The bombing of a synagogue in Kutaisi, a town in the Soviet Republic of Georgia, was reported here this week-end as having taken place during the first week in June. The front of the synagogue was damaged. Local authorities removed two other bombs planted in the synagogue, the report said.
This is the second time within a month when the destruction of synagogues by terrorists was attempted in Georgia. The first attempt was made at the Georgian town of Tskhakya, where a synagogue was heavily damaged by fire and where religious objects, including 13 Torah scrolls, prayer shawls and prayer books were burned. Traces of gasoline were reported to have been found. An American tourist who happened to be on the scene photographed the remnants of the burned Torahs and brought the pictures to this country.
The New York Times, in a cable today from Moscow said that some Jews in the Soviet Union fear that “latent anti-Semitism among the population may be stirred up” by the attention given in the Soviet press to Jews among the persons arrested or executed for so-called economic crimes. “One of the objectives of the publicity, according to Soviet officials, is to deter would-be offenders. However, a by-product of the campaign has been to stir apprehension of a revival of anti-Semitism because a considerable number of Jews have been condemned in the campaign against currency and gold speculation, ‘ the Moscow cable said.
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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.
