Markish Family Appeals to World Jewry to Remember Stalin Purge

An appeal to Jews throughout the world to remember the 24 leading Soviet intellectuals murdered by Stalin in 1952 has been sent to Israel from Moscow by the widow and son of one of the victims, the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry reported today. The appeal was contained in a cable to Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister, Yigal Allon from Esther Markish, widow of the Soviet poet, Peretz Markish, and her son, David, who have been refused exit visas to settle in Israel. Richard Maass, chairman of the Conference, said the cable was addressed by the Markish family to their “dear brothers and sisters” and pledged to stand “together with you” at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The Markishes also said, “We are crying over the bitter fate of the innocent victims” but that “we continue to live with the hope of a good future.” The cable added “we are convinced that the love for our people is the best monument to the memory of the victims of Aug. 12, 1952.” Maass said that the cable was a poignant reminder of the murder of the Soviet intellectuals and that “among the foremost of the writers killed was the poet Peretz Markish.”

He said the Conference called on the world, “and especially writers and poets, to keep the precious memory of these victims alive and to demand the immediate cessation of continuing discrimination and of anti-Jewish policies” in the Soviet Union. Asserting that “Stalin and his heirs attempted to destroy the last fiber of organized Jewish cultural life in the Soviet Union,” he added that 20 years later, Jewish culture in Russia “remains buried by official decisions and has not been rehabilitated, despite a few token concessions to critics of Soviet policy.” Maass said the Conference was asking “all humanity to join with us and to demand the rectification of this great crime against Soviet Jews.” He declared that while the dead could not be restored to life, “we can ask for the restoration of Jewish institutional life in all of its forms. We do demand the cessation of all instances of harassment against the thousands of Jews who have demanded their basic human rights, including the right to leave.” In particular, he declared, “we now ask of Soviet authorities that the widow of the poet Peretz Markish, and her son, be granted permission to live in Israel. Her plea to man’s conscience must not go unheeded.”