A granddaughter of the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt made public today a photograph taken in the Leningrad synagogue with Gedalia R. Pechersky,leader of the Jewish religious community in Leningrad, on the back of which the subsequently imprisoned Jewish leader had written “please don’t forget us.”
The New York Herald Tribune, in reproducing the photograph, speculated that such encounters with foreign visitors “may well have constituted a major part” of the case against Mr. Pechersky. He was tried in semi- secrecy last fall, convicted on charges of “espionage” for Israel and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment. He sent the photograph, taken in the Leningrad synagogue, to Miss Kate Roosevelt, now Mrs. William Haddad.
Mrs. Haddad recalled her chance visit with Mr. Pechersky, which happened while she was on a routine vacation tour of Russia in 1956 with friends. The group decided to go to Leningrad from Moscow. One of the items on the group’s list of places to see was the synagogue. When they arrived, a special service was in progress. At the close of the service, they were surrounded by members of the congregation and the photograph was taken. In the fall of 1956, soon after her return to New York, she received the photograph from Mr. Pechersky. On its back was written:
“I send you this photo that will remind you of the days when you were in Leningrad and visited with your friends at the Central Synagogue. My best wishes and happiness to you, Miss Roosevelt, and to your great grandmother, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt. We are proud that we have such a beloved friend of the Jewish nation and especially of the Russian Jews. We are very thankful for the brave and noble deeds. Heaven and mankind will never forget it. And please don’t forget us!”
The Herald Tribune asserted that Washington experts felt that “the wholly coincidental, unplanned and inconsequential encounter which Mr. Pechersky had with Miss Roosevelt, and scores, perhaps hundreds of similar encounters, including Americans, may well have constituted a major part of the case against him.” For Mrs. Haddad the encounter was simply one of the many routine incidents in the life of a tourist.
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.
