Hopes for a meeting of Jewish groups with Soviet Premier Khrushchev during his visit in this country grew dim today as Soviet sources here intimated that the Soviet Government had decided to reject the premise of the American Jewish groups that a Jewish problem exists in the USSR.
It was also pointed out by the Soviet sources here that Mr. Khrushchev has a crowded schedule. Many organizations and interests are seeking meetings with him on topics that the Soviets find more acceptable, it was stressed.
Attention was called at the same time to a Moscow radio broadcast beamed in English to North America today. It said that any talk of discrimination against Jews in the Soviet Union is nothing but falsehood. “Jews are equal members of our society and they are very useful talented members,” the broadcast stated.
The broadcast was prompted by a question which had been raised in New York, Moscow said. The broadcast reported that some elements in New York are anxious for a discussion with Premier Khrushchev of “recent charges in the American press that Jews, notably writers and people of culture, have been and are being purged in the USSR.” To this the Moscow radio replied that Moscow, Odessa, Lvov and many other Soviet cities have synagogues and that State stores stock Jewish foods.
Among prominent Soviet Jews, the broadcast named Mikhail Botvinnik, world chess champion, and Yuri Faier, conductor of the Bolshoi Ballet Orchestra.
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.
