Discrepancies Exist Between Shumilin’s Statement and Jews Seeking Emigration

Michael Fidler, chairman of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, urged that the fullest publicity be given to the discrepancies between the condition of Soviet Jews and a recent statement by Soviet Deputy Minister of Interior Boris Shumilin that most Jews who apply for emigration visas get them. Fidler recently returned from the Geneva meeting of the “Brussels Praesidium,” a group established to follow through on the decisions taken at the World Conference for Soviet Jewry held in Brussels in the winter of 1971.

He told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Shumilin’s statement was carefully examined in light of the known facts and “We came to the conclusion that the facts of the situation do not correspond at all with the Minister’s statement.” He said that “this should be put on the record” because “evan an important journal in this country has been led to believe that a new era has dawned” in the Soviet Union. “There is nothing to indicate it at all and the struggle must continue,” Fidler said. He did not name the journal.

Senator Jacob K. Javits (R.NY) and Senator Abraham Ribicoff (D.Conn.) introduced legislation to mark April 29th in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the uprising against the Nazi occupation forces by the beleaguered and outnumbered Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto. The bill seeks a Presidential proclamation declaring April 29th to be observed “with appropriate ceremonies and activities.” A similar measure was enacted 10 years ago on the 20th anniversary of the uprising.

El Al will be taking delivery of its third Boeing 747 on April 23 in Lod, it was announced in New York by Menachem Cohen, vice-president. El Al’s new flight schedule, beginning April 29 will for the first time provide non-stop 747 westbound service, twice weekly, Tel Aviv-N.Y. El Al already offers five weekly non-stop flights from New York to Tel Aviv.