A committee has been appointed by the American Jewish Congress to look into reports emanating from Palestine, that Jews in numerous Russian villages are being terrorised by the Russian Secret Police. Should this committee find the allegations to be authentic, representations will be made to the Soviet authorities.
According to the reports received, wholesale arrests of Jews are made by the Ogpu, which offers to release them in exchange for foreign currency. Should those arrested have no funds, it is alleged, they are compelled to cable for money to their relatives outside Russia. If this is impossible they are offered the last alternative of acting as informers on those of their neighbours who are supposed to have hidden foreign currency.
These allegations were made at a recent meeting in Tel Aviv by Mr. Ben Zion Katz, a well-known Jewish journalist, and the request was made at that meeting that the American Jewish Congress should look into the matter. The members of the Committee appointed by the American Jewish Congress are ex-Congressman Nathan D. Perlman, Dr. Joseph Tenenbaum, Mr. Z. Tygel, and Mr. Bernard S. Deutsch, President of the Congress.
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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.
