The Soviet Government was called upon today by a conference of intellectuals from 12 Latin American countries to “eliminate limitations which continue to oppress the Jews of the USSR.”
In a resolution adopted unanimously at the closing session of the conference, the 50 delegates deplored the liquidation of Jewish schools in the Soviet Union and the elimination of Yiddish and Hebrew publications. The resolution stressed the fact that the Bible was obtainable in Russia in various dialects but not in the original Hebrew and that Yiddish was forbidden while new alphabets were created for obscure Russian peoples.
“We do not request preferential treatment for Jews, ” the resolution stated, urging the Soviet Government to implement its own nationalities policy and the Soviet constitution in order to assure the cultural survival of the Jewish minority, permit Jewish religious practices and allow Jews to emigrate for the reunion of families.
The conference cabled Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev advising him that the resolution had been handed to the Soviet Embassy in Rio de Janeiro. Copies of the resolution are to be sent to Secretary General U Thant of the United Nations, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the President of the General Assembly and the Organization of American States.
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