Mother, Congressmen Appeal for Release of Levich
•
(Continued from Page 1) •
Evgeny's health — and per-
haps for his life.
"Mr. President! I am ap-
pealing to you since I'm sure
as the President of the United
States of America you are
deeply concerned with prob-
lems of justice and human-
ism. I am appealing to you—
be concerned with the fate of
those seeking to emigrate to
Israel. I am appealing to you
also because I am sure that
it is within your powers to
have my son and thus our
whole family."
Mr. Nixon and Soviet
Communist Party Secretary
Leonid I. Brezhnev are being
asked by congressmen to
bring about Levich's release.
He reportedly has been sent
to a camp for "social and
political misfits" operated by
the military near Lake Bai-
kal on the Soviet-Chinese
border.
Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman
(R.NY) urged Brezhnev and
Soviet Ambassador Anatoly
F. Dobrynin to "use their
good offices" in obtaining
the release of Levich, the
son of the famed Soviet Jew-
ish physicist Benjamin Le-
vich. "Both father and son
have made public their de-
sires to leave Russia," Gil-
man said in reporting that
he had sent messages to the
Soviet leaders.
Another letter on the sub-
ject was sent to Mr. Nixon
and Dobrynin by Rep. Bert-
ram L. Podell (D.NY). Po-
dell said that the Levich kid-
naping provided further evi-
dence of the need to pass
the Mills-Vanik bill which
would deny most-favored-
nation status to the Soviet
Union until it relaxed its
emigration policy.
In his letter to the Presi-
dent, Podell said that Le-
vich's abduction "particular-
ly at this crucial point in the
relations between these two
nations is unconscionable."
Writing to Dobrynin, Po-
dell demanded that young
Levich "be immediately re-
leased and returned to Mos-
cow for the medical treat-
ment he so desperately
needs," and then permitted
to emigrate.
Levich had been ordered
several weeks ago to report
for army duty. His induction
was pending a hospital re-
port on his internal dis-
orders.
On his way to the hospital
for an examination several
unidentified persons grabbed
A Detroit delegation will
take part in an assembly
on behalf of Soviet Jews
2 p.m. June 17 at the
Ellipse in Washington,
D. C. For information,
call the Jewish Commu-
nity Council, 962-1880.
him and threw him into a
waiting car which sped
away. Members of his family
said the abductors were from
the military and one civilian.
They reportedly added that
Levich was sent to the camp
without undergoing a med-
ical examination.
In Manchester, England,
Deputy Mayor Yevgeny Go-
golev of Leningrad met with
representatives of the local
Jewish community in the
lord mayor's office but failed
to convince them that all was
well with Jews in Leningrad
18 Friday, May 25, 1973
—
and in the Soviet Union
generally.
The Russian official and
Leningrad's famed Kirov
Ballet are visiting Manches-
ter as guests of Lord Mayor
Edward Grant and the City
Council.
But the visit has been
marred by repeated confron-
tations between the Russians
and Jewish and non-Jewish
activists demanding an end
to the mistreatment of Soviet
Jews.
Jews are particularly in-
censed over the ouster of
Valery Panov and his wife
Galina from the Kirov com-
pany because they had ap-
plied for visas to go to Is-
rael.
They also continually re-
minded the Russians of the
Jewish defendants in th'
Leningrad hijack trials now
serving long prison terms in
Soviet prisons and forced
labor camps.
A performance of the Kirov
Ballet was disrupted by
shouts, catcalls and the un-
furling of banners from the
balcony by activists. Police
hustled some demonstrators
out of the hall but others re-
mained and continued to in-
terupt the visiting artists
with shouted demands for
justice for Soviet Jews. No
arrests were made.
About 70 women dressed
in black, members of the "35
Committee," rose in the bal-
cony and unfurled banners
referring to the Jews im-
prisoned after the Leningrad
trials and the ouster of the
Panovs from the Kirov
troupe.
Earlier, in Bonn, another
Soviet spokesman said that
there are no laws directed
for or against Jews in tin
USSR.
L. M. Samyatin, directo:
general of Tass, the Soviet
news agency, addressed
press conference as meetings
were held between Soviet
Communist Party Secretary
Brezhnev and West German
Chancellor Willy Brandt. He
contended that Jews were
able to emigrate but that
very few Jews now want to
go to Israel.
While the Brandt-Brezhnev
talks continued, members of
the Action Committee for
Jews in the Soviet Union
erected a large cage sur-
rounded by barbed-wire on
one of the main squares in
Bonn. Inside were two Jew-
ish students wearing concen-
tration camp clothing and
numbers, and bearing the
Star of David.
Two placards were set up
bearing the words: "Brezh-
nev — let the Jews go" and
"Freedom for Jewish prison-
ers in the USSR."
The police, meanwhile, re-
leased Michael Pick, 28, a
nuclear physicist from Juel-
ich, whom they arrested
while he was demonstrating
with the action committee.
Not far from the commit-
tee's cage, a 70-year-old Is-
raeli carried banners read-
ing "Seven years' separa-
tion" and "Brezhnev — let
my wife and son go to Is-
rael."
The Israeli tried to hand
Samyatin a letter to Brezh-
nev to plead for his wife and
son. Samyatin rejected the
request, saying: "I'm not the
minister of posts."
New York Mayor John V.
I Lindsay presented a detailed
report on his visit to the
Soviet Union May 3-9, more
than half of the 15 closely
typed pages of which were
devoted to the problems of
Soviet Jews seeking to emi-
grate.
He stated in the report
that while the Soviet regime
was responsive to world
opinion, "We should not be
optimistic that all, or even
most, of the disputed cases
involving Jewish profes-
sionals and scientists can be
satisfactorily resolved in the
near future."
At another point, the
mayor's report stated: "The
truth is, I believe, that no
matter how far the Soviets
may be willing to move,
there still will be many diffi-
cult cases left to deal with.
We must all be realistic
about that prospect and not
confuse any softening or ac-
commodation on their part
with their basic reluctance
to face the fundamental issue
of freedom to travel and
emigrate."
Lindsay said that Soviet
Jews were bearing up re-
markably well under the
tension and uncertainty of
their daily existence and that
"they frankly believe that
the more public attention
they receive, the more their
chances for emigration in-
creases and the less likely
they are to suffer coercion."
He said that "support and
encouragement of a serious
and responsible nature from
America is absolutely vital
to their survival."
An appeal to "those who
are concerned with the fate
of Jews who wish to emi-
grate from the Soviet Union"
was issued by 42 Moscow
Jewish activists to American
Jews urging them not to be
lulled by -Soviet offers to
grant token concessions on
emigration rights if Ameri-
can Jews refrain from dem-
onstrating during Soviet
Communist Party Secretary
Leonid I. Brezhnev's visit to
Washington next month.
The appeal noted that Dr.
Henry Kissinger, President
Nixon's national security ad-
viser, reportedly gave Brezh-
nev a list of Soviet Jews who
have been refused exit visas.
The list was given to Dr.
Kissinger by a group of
American Jewish leaders
who met with him just be-
fore he left for the Soviet
Union earlier this month.
When he returned, he told
a White House press briefing
that Soviet leaders were as-
sured they would be treated
with courtesy and respect
during their visit, "and we
have every hope that all
Americans will bear in mind
that Mr. Brezhnev will be
Dori Kashkosh in Shock
After Parents' Death
TEL AVIV (JTA) — A
tourist who claimed he saw
Dort Kashkosh in Baghdad
said she has made several
suicide attempts and is still
in a state of shock following
the slaying of her parents,
two brothers and sister by
Iraqi police April •12.
The tourist, who arrived
from Baghdad over the week-
end, said the girl is living
with an elderly Jewish wo-
man and no longer attends
classes at the university
where she was the morning
her family was murdered.
He said Iraqi authorities
have confiscated her pass-
port.
According to the tourist,
the girl's life is in danger.
He suggested that student
organizations all over the
world be alerted to her sit-
uation.
The executive of the
World Zionist Organization
met here to hear reports
from chairman Louis Pincus
about the situation of Syrian
and Iraqi Jewry.
The full executive, includ-
ing its overseas members,
are in Jerusalem for meet-
ings, followed by a meeting
of Jewish Agency's board of
governors.
Pincus said that after a
period of comparative quiet,
reports were coming through
again of Iraqi persecution of
the remaining 400 Jews
there, some of whom had
disappeared and are feared
murdered.
The situation in Syria al-
so has deteriorated, he said,
with 4,000 Jews remaining
there forced to live in a
ghetto, in conditions akin to
the Nazi period. Their free-
dom of movement is cur-
tailed and their doors are
painted with red marks to
signify Jewish occupants,
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Lately, some Syrian Jews
have disappeared and are
believed dead.
Deputy Premier Yigal Al-
Ion said that Israel has tak-
en steps to alleviate the
situation of Jews in Iraq and
Syria but did not disclose
the nature of the steps. Allon
spoke in reply to questions
at a meeting with high school
students in Haifa.
The Central Jewish Com-
munity of Mexico has sent
a telegram to Foreign Min-
ister Emilio Rabasa inform-
ing him of the tragic situa-
tion of Iraqi Jewry and ask-
ing that the Mexican govern-
ment intervene to save the
remnant of Iraq's Jewish
community.
The committee also pub-
lished a statement in all
Mexican newspapers protest-
ing against the massacre of
the Kashkosh family and
urging public moral support.
The local Arab-Jewish com-
munities organized mourn-
ing meetings and religious
services at temples here for
Jews murdered in Iraq.
In New York, some 70
people, most of them mem-
bers of the American Jewish
Congress, demonstrated in
front of the Iraq Mission to
the United Nations to pro-
test the Kashkosh murders.
Congressman Mario Biaggi
and Assemblyman Albert
Blumenthal, both candidates
in the New York Democratic
mayoral primary, joined the
protestors.
Blumenthal, who arrived
at the beginning of the de-
monstration, delivered a
letter of protest addressed
to Abdul Al-Shaikhly, Iraq
UN ambassador. Biaggi at-
tempted to deliver the same
protest letter, but it was not
accepted, apparently after
the contents of the letter
were read in the Iraqi Mis-
sion.
here as a guest of the U. S.
government for extremely
important purposes in con-
nection with the peace of the
world."
The Jews' appeal stated,
in part: "We want peace and
prosperity for all, too — but
not at our expense. We pre-
sume that in the next few
weeks some well-known
names will be offered in ex-
change for maintaining sil-
ence during Brezhnev's visit.
We congratulate the lucky
ones. But remember, no Jew
is worth more than another.
No one's liberty should be
paid by the captivity of, and
at the expense of, others.
Only if all those families
(who have been refused exit
visas) are granted permis-
sion to leave could it be con-
sidered a gesture of good
will that the Soviet Union is
so eager to demonstrate, and
that the civilized world would
be eager to applaud. As long
as those people are here, all
promises made for the future
will not be convincing."
In addition, the appeal
stated that "we must not
forget the desire of our
brothers and sisters present-
ly in labor camps and pris-
ons to go to Israel. Present-
ly, without any need to
change a line in Soviet legis-
lation, their sentences can
be revised."
Among the signatories were
Alexander Lerner, Vladimir
Slepak, Kiril Henkin, Viktor
Polsky and Alexander Voro-
nel.
In Tel Aviv, a group of
Jewish immigrants from the
Soviet Union petitioned Presi-
dent Nixon to withdraw his
opposition to the Jackson
Amendment. The group pre-
sented their petition to U. S.
Charge d'Affaires Owen Zer-
hullen at the U. S. Embassy
here.
The petitioners told Zer-
hullen that if the amendment
is rejected, nothing would
prevent the Soviet authorities
from intensifying its oppres-
sion of Russian Jews.
activists
Jewish
Soviet
staged simultaneous hunger
strikes this weekend in Kish-
inev, Riga and Leningrad to
protest against the increas-
ing numbers of Jews who
are refused exit visas, it was
reported by the National
Conference on Soviet Jewry.
The strike in Leningrad
also marked the second an-
niversary of the second
Leningrad trial.
The NCSJ reported that
new exit visa requests by 15
Jews in Moscow were re-
jected last week by the ovir
office and that a number of
new requests were also turn-
ed down in Kiev and Tash-
kent.
The refusals in Tashkent
were ominous, the NCSJ
said, because Jews from that
city had no difficulties earlier
in receiving visas. Among
the Jews in Moscow who
were turned down was Mark
Azbel, the son of the former
p:efe.ssor of chemical en-
gineering, David Azbel.
Interreligious Task Force
Says Struggle for Soviet
Jews Must Continue
WASHINGTON (JTA) —
The National Interreligious
Task Force on Soviet Jewry
said that is is committed "to
the continuous struggle which
will not end until every So-
viet Jew can either live as
a Jew or leave for the nation
of his choice."
The statement by the or-
ganization made up of Catho-
lics, Protestants and Jews,
blacks and whites, was given
to Sen. Henry M. Jackson
(D.Wash.) at his office at
the Capital in connection
with their two-day executive
committee session.
The statement also
-
that the task force is
ened" that sponsors of the
Jackson-Mills-Vanik legisla-
tion "clearly understand"
that although the change in
the Soviet attitude toward
emigration of its citizens is
important, it "does not alter
the basic problems confront-
ing Jews in the USSR."
This was in reference to
the "suspension" by the So-
viet leadership of the educa-
tion tax on emigrants.
In presenting the state-
ment, Sister Margaret Ellen
Traxler, president of the Na-
tional Coalition of American
Nuns and executive director
of the National Catholic Con-
ference on Interracial Justice
in Chicago, remarked that at
a time when the integrity of
the U. S. governmental lead-
ers was questioned it was
encouraging to see Jackson
and others in Congress sup-
porting human rights.
The Synagogue Council of
America expressed "unwav-
ering support" for the Jack-
son Amendment and the
Mills-Vanik bill as an "enter-
prise on behalf of human
dignity."
In a policy statement
adopted by the SCA's execu-
tive committee, the central
coordinating agency for the
major national synagogal
and rabbinic organizations of
Orthodox, Conservative and
Reform Judaism also ex-
pressed "profound gratitude
for President Nixon's expres-
sion of concern for the plight
of Soviet Jews" which he
communicated in a meeting
with Jewish community rep-
resentatives on April 19.
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