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Details of the Arrest of Three Moscow Jewish Leaders Reach Paris

November 13, 1961
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Details were received here today about the arrest and sentencing of three Jewish religious leaders in Moscow, in addition to three others jailed at Leningrad. The three in Moscow, convicted on charges that have not yet been revealed, are Wolf Ryshal, 60; a man named Goldberg; and a third Jew whose identity is not yet known here.

Mr. Ryshal is a popular Russian figure, not only in Moscow but throughout the Soviet Union. He has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and an additional four years at hard labor. He had already served seven years’ imprisonment, having been convicted in 1948 on charges of “Zionist activity.” The three latest victims of Soviet anti-Jewish persecution were tried “somewhere in the Soviet Union” on the eve of last Simchas Torah.

Observers here are of the belief that Russian authorities are attempting to wipe out “the last existing leaders of the Jewish community,” both in Moscow and in Leningrad.

A number of non-Jewish as well as Jewish organizations here are expected to call at the Soviet Embassy here this week to call the attention of the Russians to the anxiety felt in liberal French circles over the latest anti-Jewish persecutions.

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