Anatoly Sharansky, the Soviet Jewish activist now imprisoned in Moscow on charges of being an agent for the Central Intelligence Agency, has been “adopted” by the Federation of Jewish Agencies, the parent body of Jewish community services in Philadelphia. Meeting in emergency session, the Federation cabinet passed a resolution calling for the “adoption” of Sharansky “as a symbol of special concern.” demanding his immediate release by the Soviet government and registering vigorous protests over his being refused permission to emigrate.
Sharansky’s wife, Avital, who was expelled from the USSR one day after her marriage three years ago, and his brother-in-law, Mikhail Steiglitz, spoke to the cabinet and warned that a wave of overt anti-Semitic acts has begun in the Soviet Union. Mrs. Sharansky, who spoke in Hebrew (she refuses to use Russian), asked for help in freeing her husband and persuading the Soviet government to permit him to emigrate and join her in Israel.
I Jerome Stern, Federation president, conducted the emergency session and called for the resolution which also approved the appointment of a committee to work directly with the Soviet Jewry Council of the Jewish Community Relations Council to investigate, make recommendations and report to the Federation board of trustees their efforts for Sharansky. This will be viewed as a pilot project for future positive actions in behalf of other individuals and of all Jews in the Soviet Union.
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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.
