Hausler informs the BRPF of Ruza's ill health. She asks for the BRPF's continued support by way of additional letters to Soviet authorities.

Schlesinger provides BR with evidence against earlier claims he made about the Stalinist régime in the Sinyavsky-Daniel case. He speaks of pseudonyms in literature, public criticisms of government and publishing books abroad as legal activity despite BR's concerns.

BR thanks Schlesinger for his recent letter. He adds that it was unfortunate that the prosecution of the Soviet authors was not dropped.

Aronstein, President of the Belgian League for the Declaration for the Rights of Man, encloses an appeal with a petition so that BR may add his name. The appeal is also being sent to intellectuals in other countries. The case is for the Soviet writers Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel.

BR thanks Aronstein for his recent letter. He says that he wholeheartedly supports the efforts concerning Sinyavsky and Daniel.

Aronstein thanks BR for his letter of support.

Shulgasser asks for BR's help with the case of David Skarisky of Lvov. He is being sentenced to death by the Soviet courts.

BR quotes the telegram he sent to Khrushchev. In it he pleads for Skarisky's life on humanitarian grounds and in the hope of improving relationships between East and West.

BR asks Khrushchev to spare the life of David Skarisky.

Arnoni asks BR to reappeal to Khrushchev on behalf of David Skarisky.

BR informs Arnoni that he will raise the matter with Soviet authorities.

Also in file: another TL(CAR), document .182658.

Schoenman asks Arnoni to join the efforts of BR and the BRPF in order to speak out against the unethical social activities and problems brought about by the Cold War. He wants no exceptions to be made. They should be condemned as if they had happened in the U.S.A.

Salisbury encloses a copy of a proposed declaration which Arthur Miller and himself drew up on the Solzhenitsyn case. He asks for BR's association with it.

The declaration is signed by Arthur Miller, James Bracelen Flood, and Salisbury.

Farley sends an appeal which was sent by BR to Kosygin concerning Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

De Meeus, Valeriy Tarsis' literary agent, asks BR to sign a petition which is being circulated throughout Europe designed to persuade Russian authorities to grant Tarsis an exit visa.

Schoenman informs de Meeus that BR will definitely sign the petition on behalf of Tarsis.

De Meeus thanks Schoenman for his recent letter and asks if BR is also willing to write a personal statement to the Soviet authorities.

Schoenman thanks de Meeus for his recent letter. He informs him that Russell will definitely write to Kosygin on behalf of Tarsis.

BR writes to Kosygin in order to appeal Tarsis' sentence at a mental hospital.

Also in file: another TL(CAR), document .182669.

De Meeus acknowledges and thanks BR for his recent letter of appeal to the Soviet authorities for Valery Tarsis.

De Meeus thanks Schoenman for his recent letter. He promises to keep BR's letter confidential.

Tarsis deeply thanks BR for his involvement in his case. He says that now that he is free, he will never forget BR's help.

BR acknowledges receipt of Tarsis' letter. He says that he is happy to learn that his intervention was helpful.

Tarsis writes from London to BR. He asks him to use his influence to help his colleagues who are still detained in mental asylums: Sinyavsky, Daniel and Vladimir Bukovsky.

BR informs Tarsis that he is prepared to intervene once again on the part of his colleagues. He says that their risk to themselves for the sake of liberty and creative freedom is commendable and deserving of support.

In the letter sent to BR or the BRPF is a petition for Alexander Sergeevich Esenin-Volpin. It demands that on grounds of human dignity, he be released from Psychiatric Hospital #5.

Esenin-Volpin is a Soviet mathematician and famous specialist in mathematical logic. Among the petitioners are 30 Lenin Prize winners.

De Meeus asks BR to write to Soviet authorities on the Essenin-Volpin case, the esteemed mathematician who was arrested for his dissent in February 1968. He asks BR to allude to the dismay of world opinion about the Soviet practice of using asylums as detention prisons for intellectuals.

Included in this package is information on logician and mathematician Alexander Essenine-Volpine.

Ellman asks BR to represent Yesenin-Volpin [Essenine-Volpine] as a man deserving of clemency when he appeals to the Soviet authorities for his release. Volpin was a poet and mathematician who had great interest in the law and legal practice.

Ellman sends more documentation on the Yesenin-Volpin case. He hopes that BR will be able to help.

Ellman thanks Farley for his recent letter.

Farley informs Ellman that BR is taking up the Yesenin-Volpin case with the Soviet authorities.

Farley thanks Ellman for his recent letter and asks him to write if the reports are true and in fact Yesenin-Volpin has been released.

Also in file: another TL(CAR), document .182686.

Ellman confirms that Yesenin-Volpin is free from detention.

Zbrijer writes on behalf of his brother, Leonid M. Zbrijer. He was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for economic crimes. He asks BR to help appeal to the Soviet authorities for his only surviving brother.

BR assures Zbrijer that he will do whatever is in his power to help his brother's case.

Also in file: another TL(CAR), document .182691.

Zbrijer thanks BR for his recent letter and his readiness to help his brother.

Schoenman asks Zbrijer for the exact position with regard to his brother's request for an exit visa.

Zbrijer sends Schoenman the personal data for his brother and family.

Schoenman thanks Zbrijer for his recent letter and assures him that they will do all they can to help with his brother's case.

Hoey thanks Schoenman for his letter concerning Zhenya Belov. She expects Amnesty International to keep him informed about any further steps.

Schoenman tells Poole that BR has contacted Kosygin in connection with Zhenya Belov.

Schoenman informs Beckley that BR has written Kosygin in connection with Zhenya Belov.

Schoenman informs Hoey that BR has written Kosygin in connection with Zhenya Belov.

Schoenman informs Dwyer that BR has written Kosygin in connection with Zhenya Belov.

BR sends an urgent request to Kosygin about the Zhenya Belov case.

Also in file: another TEL(TC), document .182703.

Poole thanks Schoenman for his recent letter.

Wood tells Poole that David Horowitz who, is one of the directors of the BRPF, will continue with the Zhenya Belov case.

Vergelis, editor-in-chief of Sovietisch Heimland in Moscow, argues against BR's reasons for withholding publication of his letter and the copy of a letter sent to him by a Soviet Jew who complains of the forced assimilation of Jews in the Soviet Union.

This statement includes information about a three-man delegation from the Soviet Union which was obstructed from coming to Britain by the Home Office. The delegates were: Matkovskiy, Polevoi and Shnjakine. Polevoi and Shnjakine were allowed their visas after much difficulty and a period of five weeks.

Khrushchev writes to BR in response to John Foster Dulles's letter which was published in the New Statesman. He includes his views on important international problems. Khrushchev articulates his major concerns to be Dulles's "inaccurate" perception of communist régimes, disarmament and the preservation of separate ideologies without war.

This document is written in Russian.

BR calls for unity in principles rather than opportunism. He announces a War Crimes Tribunal set up by the BRPF in order to make clear and distinct indictments of the criminal acts of us imperialism in Vietnam.

The message details a series of offences committed against Jews by Soviet politics. It includes a reference to Stalin in 1948 and the October revolution. It also calls for world acknowledgement of "unsocialist" acts like the persecution of dissident intellectuals who are Jewish.

Kosygin responds to BR's announcement of the International Tribunal set up by the BRPF. He assures BR that the USSR is determined to fulfill its international duty to Vietnam. The attached note by Farley states: "This is the text of the message delivered orally by the Russians in Wales on Jan. 31. It has not been answered (but a letter went about reunification for Soviet Jews). Chris."

Shishkin informs BR that his letter of Feb. 8 concerning Elka Kedari's application was received.

Latey requests an interview with BR for the 50th anniversary of the existence of the Soviet Union. Latey requests a written response to three questions posed in the letter in case BR is unavailable. The interview will be conducted by the Russian section of BBC's external broadcasting.

BR informs Latey that he will not have time for an interview. He sends a 300 word response to the questions asked in Latey's letter. The enclosed response, document .182717, is untitled.

BR writes about the "mock trial" held in the Soviet Union. Those tried were intellectuals and writers, and he calls for a re-trial since stifling intellectual freedom does a great disservice to the USSR.

Also in file: another TD(CAR), document .182719.

BR urges Kosygin to publicly announce that the Soviet Union has no intention of using military force in Czechoslovakia.

Farley sends Spender an appeal for the abandonment of the proposed trial of Pavel Litvinov and his associates, sent by BR to the USSR. It is typed below Farley's letter.

BR writes about an increase in anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe in 1968. He says that details have been confirmed about crimes against Jews from many sources, and there should be world understanding and compassion for their situation.

Also in file: another copy, TD(CAR,X), document .182723.

Kotov informs BR that visas have been applied for and the Soviet Peace Fund delegation is ready.

BR asks for the Soviet delegates to be provided with visas as soon as possible since he had planned discussions with the three men: Polevoi who is a writer, Matkovskiy a historian and Shnjakine an interpreter.

A typed note at the foot states: "(Dictated over the telephone by Lord Russell and signed in his absence by his secretary)".

Also in file: another TL(CAR), document .182729.

Schoenman informs Butler that the Soviet Embassy did not refuse the delegates visas but did not provide them either. He says they will be taking up the matter with Home Office.

Morris acknowledges receipt of BR's latest letter.

The BRPF composes a press statement about the case of the three Soviet delegates' difficulties in obtaining a visa for talks with BR. The statement has pencilled revisions.

Also in file: 3 TD(CAR), documents .182733-.182735.

Butler informs Schoenman that she saw the news tape of BR's press statement concerning the three Soviet delegates. She adds that this was not the most appropriate way to persuade Home Office to change their decision, especially as she had talked with Schoenman about the matter shortly before.

Soskice informs BR of his inability to grant Nickolai Matkovsky an exit visa in order for him to go to London with the two other delegates from the USSR.

Also in file: another TLS(X), document .182738.

Schoenman informs Butler that their reliance on the press was a last resort. The BRPF released a press statement, he says, after all other avenues including calling Butler herself, were exhausted. He asks Butler to call him.

Also in file: another TL(CAR), document .182740.

BR asks Soskice for an explanation as to why Matkovskiy is unable to join BR and the two other Soviet delegates in London. He says that the only possible conclusion he can have is that it is a calculated way to create impediments in BR's work.

Also in file: another TL(CAR), document .182742.

Schoenman asks Butler to explain the matter of Mr. Matkovskiy. He encloses letters that BR sent to Soskice and Wilson. BR may "prepare a sustained campaign" over the issue.

BR assures Wilson that he will not let the Matkovskiy case go to rest until he receives an adequate response from the British authorities.

 The Home Office acknowledges receipt of BR's recent letter re Matkovskiy.

Schoenman informs Mitchell that the original of his enclosed letter (not present) never arrived.

Soskice informs BR that he still cannot provide Matkovsky with a visa for the UK.

Wilson informs BR that he is in agreement with Soskice's decision and will not aid BR's appeal.

BR thanks Kotov for his recent letter concerning Polevoy's visit to Britain.

This is a translation of document .182751.

Duran would like to contribute to the BRPF in a confidential matter. He asks BR what his private Association of Artists in Glass could contribute to the BRPF and how they could do it.

Duran's letter to BR was written in Spanish. It was translated into English in document .182750.

BR thanks Duran for his interest in helping the BRPF with a monetary contribution. BR welcomes help from Duran and his private association and outlines three ways in which he may be of some assistance.

BR releases a press statement about the intolerable human rights violations against Venezuelan citizens, especially intellectual dissidents and militant trade unionists. He speaks of American exploitation of Venezuelan resources (oil).

Schoenman asks Calder to publish a book by Mariano Baptista Gumucio.

Schoenman writes about a Spanish author whom he has not yet read but informs Maschler that he is an impressive man and his book should be given serious consideration.

Gumucio thanks BR for allowing a meeting with him. He is anxious to spread the aims of the BRPF throughout the northern part of South America.

Also in file: a copy, TL(CAR), document .182760.

Gumucio apologizes for not being able to wait to say goodbye to Schoenman during his stay in England. He is willing to do whatever it takes to help the BRPF's success in Venezuela.

Schoenman tells Gumucio that he has his deep respect and admiration. He has had further word with English publishers about his book and hopes that it will be published in England.

BR informs Gumucio that he is pleased to learn of his meetings with Schoenman and hopes that he will be able to organize a branch of the BRPF in Venezuela.

Burnett informs Schoenman that La Guerra Final is not a book they wish to publish. The author is Mariano Baptista Gumucio.

Allen and Unwin inform the BRPF that, after consideration of the typescript sent to them, they cannot extend an offer of publication to Gumucio.

The enclosure is a referee's report on the book.

Fernandez thanks BR for the letter he sent him containing kind comments about a speech Fernandez recently delivered. Fernandez asks if it is possible for him to publish the letter to give more strength to his political campaign.

Jonathan Cape Limited publishers informs Ralph that they have decided against publishing La Guerra Final by Gumucio.

Schoenman informs Fernandez that BR would be pleased to have his letter to Fernandez published.

Gumucio sends Schoenman a post card from Bolivia.

BR asks President Leoni to guarantee the rights of Americo Martin and Felix Leonnet, citing the Charter of Human Rights.

Kennedy supports the Free Speech Campaign and encloses a donation.

The letter to this M.P. was returned as "gone away". The enclosures are Frank Soskice, Home Office, UK, to BR, 31 Aug. 1965, TL(TC,MIM), document .182774 (for other copies, see record 64784); BR to Soskice, 2 Sept. 1965, on the verso of document .182774 (for other copies see record 107811). Asa Briggs et al. In New Statesman, 27 Aug. 1966, document .182775; BR in The Times, 25 Aug. 1965, on the verso of document .182775, B&R C64.34.

BR requests visas for Vietnamese spokesmen.