The Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO), representing more than 550,000 workers in the United States, has denounced “the Soviet government’s bigotry” in imposing head taxes on Jews seeking to emigrate. In a hard-hitting and well-documented statement issued by the organization’s executive board, the Soviet government was criticized not only for this “reprehensible form of extortion” but also for its suppression of Judaism within the Soviet Union.
According to the statement, synagogues have been arbitrarily closed down in community after community for the past 30 years. Fifteen years ago, in 1957, there were 450 synagogues. In April of 1963, almost 10 years ago, there were 100, and today the total has dwindled to less than 60 synagogues which “remain to serve a population of three million.”
The CWA statement noted: “Judaism is not even permitted any central or coordinated structure, unlike the other ten recognized religions in the USSR. The publication of religious literature and the manufacture of religious articles for Jews are prohibited.” The statement continued: “It is indeed a tragic irony that the Soviet government will not let its Jewish citizens live in peace, as productive citizens in their country, yet at the same time refuses to permit them to find peace in other countries which have indicated a willingness to accept them as emigrants.”
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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.
