The complex and at times delicate problems facing contemporary world Jewry were discussed here today by Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Jewish Congress. His detailed identification of some of those problems came in answers to questions from 100 newsmen attending a press conference where most of the world news agencies and major news media were represented.
The most important problem facing modern Jewry in today’s world, said Dr. Goldmann, involved “difficulties which exist for the Jewish minorities in many parts of the world in regard to leading their own lives.” Under questioning, he said this difficulty exists mainly in the Soviet Union, where Jews “are unable to lead Jewish lives” and where, “even as a minority group, they are being discriminated against.”
Speaking of “the 3,000,000 Russian Jews” and saying that “some believe there are 4,000,000 Jews there,” Dr. Goldmann charged that there is in the USSR only one Jewish seminary, in which only four students are being trained as rabbis. “The Jewish community in Russia,” he stated, “has no newspapers of its own, has no theater, no literature, and is prevented from participating in international Jewish organizations.”
As to his program on behalf of Soviet Jewry, he said, “I only ask the Soviet Government to treat its Jews in the same way they are treated in other East European countries, such as Poland Rumania and Hungary. We do not ask for more.” Dr. Goldmann told the newsmen, who included correspondents for various East European media such as Tass, the official Soviet news agency, as well as news agencies from Poland and Hungary: “Our appeal is not part of the cold war. We are far from it, and only examine the situation from a Jewish and humanitarian angle.”
Turning to other major areas of Jewish interest, Dr. Goldmann revealed that West German ultimately, pay out some $10, 000, 000, 000 in the form of reparations to victims of Nazism. He said the West German authorities have already paid out about $4,000,000,000 to Nazi victims and declared “we hope the rest will come in the next few years.
The WJC president, recalling that he had recently conferred with West German authorities on the subject of compensation, pointed out that, on the other hand, the East German Communist regime “has not only refused to follow Bonn’s example, but has even failed to answer requests for negotiations.” He also paid tribute to the West German Government for having accelerated trials of former Nazi criminals.
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