An eye-witness report on the tragic fate of Russian Jewry was given here yesterday by Chaim Shurer, editor of the leading Israel newspaper “Davar,” who recently visited the Soviet Union. He is now visiting the United States in connection with the Histadrut campaign.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Shurer stressed the double threat to world Jewry, in the extinction of Soviet Jewry itself and the shipment of war materiel to states pledged to destroy Israel. He called the situation “tragic and ironic,” in that just that “silent” Jewry which had such a longing for identification with its fellow Jews elsewhere should be ruled by a government which had taken it upon itself to arm the enemies of Jewry.
Reporting on his visit to the Soviet Union, Mr. Shurer described the Jewish community there as one which was being compelled to undergo national extinction. He stressed the complete absence of Jewish organizations, literature, newspapers, theatres and schools. He added that he and been aware, wherever he came in contact with Russian Jews, of a “mute outcry” and a “mute longing.” Two million Jews, he said, were disappearing “before our eyes.”
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.
