The American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry said today that a group of Soviet Jews has for the first time appealed to the Communist Party U.S.A. for aid in emigrating to Israel. The appeal, addressed to General Secretary Gus Hall and national chairman Henry Winston, was signed by the heads of 92 Jewish families in Riga, Latvia, representing 322 persons. They described themselves as survivors of the Nazis’ “monstrous policy of genocide” who find themselves “powerless to attain a just solution to the problem of the emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union to Israel.” Their appeal concluded: “We beg you to intercede before the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) and the government of the USSR on our behalf, so that we should be permitted to emigrate to Israel for reunification with our relatives and near ones.” Arnold Johnson, public relations director of the CPUSA, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that he had not seen the appeal. But he commented that “I would not interfere in the internal affairs of another country in that fashion,” as it would serve “no good purpose” and would actually “encourage” anti-Semitism.
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.
