Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

Demonstrators Confront Russian Tourists; Demand Release of Jewish Prisoners

June 2, 1971
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

Jewish demonstrators confronted today about 300 Russian tourists near the grave of Karl Marx in Highgate Cemetery here. They carried placards demanding “Free all Jewish prisoners” and “Stop anti-Semitism in Russia.” The tourists, apparently forewarned by the Soviet Embassy, refused to accept leaflets. Many of them hid their faces from press photographers but others took photographs of the demonstration. There were no incidents. Police kept the demonstrators outside the cemetery gate and warned them not to try to approach the tomb of the founding father of modern Communism. But some of the demonstrators, using bull horns, hailed the tourists in Russian. They shouted, “Karl Marx was a Jew. Don’t you think Jews in Russia should be allowed to live as they want and follow their religion?” The demonstration was organized by the Universities Committee for Soviet Jewry and the Committee of 35, made up of Jewish housewives who have been maintaining a vigil at the Soviet Embassy to protest the detention and trials of Jewish women in the USSR.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement