The Jewish theatrical troupe in Kovno, Lithuania’s second largest city, has refused to give further performances in protest against being confined to the environs of Kovno, Jewish sources in the Soviet Union reported today. According to the sources, Soviet authorities have not for the past year permitted the players to visit other USSR cities with Jewish communities.
Soviet authorities are making life difficult for Kovno Jews in other ways, the sources reported. They closed down Hebrew classes in the Kovno synagogue on grounds that the teacher had no license. When local Jews hired a new teacher with the proper credentials, the authorities still refused to reopen the classes. They claimed that Hebrew classes were permitted only where 50 percent of the students have applied for visas to go to Israel. In Kovno less than half of the pupils have made such applications, the sources said.
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