A memorandum complaining that local authorities in the Soviet Union are infringing upon the Soviet constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion was submitted today to Peter Smidovitch, vice-president of the Soviet Union, by a Jewish delegation from Dnieperpetrovsk headed by Rabbis Lewis Schneierson and Aron Liachoff.
The Jewish delegation cited the fact that local authorities have closed synagogue in Odessa, Kieff, Baku and Dnieperpetrovsk.
Synagogue closures in Dnieperpetrovsk were termed “startling” by the delegation in view of the fact that there are only three small synagogues in a city containing 10,000 Jews, of whom 1,000 are said still to practice religion.
Albert Fuchs, representative of the Moscow Jewish community, also appealed to Vice-President Smidovitch, who it is understood telegraphed the local authorities, asking them to hold up the liquidation of the synagogues until an inquiry could determine whether the closing was in accordance with the Soviet law permitting the closing of synagogues upon the request of synagogue authorities themselves.
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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.
