Some 100 Soviet Jews Stage Sit-in at Supreme Soviet Building; Police Clear Them out

More than 100 Soviet Jews staged a sit-in this morning in the reception room of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow, vowing to stay until there was action on their emigration applications, according to reports reaching here, Several hours after they began their sit-in police surrounded the building and sealed it off by locking the doors. When the police entered the conference room they found the Jews reading prayers in Hebrew and several of them translating it into Russian for those who did not understand Hebrew. Russian authorities turned out the lights in the conference room and police gave the demonstrators two minutes to clear out. There were no reports of arrests. Estimates of the number of demonstrators ranged from 102 to 110. Most of them-some 60 to 90–were said to be from Riga, Latvia, with the others from Kovno and Vilna, Lithuania; Lvov, the ukraine; the Caucasus, which includes Tbilisi, and probably Moscow. One report said that 45 Vilna Jews were sitting in at the Central Committee building.

The Riga Jews reportedly at the Presidium were said to included Rivka Aleksandrovich, mother of imprisoned activist Ruth Aleksandrovich; Gershon Valk, said to have been applying for emigration permission for 14 years; and Eva Mendelevich, mother of Yosif M. Mendelevich, who was sentenced to 10 years in the Leningrad “hijacking” trial. Yosif Mendelevich is the brother of another arrestes, Meri Mendelevich Khanokh, whose husband, Leib G. Khanokh, was sentenced to 13 years at Leningrad. Today’s reported demonstration is the fourth of its kind in the past two weeks. A group of 24 to 30 Soviet Jews sat-in at the Supreme Soviet on Feb. 24 and again on March 1. Twenty-four Riga Jews reportedly sat-in at the OVIR (visa) office in Riga on Feb. 26. These demonstrations are unprecedented. Some of those at the Supreme Soviet today said they would go on a hunger strike. The sit-in comes three weeks before the opening of the Soviet Communist Party congress in Moscow. The Kremlin is believed to be embarrassed at the recent series of major demonstrations by Jews, especially at this time.

20 SOVIET JEWS ARRIVE IN VIENNA; NEWSMAN DESCRIBES ‘MINI-EXODUS’

Meanwhile, a flight of Jews who were allowed out of the Soviet Union made its way today to Vienna. CBS newsman David Levy was on the plane. His remarks were heard today on the CBS Radio Network. Levy said “Said thought about those they left behind in Russia dampened the spirits of the 20-add. Jewish men, women and children who landed here in Vienna this evening (Wednesday). The flight from Moscow in a Tuplev-134 stopped over in Kiev on the way, picking up more Jewish families there, as customs formalities were undergone too. Both in Moscow and in Kiev, Soviet officialdom was absolutely correct, polite and businesslike with not a hint of meanness. Observing them in action, you would never think that this mini-exodus of Jews from the Soviet was the hot international issue that it is. Even though the flight was only to Vienna, on every pink exit visa the words “destination Israel for permanent residence” appeared–magic long-awaited words but not without their price in heartache for those few Soviet Jews whose long dream has just started to come true.”