Discussion Held on Voa Broadcasts

Four leaders of the American Jewish Congress spent 90 minutes at the State Department yesterday seeking to prevail on the Department yesterday seeking to prevail on the department to persuade the Voice of America to carry Yiddish broadcasts to the Soviet Union. At the end of the discussion, the Department and U.S. Information Agency representatives and the AJCongress leaders agreed to meet again to extend their points of view. No date was set for another meeting. Philip Baum of New York, assistant executive director of AJCongress, Sol Baker of Boston, head of the AJCongress’ Committee for Soviet Jewry, Esther Beckman of Philadelphia and Leon Gildes-game of New York represented the AJCongress.

Meeting with them were Jack F. Matlock, the new director of the Department’s Office for Soviet Union Affairs, and John Tuohey, the USIA Policy Officer for the Soviet Union. The VOA is the broadcasting arm of the USIA. A State Department spokesman, noting that the discussion was off the record, said that the group went into great detail! on aspects of the question and discussed it “reasonably.”

Baum said after the meeting, that the State Department and USIA officials apparently still remain to be convinced of the special standing of Yiddish both as a way of transmitting information to Soviet Jews and as an irreplaceable means of sustaining Soviet Jewish morale. It became clear from our talks that the failure to carry Yiddish programs has little to do with any technical difficulties. It is the direct result of basic policy assessments by the Department.” He added that the Department “has agreed to keep open its attitudes and to again reexamine its program priorities in the light of information we will furnish within the next few weeks” demonstrating the importance of Yiddish language broadcasts.