The renewed action in the Soviet Union against Jews, including the sentencing of Jews to death under various pretexts, flared into the open in the French press here today.
Newspapers from left to right, including the influential daily Le Figaro and the leftist weekly Observateur, are carrying articles and editorials denouncing the recent spate of anti-Jewish acts in the Soviet Union. L’Humanite, organ of the French Communist Party, reacted to this press campaign today by printing an article claiming that the charges of anti-Semitism, leveled here against Soviet authorities, “are motivated exclusively by the cold war and the desire to smear the Soviet Union.”
Andre Blumel, former president of the French Zionist Organization, announced today that he plans to visit the Soviet Union this summer with the intention of drawing the attention of high Soviet authorities to the grave anxiety caused by the Moscow attitude toward the Jewish minority in the USSR.
M. Blumel will go to Russia as a member of a delegation to be sent there by France-USSR, an organization devoted to the improvement of relations between this country and the Soviet Union, of which he is cochairman. He questioned Sergei Vinogradov, Soviet Ambassador here, about the situation of the Soviet Jews, when they met recently at a luncheon honoring the Soviet diplomat, given by France-USSR. Mr. Vinogradov replied: “I know nothing about it; there is no such problem in Russia.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
