One of seven Jewish scientists currently on a hunger strike in Moscow told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that he and his fellow strikers have not been molested by Soviet authorities. Alexander Luntz, a mathematician said in a telephone interview with the JTA Paris bureau that the hunger strikers had received no threats or “visits” from Soviet police and that they were in good health.
Earlier reports from other Jewish sources in the Soviet Union said that the seven hunger strikers and 11 other Moscow Jewish activists were arrested Sunday and were warned that they would be “sent away” unless they ceased their demonstrations.
The hunger strike began Sunday night to protest the refusal of Soviet authorities to grant the scientists exit visas. Luntz told the JTA that they were subsisting on water and were under the care of a Jewish doctor. He said he did not know how long the hunger strike would continue.
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.
