Two youths who allegedly tried to set fire to a Soviet attache’s car which was parked near the Soviet Mission to the United Nations were charged this weekend with malicious mischief. According to police, the youths, identified as Victor Van Cier, 17, and Stanley Spirn, 19. both of Queens, emptied a three-gallon can of gasoline over the car and were about to ignite it when police officers spotted them and arrested the duo. The car belonged to Vladimir Yezhov, a member of the mission. On May 19, a car registered to the Soviet Mission and parked in the Far Rockaway section of New York was set afire and heavily damaged. An anonymous caller to two news wire agencies in the city said the “Sternist Committee” had set fire to the car to protest the Soviet Union’s campaign against Russian Jews. Police said they did not know the identity of this committee.
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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.
