Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Jewish Congress, today condemned the action of a Rumanian military court in sentencing to long prison terms two World Jewish Congress Communal leaders, Jean Littmann and Mrs. Susanne Benvenisti. He called upon the Rumanian Government to “quash the charges and release them.”
In urging the Rumanian Government to free Mr. Littmann, former head of the Bucharest branch of the World Jewish Congress, and Mrs. Benvenisti, wife of the farmer president of the Rumanian Branch of the World Jewish Congress, Dr. Goldmann emphasized the “patent innocence” of the two leaders who were convicted on the “fantastic” basis that they had communicated with the World Jewish Congress and Zionist organizations in foreign countries and that they distributed funds supplied by the Israel legation in Bucharest.
“In view of the paten innocence of Mr. Littman and Mrs. Benvenisti,” Dr. Goldmann declared, and all who have been condemned in secret trials for similar alleged offenses, the only decent course open to Rumania is to quash the charges and release them. Until this is done,” he added, “it will be Rumania and not these innocent people, which will stand convicted in the eyes of the world.”
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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.
