“Who gave you the right to speak in the name of Soviet Jews?” was the angry reply given here by Alexis Adjubei, editor of Izvestia, official organ of the Soviet Government, and son-in-law of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, when asked at a press conference about discrimination against Jews in the Soviet Union.
The Soviet editor told the press conference that there are synagogues functioning in the Soviet Union and that Jews occupy “high posts” in the Soviet armed forces. He said that there are 10 Jews on the staff of Izvestia, and one of them is the assistant editor of the newspaper.
Asked about the arrests of Jewish communal and religious leaders on charges of being “Zionist agents, ” and the long prison sentences meted out to them, Mr. Adjubei replied; “I give you my word of honor that I know absolutely nothing about this.”
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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.
