Charges that anti-Semitism existed on high governmental levels in Poland and that three employees of the Polish legation in Warsaw were framed on espionage charges so that Poland could demand the recall of Dr. Arieh Kubovy, Israel envoy to Warsaw during the period of the Slansky trials in Prague, were made here this week-end by Jozef Swiatlo, former deputy director of the Polish security forces, who has since defected and fled to haven in the United States.
At a press conference at the office of the Voice of America, Mr. Swiatlo said that at the time he examined the three men–Arieh Lerner, Abraham Futterwass and Scyjic Ausubel–and was convinced that they were innocent, but that when he reported this to the Vice Minister of the Security Department he was told the men had to be convicted because Prague had accused Dr. Kubovy of espionage and that Poland could not take a “back seat” in this affair.
The ex-Communist security officer said that the Joint Distribution Committee in Poland was also framed on espionage charges. He said a special Soviet representative was attached to the Polish security bureau to watch the JDC activities and that the crackdown on the JDC followed a decision by this man.
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.