Political and civic leaders lead some 400 people in a 10-mile “Walk-a-Thon” through Brooklyn today to aid Soviet Jews. The event was co-sponsored by the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry and the Brooklyn Coalition for Soviet Jewry. Eugene Gold, Brooklyn District Attorney and president of the Brooklyn Coalition, said a goal of $10,000 has been set to raise funds for Passover packages which will be delivered to Jews in the Soviet Union, especially those who are in conflict with the Soviet government and who are imprisoned “either physically or spiritually.”
Gold noted that Passover has been a traditional time of solidarity for Jews. He declared that support at this time is especially needed and critical to insure that Soviet Jews are not forgotten during this period of growing detente between the Soviet Union and the Western world. Many of the marchers were dressed in prison garb worn by Soviet prisoners.
Also participating in the “Walk-a-Thon” was Rep. Hugh L. Carey (D.NY), Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman (D.NY), City Department of Investigations Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, Brooklyn Boro President Sebastian Leone, Bronx Boro President Robert Abrams, and Assemblyman Antonio Olivieri. Mayor Abraham D. Beame, who was scheduled to participate, was unable to attend. He and Governor Malcolm Wilson were at a press conference where they announced a massive “Solidarity Day” rally for Soviet Jews next month in New York. (See separate story.)
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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.
