Communist newspapers here reported today that a bronze bust of Solomon Mikhoels, noted Russian Jewish actor executed during the Stalinist purges, had been unveiled in Moscow. The papers did not indicate who had arranged the tribute to Mikhoels.
Mikhoels, a leader in the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee set up in Moscow after the Nazi invasion, performed a number of missions abroad for the Soviet Government during the war, particularly in seeking Jewish support abroad for the Soviet anti-Nazi war effort. He disappeared during the Stalin terror purges and the news of his execution was confirmed officially only after Stalin’s death.
According to the Communist press report here, a simple inscription on the bust, in Russian and Yiddish, says: “Solomon Mikhoels. 1890-1948.” Mikhoels was director of the Jewish State Theatre in Moscow prior to the liquidation of that theatre during the Stalin purge of Jewish intellectuals and the closing down of all Jewish cultural institutions.
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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.
