Major U.S. Jewish Groups to Act Jointly on Soviet Policy on Jews

A national Jewish conference, representing all major Jewish organizations–religious and secular–will be held in Washington on April 5 and 6, to voice the unified protest of American Jewry against the suppression of Jewish culture and Jewish religious rights in the Soviet Union, it was learned here today.

A decision to summon such a conference was adopted at a parley of representatives of Jewish organizations active in all phases of Jewish life in this country. The American Jewish Committee and the Synagogue Council of America agreed to Join in calling the Washington conference which will, in addition to discussing the situation of the Jews in the Soviet Union, also send a delegation to the White House. A delegation of the conference will also seek to present the recommendations of the parley to Anatoly Dobrynim, the Soviet Ambassador in Washington, for transmission to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.

At the preliminary parley held at the Hotel Delmonico here by representatives of all the interested Jewish organizations, tentative preparations were discussed for the broadest measures to attract the widest attention of the American people to the discriminations against Jewish culture and religion in the Soviet Union. The session, held in camera, appointed a coordinating committee to make the necessary preparations for the Washington conference, and to prepare a statement for publication, explaining the purpose of the conference and giving the names of the sponsoring organizations.