Committee of Concerned CO-CHAIRMEN Jack Cohen NationalInstitutes ofHealth _ H. Eugene Stanley Massachuserrs Institute qf Technologv VICECWIRMRN ASTRONOMY Arm Penzias BeULabomton'es Holmdd. NJ. BIOCHEMISTRY Robert Adelstein National Institutes qffiwlth BIOLOGY Felix Bronner Univ. qfConn. Health Center CHEMISTRY Thomas Spiro Princeton University COMPUTER SCIENCES Jack Minker University qfMory/and DENTAL SCIENCES Robert Gerber Los Angeles. Ca/$ ENGINEERING Marc H. Richman Brown University INDUSTRIAL LABS Mel Pomerantz IBM Research.Center MATHEMATICS Richard Ellis Northwestern Universiry MEDICAL SCIENCES Robert Greaemun Johns Hopk&s Univ. School ofMedicine Walter tieder Maimonides Medical Center, N. Y. PHYSICS Bernard R. Cooper West Virginia Univ. PSYCHOLOGY & PSYCHIATRY Dorothy Susskind Hunter CoIlege, CUNY NATIONAL SPONSORS Christian Anfinsm Notiond Institutes ofHealth Julius Axelrod NationalInstitute qfMento/Healrh Lipman Bers Columbia University Jacob Bigelienon Rochester University Raoul Bott Harvard University Owen Chamberlain Univeni@ qfCal#bmb. Berkelq Leo Goldberg Kilt Peak National Observatory Gerhard Herztwg National Research Counci/qfCanada Kurt Iswlbacher Massachusetts Geneml Hospital Arthur Kornberg Stondord University Benjamin Lax Massachusetts Institute qf Technologv Stuart Rice University of Chicago Harold Scheraga Come/I University Sylvan Schweber Bmndeis University Charles Townes Universiry of Califimia. Berkeiq George Wnld Harvard University Oscar Zpriski Hanwd Universi@ Affiliation for identification purposes only. Dr. Marshall Nirenberg Building 36, Room IC27 National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Md . 20014 Scientists, Inc. 9East4oStm?t New York, N.Y. 10016 Tel. (212) 686-8862 Lull s. chertoff Exaxtivc Dirrctor June 6, 1975 JUN 11 9975 Dear Dr. Nirenberg: Jack Cohen has told me of your kind intention to write a letter on behalf of Dr. Shtern . I am enclosing herewith some brief background material on the case, together with a draft letter you can use as you see fit. Very briefly, Dr. Shtern is an endocrinologist who practiced many years in his town of Vinnitsa. Shortly after he applied for permission to emigrate to Israel with his family, he was accused of poisoning children, accepting bribes, and similar outrageous charges. The case came to trial accompanied by the usual difficulties with witnesses -- some patients refused to testify, at great personal risk to themselves, and others willingly gave false testimony. He was found guilty and sentenced to eight years at hard labor. There is absolutely no point in talking about the travesty of justice which took place in the case; it occurs daily in the Soviet Union. The only thing we can ask for with any hope of success is clemency and commutation of sentence. He is a terribly sick man and the conditions in the labor camp have already aggravated his condition. He cannot possibly survive very long. His second son has now been given permission to leave and in fact has been ordered to leave in a few days. That will leave Mrs. Shtern quite alone and helpless. Our most recent information is that he is preparing an appeal for presentation to the USSR Supreme Court. It is doubtful that they will take jurisdiction in the case, or that any appeal will be considered. However, we must pursue every avenue stil I open to us, to plead for his release. We are most grateful for your concern, and for your willingness to translate that comrcern into action. Wil I you please send me a copy of the letter you send to Podgorny 3 Litili S. Chertoff LSC:df WORKINE DRAFT President Nikolai V. Podgnorny The Krem I in Moscow RSFSR, USSR Sir: I am writing to you, as the supreme voice of authority in the Soviet Union, to pleartlfor the release of Dr. Mikhail Shtern. Dr. Shtern by this time is a sick and tormented man, prematurely aged by his experiences. He suffers from severe health problems and I fear for his life under the regimen of the labor camp. Certainly, he will never survive to serve his eight-year sentence. The Soviet Union today is one of the world's great powers. Its place among the nations is secure and does not depend on keeping one frail, sick man in prison. The prestige of the Soviet Union abroad can only be enhanced by a humanitarian and generous act of clemency in his case. I and many of my colleagues in science have welcomed the reduction in tensions between our two countries as a result of the policy of detente. We are in the forefront of exchanges in science between the USSR and the United States. But those exchanges cannot take place without the collaboration and support of American scientists,and their enthusiasm for such cooperation is not encouraged when they read about Dr. Shtern or other Soviet scientists whose desire to emigrate to Israel has resulted in severe punishment. I urge you to grant amnesty to Dr. Shtern, and allow him and his wife to leave so that they may join the remaining members of their family and live out their remaining years in peace. Sincerely yours, PERTINENT ADDRESSES IN U.S. AND U.S.S.R.FOR PROTEST (Please retain for future reference) President Gerald Ford The White House Washington, D.C. 20500 Secretary of State Henry Kissinger Department of State Washington, D;C. 20525 Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin Embassy of the U.S.S.R. 1125 16th Street NW Washington, D .C. 20036 Procumtor Geneml Roman Rudenko Pushkinskaya Street 15A Moscow RSFSR USSR Chairman Vladimtr A. Klrilltn State Committee on Science and Technology The Kremlin Moscow RSFSR USSR M. Keldysh USSR Academy of Sciences Moscow RSFSR USSR Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev The Kremlin Moscow RSFSR USSR President Nikolai V. Podgorny The Kremlin Moscow RSFSR - USSR Premier Aleksei Kosygin The Kremlin Moscow RSFSR USSR Senator Henry Jackson United States Senate Washington, D. C. 20510 Your own Congressman Your own Senator The head of any academic or scientific institution in the USSR known to you, or with whom you have professional contact. 505 Park Avenue Committee of Concerned Scientists, Inc. ;y;p;<;yy PROFILE: Dr. Mikhail SHTERN BORN: 1918 FROM: , Vinnitsa ADDRESS: USSR Ukra,inian SSR Vfnnitsa Osipenko 7/9 ,'. Tel. 28813 STATUS: Married. Wife: Ida, born 19li, Sonsi Viktor, born 1941 (phjiniciet, 'now worki;ng as a'postinan); Avgust, 1945 (Ph.D.,. biology, now tutoring) ARRESTED: 5/25/74 IRVESTICATION COMPLETED; lOll8l74 '. :. CHARGES: a) "Bribery";b) possibly, "attempt- :>' ed homicide" OCCUPATION: Endocrinologist, TRIAL: chief of a polyelinjic Date to be announced; due end of November, 1974. : : In September 1973, the Shtern family ,took the first step in the emigration~procees when they received a vyzov` (invstat%on)SFrom Mrs.. Shtem's sister in Israel. Immediately following this, harassment; `the"entire'f+mlly became the target of systematic ., unofficial sea&he&; tills to local government offices, Interrogationa. This preliminary campaign culminated in. the arrest of Dr. Mlkhail Shtern on May 25, 1974 during a KGB .&arch of the Shtern apartment. Four days'later.thc family was informed that an investigation had been opened in preparation for dourt action against Dr. Shtern. . The Vinnitsa Procuratorle Office stated explicitly that the,accusation was In retalfatlon for the entire family's desire to emigrate to Isrsel,. while the `Chief of Investigation: foL .the Dkr;ainfiaq Republic' coavbented that he didn't "like, people going,.to Israel." 'Apparently acting on orders sanctioned by the Regional Connnunist Party, the procurltor attempted to accumulate evidence to support bribery charges. In view of the yeakimes of the.evidence, howeve!; addltfonal charges were sought and"'found." " According to Mrs. Shtern, on the 9th of September, Maria Grlgorievna Soloveichuk, residing In the village of Kitaigorod, Illenetaky R&on, Vlnnlltsa Oblast,'came to the Vinnitsa Oblast Dispensary and demanded to'knm what "Dr. Shtern had pa&son- ad her son with." As Mrs. Soloveichuk informed the dispensary workers, interroga- tors at.,theIlienetaky mnlcipal Procurator's .Offioe had asked hei: and other residents.jof the village, in particular Elena Timoshenko, for +nformatlcm which would 'prove thnt `the physician Shtern,had "taken bribes' and sold drugs,." The authorities explained that they needed this information to possibly save the "lives of children deliberately poisoned by Shtern." Net satisfied'with the explanation given by 'the dispensary workers, Mrs. Solcveichuk went to the Shtern's~apartment; 'Upon hearing..the entire story, and .learning how ev%dence w&s befng %n%tiated and gathered'; Mrs.'Shtern, (Dr, '. ghtem was still in custody) requested that Mrs. Soloveichuk tell this tb"th& Vinnitsa Oblast Procurator. Mrs. Soloveichuk attempted to comply, but was directed instead to the administrator of the lnveetigat$ve department, Procurate? Potapov, Mrs. Shtern's request to have the informants recite' their charges in her presence, and their version of how the investigation was conducted, war denied. Instead, the local man merely "conversed" with Mrs. Soloveichuk privitely and then sent her home. Despite endless searches and confiscation of property worth 3,000 rubles, authorities found no evidence to support their charges. The bribery charges alone carry a maximum penalty of 20 years. N.B. Vinnitsa is a remote Ukrainian town whose isolataon has served as cover for recent anti-Jewish outbreaks. In 1973, Isaak Shkolnik, an unskilled laborer, was tried and sentenced to 7 years on charges of "treason." In recent weeka, ona of the few remaining activists in the town, Mikhail Mager, has been continually harassed and under surveillance. 74-204 102974dh Appeal by the Shtern FamiZy to the Medic&l Profession and to all concerned peopte: In September, 2973 our fomiZy received cm invitation from our mother's sister, living in Israel; imnediately after receipt of this invitation we all began to undergo systematic and continuous harassment and persecution. On May 12th, 19.74, our flat' was broken into by unknown persons, for an. unknown purpose; at this time all members of the family were called to different state and Local government offices, and all retained in these various places for more than 4 hours. On May 2&h, 1974, our father was arrested; the arrest was carried out by offi&& of the K.C.B.: 10 men burst into the apartment in the most brutal manner, without any warn&g or ringing of the bell or any previous notification whatsoever. On &ay 29th, 1974, during the investigation, the'-p*wator of the Vinnitsa L"ffice openly stated that the reason for the prep&ration of an accusation against oti father was connected with our desire $&~~~~ate to live in Israel. .a :. when it b&came clear that the attempts of the K.G. B. to institute, a political or even a civil case were doomed to failure as they'had no evidence of any kind, of either political activity or of bribery or corruption of any sort, the case was handed over to the Procurator's office with instructions to prepare some sort of case so that our father could be brought to trial. When the acoujiztion was presented to him, a further search was utiertaken, and all his perstil documents were removed, including his diploma of K&d&i& Nauk, 0rigi~1 manuscripts of scientific articles, a list of scientific works and so on; At the request of the Vinnitsa Procurator, exit visas for the younger son and his wife have been held back. In spite of the obvious abtiurdity and the open dishonesty of the accusation being prepared and presented against our father, a doctor with more than 30 years experience in medical practice, the off&a2 governmentat organs have been persisting for the last 4 months with their efforts to press the charge of fattempting to poison ZittZe childrin who were under his care as a doctor." Officials of the investigating authorities are browbeating witnesses, compelZing them to give false testimony, accusing the doctor whom they have aZways trusted and respected of the intention to poison their children. This was stated by M. SOLOVEICHUK and E. TIiWWiE~KO on September 9th, 1974. These tie are re Natives of former patients of our father. Thus as it has not been found possibtti'or convenient to bring a charge of viol&ion of the &minul la, code, or of abuse of his rights as an official (by `the taking of bribery), they have n~~decided to bring a charge against this doctor of l'attempting murder, fr highly reminisdent of the infamous "Doctors' PZotN oa8e of 1952. It is up to the consciences of a21 honest people not to allow this to take ptaoe. We appeal to the Medical Profession and beg you to help us to save our father, whose whole aim in life has alwaqs,been to help to save the lives of others. SQned `by all members of the Shtern family, September 26th, 1974 74-205 102974dh