Cold autumn rains failed to dampen the ardor of 20,000 Jews from Argentina and 13 other Latin American countries attending a mass rally here Friday to demand freedom for Soviet Jews. The rally was held at Luna Park, this city’s largest stadium. Its theme was, “Let My People Go.” The delegates called on Soviet authorities to open the gates to Jews who want to emigrate to Israel and to grant the others full religious and cultural freedom and to end the official campaign of anti-Semitism “masquerading as anti-Zionism.” The rally expressed “unconditional solidarity” with “Soviet Jews who fight proudly for their national, cultural and religious rights under the Soviet constitution and especially for their right to go to Israel.” Speakers included Harry Wohlstein, of San Jose, Costa Rica, representing Jewish youth in Latin America; Mrs. Bertha Sheh, who recited Yevtushenko’s poem, “Babi Yar,” in Spanish; and Mark Turkow, secretary general of the Latin American Jewish Congress. Mr. Turkow likened the recent Moscow press conference where a number of prominent Soviet Jews denounced Israel to a press conference in Germany in 1933 where Jewish leaders were forced to say that the Nazi regime posed no threat to the Jewish community. He compared the Soviet anti-Zionist pamphleteers, Kitchko, Ivanov and Maietsky to Julius Streicher’s anti-Semitic newspaper of Hitler’s era, “Der Stuermer.” Dr. Isaac Goldenberg, speaking on behalf of Argentine Jewry, compared the condition of Russian Jews today with those that prevailed under the Tsars.
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.
