Khrushchev Says Soviet Jews Helped Develop Nuclear Weapons in Russia

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev told a delegation of American veterans of World War II that “many Jews are finding themselves in difficulties in Israel, ” and that “many of them are asking for visas to return, ” it was reported today by the New York Times in a cable from Moscow. The delegation was received by Mr. Khrushchev in the Kremlin last Saturday.

The Soviet Premier said that a great number of Soviet Jews were craftsmen and intellectuals who would “find it difficult living in Israel as farmers. ” He added that “many thought that they would try to find the promised land and they did not find it” and asserted that “among the intellectual Jews in the country, a great majority are critical about going to Palestine. “

“There are no restrictions here for their talents, ” Mr. Khrushchev stated. “A large percentage of the intellectuals in the Soviet Union are Jews, many in responsible positions. They are doing everything, including work on the atomic bomb. They played an important role in the development of nuclear weapons. They have everything they wish. “

The Premier said that before World War II there were 4, 000, 000 Jews in the Soviet Union and the latest census taken last January indicated that there were now about 2, 000, 000. “The rest were killed during the war, ” he declared. “Bodies of many Jews were found in mass graves by the advancing Soviet armies, ” he said, “and the retreating Germans did not have time to burn them. “

(The Times cable confirmed a Jewish Telegraphic Agency report from Paris yesterday, stating that, when the American war veterans delegation asked Mr. Khrushchev whether Soviet Jews would be permitted to emigrate to Israel if they wanted to, he replied that the Soviet Government is now “toying with the idea” that “in some future time” it will allow any person of any nationality to leave the country. )