Fewer Leaving Than Want to Go Wjc Expresses “anxiety” over Plight of Russian Jews

The Governing Council of the World Jewish Congress registered “anxiety” at its closing session here Friday over the “increasing intimidation” of Soviet Jews, particularly those seeking exit permits to Israel. The Council also called for a world-wide commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the massacre of Jewish intellectuals in Russia which touched off the Stalin terror and marked the beginning of the liquidation of Jewish culture in the Soviet Union.

The resolution noted with appreciation the increased rate of Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union, and also “noted with regret that those who have been permitted to leave constitute only a small fraction of those who want to go.” The right to leave a country, the resolution said, is a basic human right of every person. The resolution also called attention to the continued imprisonment of 43 Russian Jews in forced labor camps, “often in harsh conditions.”

Dr. S. Levenburg, chairman of the WJC international affairs commission, who presented the report on Soviet Jewry, contrasted the cases of Angela Davis in California, who was freed in an open trial, with that of Sylvia Zalmanson, the Riga nurse who was sentenced to a labor camp only for demanding the right to leave for Israel.

GOLDMANN INVITES FOUR

The Council endorsed a proposal by Dr. Nahum Goldmann, WJC president, to invite four leading men in the WJC to work with him in dealing with its affairs. Those invited by Dr. Goldmann are Dr. Joachim Prinz of Orange, N.J., Governing Council Chairman; Dr. Tibor Rosenbaum of Geneva, treasurer; Dr. Gerhart Reigner of Geneva, secretary general; and Louis A. Pincus of Jerusalem, chairman of the executive of the World Zionist Organization.

The Council also took note of Dr. Goldmann’s intention to invite to meetings of this leadership all or some of the WJC regional chairmen, the heads of its international affairs and Israel political committees, heads of various departments, as well as representatives of major Jewish organizations affiliated with the WJC if their presence should be necessary for discussion of specific problems.

Since the Governing Council cannot make changes in the organizational structure of the WJC, it was understood that the WJC executive committee would review the situation at its meeting next year and confirm the composition of the leadership group, or make such changes as necessary. It was indicated that the final structure would rest with the plenary assembly which will meet in 1974 and make the necessary constitutional changes.