
American position with re-
spect to the imprisonment of
Jewish leaders in the Soviet
Union and for a description
of any measures taken since
the summit to alleviate the
plight of Soviet Jews.
Earlier, Dr. Henry Kis-
singer, the President's ad-
viser on national security,
said the issue of the new
high Soviet charges for exit
permits for university-edu-
cated Russion Jews was rais-
ed "in a number of ways"
during his lengthy talks with
Soviet Communist Party
chief Leonid Brezhnev and
Foreign Minister Andrei Gro-
myko in Moscow.
Dr. Kissinger made the dis-
closure in response to a ques-
tion from the Jewish Tele-
graphic Agency correspond-
ent during a briefing. He
added he would not discuss
the Soviet viewpoint on the
issue. He spoke with the two
Soviet leaders a total of 24
hours.
He also declined to com-
ment on White House views
on linking the issue of the
high exit fees with the pro-
jected treaty for American-
Soviet trade.
He said he thought the
treaty would be ready for
Congress by the end of this
year and that "when and if
we conclude an agreement,
we will submit it to Congress
for its approval and there can
then be a full debate on it."
He said the White House
views as "extremely serious"
the concern in Congress over
the high exit fees.
He also was asked about
air piracy and other forms of
terrorism.
He recalled that Secretary
of State William P. Rogers
has made approaches for con-
trol of terrorism to leaders
of many countries. He added
that, in his talks with British,
West German, French and
Soviet officials last week "we
did underline the importance
of this subject."
He said the problem was
being "pursued very actively"
by the State Department in
diplomatic channels and ad-
ded that "effective control
needs global cooperation."
Michigan Congressman Wil-
liam Broomfield, in an ad-
dress on the floor of the
House, expressed his "out-
rage and shock" at the "ran-
som" fees.
"However," he said, "we
have every reason to believe
that a strong show of support
by the United States for the
plight of the Soviet Jewry
will result in a removal of
these exorbitant fees. We
should put the USSR on
notice that many of the fav-
orable trade and credit poli-
cies that she seeks from this
country will be impossible as
long as this practice con-
tinues."
Rep. Dante Fascell (D.
Fla.) urged President Nixon
to bar shipments of wheat to
Russia until the ransom is
removed.
Fascell, a ranking mem-
ber of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, said in
a House speech that as much
as $340,000,000 in ran -
som m one y—much of it
donated by American Jews
to help their Russian brothers
—may be used to pay for the
$750,000,000 in grain the U.S.
has agreed to sell to the
Soviets.
"This in effect, puts
Americans in the position of
buying the grain for the So-
viets," Fascell contended.
Mitterand Plans Soviet
Visit Despite Snub
COPENHAGEN (JTA) —
French Socialist Party lead-
er Francois Mitterand told
the Jewish Telegrapihc
Agency that he planned to
go to the Soviet Union even
though his presence was un-
wanted there because of his
support for Soviet Jews seek-
ing emigration visas.
Mitterand, who is visiting
Denmark for Common Mark-
et talks with Premier Gens
Otto Krag, said his position
was made plain in his open
letter to Piotr Abrasimov,
the Soviet ambassador to
France.
As a result of that letter
supporting Soviet Jews, Mos-
cow called off Mitterand's
visit in November as the head
of a delegation of French
Socialists and Communists.
A group of famous British
artists and writers sent a
cable to Leonid Brezhnev,
secretary of the Soviet Com-
munist Party, in protest
against the ransom tsx.
The initiative for the move
was taken by Laurence Oli-
vier, and the signatories in
addition to him included
Peggy Ashcroft, Richard At-
tenborough, John Gielgud,
novelist Daphne Du Maurier
Yehudi Menuhin, playwright
Robert Bolt, David Star, edi-
tor of the Sunday Observer,
and Alastair Hetherington,
editor of the Guardian.
The National Conference
on Soviet Jewry learned that
three leading Moscow Jew-
ish activists, Vladimir Sle-
pak, Viktor Polsky and Ro-
man Rutman, were taken
on Yom Kippur to Letfortovo
Prison for interrogation.
Letfortovo Prison is the
same prison in which Ilya
Glezer was held f or six
months prior to his trial on
Aug. 22.
Jewish sources in Moscow
fear that the detention of the
three men could signal the
beginning of an attempt on
the part of Soviet authorities
to link these activists in a
"conspiracy" trial.
Tuesday afternoon, 30 peo-
ple went to the Supreme So-
viet to protest the pending
decree on exit visas, the
NCSJ reported. The Supreme
Soviet was meeting to decide
whether to ratify the pro-
hibitive visa fees. The group
was dispersed. Three mem-
bers refused tto leave.
Sixteen of the 30 who did
leave were picked up later
by Soviet authorities on the
streets and in their homes,
the NCSJ said. These were
reported to be key Jewish
activists.
In an earlier incident, So-
viet authorities suddenly
closed Arkhipova Street,
where Moscow's Choral Syn-
agogue is located, at 8 a.m.
on Yom Kippur.
Hundreds of Moscow Jews
who normally attend syna-
gogue on Yom Kippur just
for Yizkor service were un-
able to do so.
The closing of the street on
Yam Kippur came a week
after groups of Jews were
dispersed by militia when
they attempted to approach
the synagogue on Rosh Ha-
shana.
Tel Aviv University has
launched a worldwide cam-
paign to press Soviet authori-
ties to permit the emigration
of Benjamin Levich, a noted
electro-chemist, who has ap-
plied in vain for a visa to go
to Israel.
A university spokesman
reported that 500 letters were
were sent to scientists all
over the world asking for
their help. The letters were
sent to Nobel laureates, heads
of science faculties, presi-
dents of scientific institutions
and the editors of science
journals.
Levich was dismissed from
his teaching post and ousted
from the Soviet Academy of
Science after applying for a
visa.
He was the first to reveal
the new Soviet policy of de-
manding exorbitant visa fees
from college-educated Jews
seeking to emigrant.
Tel Aviv University said it
had a
full professorship
awaiting him in its chemistry
department when he reached
Israel.
Three Jewish families who
arrived from the Soviet Union
last week said that 70 per
cent of the Jewish college
graduates who want to emi-
e
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Solidarity With Soviet Jewry
to Be Shown on Simhat Torah
The traditional Torah pro-
cession on Simhat Torah will
be observed at a special
gathering on behalf of Soviet
Jewry 8 p.m. Oct. 1 at Cong.
Bnai David.
The program, to which the
public is invited, is under
the auspices of the Jewish
Community Council and the
Detroit Action Committee on
Soviet awry.
Guest speaker will be So-
viet Jewry authority Prof.
Zvi Gitelman. Also on the
program will be readings,
entertainment by the Habo-
nim dancers and Hashomer
Hatzair choral group and
community singing led by
Ruth Gill.
The program is timed to
follow Simhat Torah services
in area synagogues, so that
all may attend.
Purpose of the gathering
is to express solidarity with
Soviet Jews, who gather by
the tens of thousands in front
of Moscow's Choral Syna-
gogue to defy Soviet stric-
tures on their cultural and
religious life.
- ;rate to Israel will be pre-
vented from doing so because
of the exorbitant visa fees.
The families, Feldman, Mo-
seson and Spiers, said they
each paid 5;000 rubles, the
equivalent of $5,500, for their
visas. The fees were rel-
atively low because the fami-
ly heads did their studying
at a night school.
A Dutch member of Am-
nesty International who re-
cently visited the Soviet
Union claimed that the high
visa fees are in fact encour-
aging more Russian Jews to
-emigrate.
In a letter to Ms. Bella Rav-
din, the Israeli representa-
tive of the London-based or-
ganization that aids political
prisoners, the Dutch mem-
ber reported that even Jews
who had not contemplated
emigration are now consider-
ing it.
Jewish sources in the So-
viet Union reported that 100
Jews have publicly renounc-
ed their citizenship as a pro-
test against what they term-
ed "the failure of the Soviet
government to denoune or
even condemn the Munich
outrage."
In Oslo, representatives of
five Norwegian parliament-.
ary parties wrote to the So-
viet government protesting
the tax imposed on educated
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
16—Friday, Sept. 22, 1972
I.
emigrants. Former Prime $
Minister Per Borton was
among the signatories.
The Belgian government
has officially protested the (.5
Soviet exit charges in a mes-
sage from Prime Minister
Gaston Eyskens to the Bel-
gian section of the World
Jewish
Congress.
The prime minister declar-
ed that the Belgian govern-
ment had raised the issue
with Soviet authorities and
intended to "examine with
its European partners the op-
portunity of bringing op this
•
(Continued •n Page 17)
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