A group of 35 Jewish women who have kept a 24 hour vigil outside of the Soviet Embassy here said today that they would send a delegation to “ring the Embassy’s bell” at 11 o’clock every morning to inquire whether Roiza Palatnik, a Jewish girl imprisoned in Odessa, has been released. They said the inquiries would continue until Miss Palatnik is freed. She was arrested last Dec. 1 after applying for a visa to go to Israel and is being held without trial or any specific charges brought against her. The girl reportedly began a hunger strike several days ago and is said to be in poor health. Efforts to obtain her release have failed so far. According to reports from Russia, several lawyers who volunteered to defend her were warned off the case by local authorities. The Women’s Zionist Federation sent a telegram on behalf of its 20,000 members to the Soviet Embassy today asking for Miss Palatnik’s release. They said, “We cannot believe that the Soviet Union, the country of revolution, would wish the death of an innocent woman by starvation.” On Sunday, the Embassy accepted a letter from a group of Jewish women but refused their request for a meeting with the Ambassador’s wife.
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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.
