Soviet authorities released 17 Jewish activists held under house arrest but detained 30 others on Friday to prevent them from attending a vigil outside the Lenin Library to mark the sixth anniversary of the first Leningrad hijack trial, Jewish sources in Moscow reported.
The 17 who were permitted to leave their homes after four days under police guard were organizers of the symposium on the state of Jewish culture in the USSR. The symposium, scheduled to last three days, convened briefly on Tuesday but was forced to adjourn because its leaders were arrested. Would-be participants from the U.S., Israel and other countries were refused entry to the Soviet Union. According to Jewish sources, over 100 persons were detained for varying periods last week to prevent the symposium from taking place.
A number of Jews who arrived at the Lenin Library steps for the vigil Friday were headed off by police and plainclothesmen who escorted them to the nearest subway, the sources reported.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
