Jewish sources in the Soviet Union reported today that two activists, Hillel Butman and Anatol Altman, have been sentenced to 15-day jail terms which they are presently serving although no charges against them have been disclosed. Their sentences run from May 14-29. The 15-day jail terms are usual administrative sentences for “hooliganism.” Butman and Altman are not known to have committed any offense except for applying for exit visas to go to Israel. The Jewish sources assume they were jailed to keep them out of circulation while President Nixon is in Moscow.
Eighteen Jews in Riga and seven in Leningrad, ended a three-day hunger strike today. They were protesting against the rejection of their visa applications without explanation, Jewish sources reported. The sources disclosed that the numerous appeals to Nixon from Jews all over the Soviet Union include one signed by four Kharkov Jews who charged that Soviet authorities were forcibly preventing their “repatriation” to Israel and thus denying them a basic human right. The. signers were Solomon and Tamara Greenberg, Michael Kerbel and Yuri Brind.
FEWER DIFFICULTIES FOR GEORGIAN JEWS
The 2500 Jews in Sukhumi, a town of 40,000 in Soviet Georgia, are experiencing fewer difficulties than Jews in other Soviet cities, Jewish sources reported. Most have applied for exit permits to go to Israel and Soviet officials in the visa office treat the applicants with courtesy and even help them fill out their application forms before filing them. Jewish emigrants from Georgia encounter difficulties with the authorities only when they reach Moscow or other points of departure, the sources said.
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.
