Dr. Joachim Prinz, chairman of the Governing Council of the World Jewish Congress, called on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights today to give top priority at its upcoming Geneva meeting to the question of the right of emigration from any country. In a specific reference to the Soviet Union, Dr. Prinz said in a statement that “It is a complete negation of the spirit of the Universal Declaration (of Human Rights) when persons fighting for the right to leave their country are branded as traitors.” It is also, he said, “a grotesque mockery of the moral judgment of the international community when persons applying for emigration documents are penalized by deprivation of nationality or dismissal from employment.” Recalling “the part played by the Soviet Union in the creation of the State of Israel and the vital diplomatic support of the Soviet Union in the first months of Israel’s existence when it was fighting for its life,” Dr. Prinz said it was “a matter of the deepest regret to all of us that the present attitudes of the Soviet leaders are impossible to reconcile with the attitudes of that era.”
Reporting the stories that define our era. When history unfolds in real-time, the Jewish world turns to JTA. Your support ensures we can document the complexities of war and the resilience of Jewish communities with integrity.
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.
