Soviet officials have informed the Jews of Tallin, in Estonia, that the building housing the community’s synagogue will be torn down to make way for an urban renewal project, and have rejected a request for permission for a new location for the synagogue, the American Soviet Conference on Soviet Jewry reported here today.
The Conference, representing 24 major Jewish organizations, also disclosed that a Conference delegation had reported this information about the 4,000-member Jewish community’s problems in Estonia, to the United States Department of State. The delegation told the State Department that the Tallin synagogue was the 360th Jewish house of worship shut down by Soviet officials since 1959. The figure was based on documents presented by the Soviets at United Nations meetings.
The Conference issued an appeal to the Soviet Government against tearing down the existing synagogue without providing the Jewish communities with facilities for a replacement.
Rabbi Seymour J. Cohen, of Chicago, chairman of the Conference steering committee, said that promises made to visiting Western rabbis and press representatives by Soviet officials to ease some of the restrictions on Russian Jewish cultural and religious life would prove to be “empty gestures.” He urged the Conference’s 24 affiliates to send large delegations to launch a year-long campaign on September 19, in Washington, for an Eternal Light Vigil on behalf of Soviet Jews.
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.
