A system of passports for the “declassed” od all races and nationalities, something on the lines of the passports for alien registration suggested last wear in the United States, is proposed in to-day’s issue of the “Isvestia”, and the proposal is to be given serious attention in the pages of the entire Soviet press.
Such a passport system is necessary, the “Isvestia” says, because the “declassed” are in the habit of leaving their home-towns, where they are known for what they are, and going to other places where people are not aware that they are “declassed” and they manage to establish themselves there and gain admission as members of the trade unions. This can be prevented by the authorities stamping the documents of every declassed person in such a way as to make it impossible for him to conceal his social and political status.
Such drastic legislation against the “declassed” is justified by the writer of the article on the ground that the “declassed”, according to him, frequently make use of the opportunities opened up to them when they succeed in finding their way into industry in order to attempt to sabotage and engage in wrecking tactics to the detriment of Soviet industry, and even to conduct actual anti-Soviet propaganda.
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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.
