Two Soviet Jews face possible prison sentences and a third has been threatened with prosecution in the latest wave of trials and harassment of Jews in the USSR, the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry reported today. According to reports from the Soviet Union, Sendor Levenzon faces a prison term of up to seven years in a forced, labor camp if he is convicted on charges of illegal currency speculation. Levenzon’s trial began in Benderi on May 27 and is continuing, the GNYCSJ reported.
In Moscow, Anatoly Malkin has been arrested for draft evasion and could be sentenced to 10 years in prison if he is brought to trial. Meanwhile, Prof. Mark Azbel was summoned to KGB (secret police) headquarters in Moscow and warned that he will be prosecuted unless he discontinues the scientific seminars he has been conducting in his apartment.
The seminars are attended by Soviet Jewish scientists who have been dismissed from their jobs and, occasionally, by visiting scientists from abroad. Their purpose is to keep the unemployed scientists abreast of developments in their fields. The seminars were started several years ago by Prof. Alexander Voronel who has since immigrated to Israel. They have repeatedly come under harassment and threats from the Soviet authorities.
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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.
