Jews in Soviet Russia Sentenced for Possessing “zionist Literature”

More than 20 Soviet Jews were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from three to ten years at a trial held in Moscow at the end of March for “possessing and distributing illegal Zionist literature,” the Manchester Guardian, leading British newspaper, reports.

This, the report says, was the first hard news reaching the West of what bas happened to this group of Jews who were arrested last summer in Moscow after their homes had been searched by police and “incriminating evidence” had been found. Previously, it had only been known that two Jews were sentenced on similar charges to terms of three and five years, respectively, at a trial last February 16. It was hoped that Soviet authorities would desist from further prosecutions.

The Manchester Guardian correspondent goes on to say that it was apparent from the manner in which the second trial was conducted that Soviet authorities feared possible repercussions in the West when the matter became known, for the proceedings were what for the Soviet Union must be regarded as a model of fairness. The accused were given every opportunity to explain their actions and defend themselves and they made full use of this. They were also able to engage the best Moscow lawyers.

They pleaded not guilty, the report continued, itself an innovation in a Soviet political trial, and the defense proceeded along two lines. Firstly, it was argued, the accused had taken what they thought was a perfectly legitimate interest in Jewish cultural affairs in the Soviet Union and outside. Secondly, since they were charged under Article 58 of the Soviet penal code–which deals with counter-revolutionary activities and provides for extremely heavy penalties–the efforts of the defense were directed towards a redrafting of the charges so that the alleged offenses could be tried under a less ominous article of the code.

SOVIET AUTHORITIES INTIMIDATE JEWS SEEKING CULTURAL FREEDOM

The proceedings and the severity of the sentences indicate that while the Soviet legal methods may be undergoing a change, the Soviet attitudes toward Jews is only a little better than it was during the worst excesses of the campaign which followed the discovery of the “doctors’ plot,” the correspondent states. In court it was argued openly and forcefully that a verdict of guilty would be a miscarriage of justice, for the accused could not have known that they were committing an offense–especially in view of the new atmosphere of “Soviet legality” which the authorities have been deliberately fostering in Russia.

The correspondent notes that at a time when many other nationalities and categories of people who had been oppressed for years by Stalin’s deliberate policy, were beginning to breathe more freely, Soviet Jews evidently felt that they might again be permitted the same measure of freedom as is allowed others. This was especially so, he adds, after the recent official Communist admissions that many representatives of Soviet Jewry had been executed on trumped-up charges.

The authorities however, the Guardian report says, seem to have been guided in this case not by their newly professed regard for “legality,” but by a desire to intimidate those Jews who are seeking opportunities for a greater degree of freedom in Jewish cultural and religious activity. This seems to be a hangover from the time of the campaigns against “cosmopolitans” and “doctor assassins,” which were closely linked.

It is not known, according to the correspondent, whether the March trial was the last of a series, or-whether more trials are in the offing, because it has not been possible to determine the number of Jews arrested during the searches last Summer.