More than 15,000 demonstrators marched in downtown Los Angeles tonight to protest the arrest and trial of Soviet Jews. The demonstration, the candlelight walk for Soviet Jews, witnessed the largest crowd to ever participate in a Soviet Jewry rally outside of New York, according to observers. Councilman Thomas Bradley, a black City Councilman told the rally, “We must remember the six million Jews who were sent to the gas ovens 30 years ago. By the same token we must never let it happen again.” The demonstration was sponsored by the California Students for Soviet Jews and the Southern California Council for Soviet Jews, both members of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, a national grass roots movement dedicated to the liberation of Soviet Jews. The crowd repeatedly chanted “let the Jews go” as their voices echoed throughout the streets of downtown Los Angeles. The demonstrators all carried candles. A menorah was lit in celebration of the eight days of Chanukah. Each candle was dedicated to a Soviet Jewish political prisoner.
Zev Yaroslavsky and Si Frumkin, chairmen of the two organizations, said in a prepared statement that “We will raise our voices in ever growing protest so long as the Soviet Union continues to provoke its Jewish population. This demonstration tonight is a tribute to the entire community–the grass roots.” The rally was also addressed by Edmund D. Brown Jr. Secretary of State of California, Mayor Sam Yorty and a host of other political leaders. Police were forced to close off the area surrounding City Hall in order to accommodate the unprecedented crowd. There was no violence. The demonstration was called at this time in order to maximize public pressure against the Soviet Union in regard to the Leningrad trials. Yaroslavsky said. “Last year after the candlelight walk within hours of the demonstration word of the protest was beamed into the Soviet Union for millions of Jews to hear. Tonight we know that the message will arrive in twice the time, twice the potency and twice the meaning. We will not be silent.” The march was highlighted by the arrival of a torch which was flown from Modin, Israel, the birthplace of the Maccabees, to Los Angeles in order to light the menorah.
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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.
