Soviet Jews

The predicament of Jews in the Soviet Union has reached "tragic proportions," David Powell, Russian Research Fellow, told a Riesman Center audience yesterday.

"The Jewish religion in the USSR is a dying religion," Powell said, attributing its decline to a general secularization of all religions in most parts of the world and to the Soviet government's hostile treatment of Jews.

He noted the repression in the Soviet Union has been more severe toward Judaism than to most other religions.

Powell added that Jews in the USSR lack the organization and political power needed to counter the government's hostility.

Emigration has significantly decreased the Jewish population in the Soviet Union, Powell concluded. But he added, "While there is even one Jew, there will be a Jewish issue."