Stanley H. Lowell, National Conference on Soviet Jewry chairman, announced officially today that a Soviet Jewry Research Bureau to monitor Soviet emigration practices has been formed. The announcement followed months of exploration and development, during which the NCSJ committed the resources of the Bureau to the Senate Permanent Sub-Committee on Investigations and to the State Department.
The Bureau will bear the official responsibility for monitoring the provisions of the new Trade Reform Act as they relate to emigration patterns from Communist countries. The details of the Bureau’s operation were presented Tuesday to the NCSJ Executive Committee, which recommended approval by the NCSJ Board of Governors which meets in February.
The NCSJ will utilize its link-up with its 38-member national agencies and more than 200 local Jewish communities through the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council. The NCSJ will coordinate the accumulation, processing and storage of data from Soviet Jewry centers abroad, including Europe, Canada and Israel. The NCSJ’s Washington office will continue to carry out liaison work with Administration officials and the Congress.
Lowell noted, “The NCSJ’s News Bulletin and other appropriate forums will serve as vehicles to disseminate the information gathered. In addition, we will send periodic reports to the State Department and to the Congress.”
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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.