Ajcsj in Nationwide Campaign to Mark First Anniversary of Leningrad Trial

The American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry announced today the inauguration of a major nationwide campaign to mark the first anniversary of the initial Leningrad trial on December 15, 1970. This “show trial” ended in lengthy labor camp sentences for seven Jewish activists and death sentences, later commuted for two others. The date, Dec. 15, coincides this year with the third day of Chanukah.

As the opening gun in its campaign, Jerry Goodman, executive director of the AJCSJ said that the Conference is mailing out a special information kit to its entire membership. The kit includes a list of names and addresses of Jewish prisoners in the USSR; the final pleas of the defendants at the Leningrad trial; and a list of suggestions to Conference members on how to help the cause of the prisoners.

The suggestion list urges that special attention be given to the case of Silva Zalmanson Kuznetsov who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Pregnant when arrested, she lost her baby in a labor camp. She has been denied medical care for several serious ailments and may not live long.

Goodman pointed out that this information package is only the first step in a concerted, nationwide, interfaith campaign on behalf of the prisoners. Among the major upcoming events is “Freedom Lights for Soviet Jewry” at Madison Square Garden December 13th, on the eve of the first anniversary of the initial Leningrad trial. This massive gathering is being co-sponsored by the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry and the Center for Russian Jewry, and will focus on the plight of the Jewish prisoners, especially that of Mrs. Kuznetsov.