Two Jewish doctors here have been sentenced to three months imprisonment for circumcising a_ Jewish child in the municipal hospital of Petrozavodsk where they were employed. Both doctors, I. Iserson and David Baranov, at the trial were accused of executing a “barbaric rite” in a Soviet hospital and thereby disobeying an order of the government demanding separation of church and state. Conducting their own defence the physicians endeavored to prove that the operation was of an hygienic nature and not of a religious nature. The trial, which has evoked tremendous interest among the entire population, lasted until two o’clock in the morning. The doctors are appealing the sentence.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
