British Jews Appeal to Moscow; Plead for Jewish Religious Rights

The Board of Deputies of British Jews appealed to the authorities of the Soviet Union today to “reverse the present harsh measures against the Jewish religion and culture.” The appeal was voiced on behalf of the Board by the organization’s president, Sir Barnett Janner, after the monthly meeting of the deputies yesterday.

Sir Barnett called on the USSR “to provide conditions under which the Jewish community in the Soviet Union could organize its religious and cultural life in accordance with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

“Unfortunately,” Sir Barnett said, “the position of Jews in the Soviet Union has now become even more serious, with the reports of the arrest of prominent Moscow Jews, and the disbanding of the Vaad Yeshiva, (the Board of the Jewish Rabbinical Seminary) in Moscow. We pray that these events do not foreshadow a return to the anti-Jewish atmosphere of the Stalin era.”

The Board of Deputies also discussed yesterday the situation of the Jews in West Germany. Developments there, Sir Barnett said, “are most disturbing.” He noted that the coalition government entered by West Germany’s partners in the new Bonn Government “includes provisions for an improved status for former Nazis and former members of the SS.”

Prior to that agreement, said the Board president, there was a continuing program in West Germany for the apprehension of war criminals and for the removal of former active Nazis from public office. “However,” he said, “there is no convincing evidence that these efforts have as yet reached such a stage as to eliminate the danger of a revival of the Nazi spirit.”

“It is only a few years,” he continued, “since Germany was permeated with the propaganda of Hitlerism, and less than two years since the world was shocked by an outbreak of anti-Semitic manifestations in Germany. It is too soon for a relaxation of de-nazification measures and for any encouragement to be given to the emergence of a neo-Nazi movement. As long as any former active Nazis or members of the SS remain in official or other influential positions, no confidence can be felt in the security of a democratic way of life in Germany.”