22 Congressmen Urge Nixon Action on Soviet Jewry

Twenty-two New York area Congressmen have informed the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry that they have urged President Nixon to stress the plight of Soviet Jews when he meets next month with Soviet Communist Party Secretary Leonid I. Brezhnev.

In a letter to the President, the lawmakers said: “The USSR has taken an important step in creating a favorable climate for public and Congressional support for better trade relations by declaring that it will no longer enforce the oppressive exit tax on Jews who wish to emigrate to Israel. But this is only a first step. There is still a long way to go before we can be convinced of the sincerity of the Soviet Union in allowing freedom of emigration.”

In particular, the lawmakers asked that the President plead the case of Silva Zalmanson who is currently serving 10 years at hard labor. Miss Zalmanson’s story had been brought to the Congressmen’s attention by her uncle, now a resident of New York. She and her husband, also in prison serving a 15 year sentence, were not political activists.

The Congressmen stressed, “their only desire was, and still is, to be allowed to leave the USSR and emigrate to the country of their choice. . . . Perhaps during the course of the visit,” they asked Nixon, “you could ask Chairman Brezhnev to free Silva Zalmanson and her relatives and allow them to leave for Israel. You (Mr. Nixon) could tell him how important this gesture would be toward convincing the American people that the Soviet Union is interested in the human rights of its citizens.”

Among the Congressmen who sent the letter were Bertram L. Podell, Shirley Chisholm, Mario Biaggi, Benjamin S. Rosenthal, Lester L.Wolff and Peter A. Peyser.