“Official Soviet policy” deprives the Jews in the Soviet Union of their “human dignity, ” Moshe Decter, expert on Jewish life in the USSR, declared here last night in a radio debate, over station WBAL Disputing Mr. Decter’s statements in the debate was Morris Schappes, editor of the pro-Soviet magazine Jewish Currents.
Charging that the Russian Jews were deprived of cultural facilities enjoyed by other national minorities, Mr. Decter contended that the Jews in the Soviet Union are forbidden to have their own schools, publishing houses, literature, newspapers, theatres or instruction in their national language and history.
Mr. Decter accused the Soviet press of being “hostile to Jews, Judaism, Jewish history and Israel. ” He charged to Russian officialdom discriminations of “harassment of synagogues and religious Jews, ” Mr. Schappes vigorously denied the charges, conceding, however, that from 1948 until recently, Soviet Jews were subjected to cultural and religious deprivations. He insisted, a process of improvement is under way.
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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.
