The attack on Jewish culture in the Soviet Union and mass arrests of Jews for possessing Jewish books have not ceased despite the “Geneva spirit” shown by leaders of the Soviet Government in other respects, it was reported in the Manchester Guardian by a visitor who just returned from Moscow.
The visitor reveals that hundreds of Jewish homes in Moscow were raided last month by police units who searched the bookshelves for signs of Jewish publications, A number of Jews and their families were arrested after the searches, and no word has been received from them since.
Considerable anxiety exists among Jews in Moscow as a result of these arrests, the Manchester Guardian says, The paper stresses the fact that these are the first Jewish mass arrests since the “Doctors’ Plot” in 1953 when the anti-Jewish campaign in the Soviet Union reached its peak. “And this occurs at a time when hopes were high that with the new policy of the Soviet Government Jews too would be permitted freedom to live a full Jewish life.” the Manchester Guardian comments.
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