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"■ mm*-
President Kennedy’s Efforts
To
tlUlT. V*If
A book by Gunther Lawrence entitled "Three Million More?”
reveals lor the that, time the role President John F. Kennedy played
In trying to assist American Jewish leaders in pressing Soviet offic
ials to improve eondlttone for Soviet Jews. Mr. Lawrence is s
professional public relation* consultant who, tar mere than U yean,
was Director at Public Information for the Union at American He
brew Congregations. Born In Berlin, Mr. Lawrence has travelled
extensively throughout Eastern Europe. The book, which also in
cludes chapters on 8ovlet antt-Semittnn, the economic and annual
conditions of Soviet Jews, and the evolution of Soviet policy toward
Israel, was pabUshed bj Doubleday And Co, Inc. and released
Jane &
met with Ambassador Dobrynin
at the Soviet Embassy in Wash
ington. Mr. Thompson—had
The late president John F.
Kennedy aided the cause of
Soviet Jews by arranging a
private meeting in the fall of
1963 between Soviet Ambassa
dor Anatoly Dobrynin, Arthur
Goldberg and Senators Abraham
Ribicoff and Jacob Javits.
Accounts of Mr. Kennedy’s ac
tions to assist American Jewish
leaders in pressing USSR au
thorities to improve conditions
for Soviet Jews are told now for
the first time, in one chapter
of a new Doubleday book,
“Three Million More?,” by Gun
ther Lawrence. The volume
provides a comprehensive ac
count of the historic and con
temporary cultural and religious
discrimination against the
USSR’s more than three million
Jews.
According to the author, Jew
ish leaders were “optimistic and
heartened” by Mr. Kennedy’s
sympathy on the issue, and were
prepared to rally behind his
leadership in dealing with the
problem.
The talk with Soviet Ambassa
dor Dobrynin was arranged af
ter Mr. Goldberg and Senator
Ribicoff raised the problem with
President Kennedy at the White
House in the fall of 1963, during
a ceremony honoring the two
men for their work as former
members of the cabinet. Both
men, - in conjunction with Sen
ator Javits, had determined that
silence regarding the USSR’s
discrimination against its Jew
ish citizens must end, and that
the United States should offici
ally discuss the matter at the
highest level with Soviet lead
ers.
When they brought up the sit
uation to Mr. Kennedy, both
were surprised at the president’s
“comprehensive knowledge” on
the subject. In their presence,
he then called his leading Soviet
expert, Ambassador Llewellyn
Thompson, who recommended
that perhaps a group of Amer
ican businessmen leaving on an
exchange visit should raise the
issue with Soviet authorities.
Only a few days earlier, former
Secretary of State Dean Rusk,
in a meeting with Messrs. Gold
berg, Javits and Ribicoff, had
rejected unilateral American ac
tion, and instead proposed that
a delegation of leading Jews
from all over, the world meet
with Soviet officials to discuss
the matter. This suggestion was
rejected by the three as inappro
priate and lending credence to
the consistent Soviet charge that
world Jewry represents an in
ternational conspiracy. Messrs.
Goldberg and Ribicoff also re
jected Thompson’s proposal, and
suggested to President Kennedy
that a meeting between them
and Soviet Ambassador Dobry
nin might be preferable.
On October 29, 1963, Messrs.
Goldberg, Ribicoff and Javits
called the Russian diplomat be
forehand, making it clear that
although he was not seeking the
appointment on behalf of the
President, Mr. Kennedy did have
a personal interest in the meet
ing.
Dining lengthy discussions
with Mr. Dobrynin, the three
covered various forms of dis
crimination carried out by the
Soviet government against its
Jews in the areas of religion
and culture. The Soviet Ambas
sador denied that discrimination
existed against Jews in either
education or employment and
“violently” rejected the idea that
they were being singled out in
the then ongoing economic trials.
He cited frequently repeated
Soviet statistics pnJews engaged
in medicine, science, engineering
and other technical areas, say
ing “We are proud of our Jew
ish citizens. They are treated
like everyone else.”
The three then suggested that
perhaps the conversation could
profitably be continued with So
viet Premier Nikita Khrushchev
in Moscow. The ambassador in
dicated that since the premier
would receive a report on their
meeting, he would decide per
sonally about the possibility of
the one now proposed. No such
conference ever took place with
either Mr. Khrushchev or his
successors.
Mr. Kennedy was specifioally
concerned for Jews in the USSR
who wished to rejoin relatives
from whom they had been sep
arated since World War II.
According to former White
House counsel Meyer Feldman,
President Kennedy agreed to
take up the question of divided
families during a meeting in
1963 with Soviet Foreign Minis
ter Andrei Gromyko. Feldman
told Lawrence that the late pres
ident asked him to prepare, with
the assistance of the State De
partment, a document summari
zing the grievances on Soviet
Jews.
As a result of a Berlin Auto
bahn incident, Mr. Kennedy
could not Utilize the prepared
document, but, according to
Mr. Feldman, did raise the mat
ter of the divided families and
the larger question of discrimi
nation against Soviet Jews.
Mr. Gromyko told President
Kennedy that the Soviet govern
ment could not publicly or in
any other way comply with his
request. He assured the presi
dent that the matter would be
looked into “sympathetically."
At a later date, Mr. Feldman
was told by President Kennedy
that the Soviet Union had in
formed him that the best they
could do regarding the divided
families" would be to temper
the current prohibitions.”
According to Mr Feldman,
President Kennedy believed
that his direct involvement
could accomplish little to alle
viate the condition of Soviet
Jews. Nevertheless, Feldman
says, the president was still will
ing, especially on the divided
families, to send a personal mes
sage to Premier Khrushchev, as
well as utilizing private diplo
matic channels to get leaders of
other governments to plead the
same cause.
—On—November—19,1963,to
Javits indicated that they would
talbni* *
Jewjfb leaders left, the meet
ing confident that, with a sym
pathetic president pt tbA United
States ; to rally behind, they
could help their fellow Jews. -
Three days later, President Ken
nedy was assassinated.
The spring mobilization took
place at the Willard Hotel, and
since that period Jewish organ
izations have banded together
to help Soviet Jews under the
ad hoc organization called the
Triple Award Winner!
“Easy Rider*
In color 5
No One Under 18 Admitted
Washington, Arthur Goldberg
and Senator Javits reported to
the leaders of twenty-one ma
jor American Jewish secular and
religious agencies their discus
sions with President Kennedy
and the Dobrynin meeting.
They called upon the Jewish
groups to proceed with a
planned 1964 protest mobiliza
tion to begin educating and
arousing American, and world
opinion on this humanitarian
question. Messrs. Goldberg and
From Rogers
Continued from page 1
Army commanders.” She apol
ogized for not acquainting the
Knesset with the details of the
Rogers plan at this time. She
promised that the government
would “meticulously com ply
with the responsibilities and
obligations of a democracy and
would submit the matter for
debate in the Knesset at a suit
able time." Before Mrs. Meir
spoke the government requested
the Knesset to forego a debate
on her speech at this time and
asked that the various factions
limit themselves to brief state
ments.
"World War H, now Minister of
Economic Affairs and Suliman
al Hadidi, a close ally of El Fatah
chief Yasir Arafat, now Minister
of Public Works. On the other
hand, one of Hussein’s trusted
lieutenants, Abd el Wahab al
Majali who was reportedly slated
to be Premier, was given the
defence portfolio instead because
of guerrilla threats, Israeli
sources ' said. They said that
while none of the new ministers
is a guerrilla himself, this is only
because the guerrillas are sat
isfied that they can now control
the government without having
to bear ministerial responsibil
ity.
bas'd <* 4 confidential docu
ment circulated tar Phil ,
International ....
the American Jewish
400 Seek Soviet
Visas to Leave
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Some
400 Soviet Jews so far have
signed petitions and open lettan
with their full names and ad
dresses demanding the right 10
emigrate to re-unite with their
families in Israel Hebrew Uni
versity president Avraham Has*
man disclosed hebe.
~~ Mr. Harms*! spoke in his-q*»
pacity as president-designate of
the Public Council for Soviet
Jewry which will hold its found*
ing conference here July 13.
A pamphlet issued by the new
organization stated that its aim
was “to join its voice to the
all-embracing Jewish protest
movement which - is growing
among Jewish communities
throughout the world." The
chairman of the Council’s exec*
utive committee is S. Z. Abram -
ov, a Knesset member repres
enting the Gahal faction* Mr.
Harman stressed at a news con
ference that the aim of the Coun
cil is. not anti-Soviet,
PMMhtrM If IS* a. SH4SS1