Media and Diplomats Lobbied : Activists Basking in Geneva Spotlight

The glare of the world spotlight on the superpower summit has attracted a small army of one-issue evangelists, champions of lost causes and dreamers of fading dreams--all hoping to win attention for their special pleas. Some admit to doubts about how much good they do, yet their enthusiasm carried them to Geneva.

Their interests are varied: Free Cambodia. Release Soviet Jews. Camaraderie between peoples. Disarmament. Fight AIDS. Liberate Albania. And perhaps a hundred other issues.

The techniques of these people on the fringes are similar. Taking advantage of the thousands of journalists and officials in town, they hold news conferences, hand out leaflets, stage demonstrations, try to push petitions into the hands of diplomats and politicians. They surely attract more attention than they usually do at home, but it is not easy to assess what they achieve.

Take the group that calls itself the Elbe Alliance.

It was set up by U.S. war veterans who linked up with Soviet soldiers at the Elbe River to cut Nazi Germany in two near the end of World War II. A full-page photo in Life magazine 40 years ago featured one of the Americans hugging a Russian soldier and, in Geneva, the veterans passed out badges with small reproductions of the photo to journalists at a news conference.

The veterans believe in closer personal relations between the Soviet and American peoples.

‘Lot of Skepticism’

Albert L. Kotzobue, a 62-year-old retired lieutenant colonel from Foothill, Calif., was actually the first American soldier to reach a Russian patrol, but Life did not take his picture. A few minutes before the news conference, Kotzobue tried to explain why his group of three veterans had come to Geneva.

“There was once a spirit of camaraderie among the little people 40 years ago,” he said. “We want to remind the men at the top that it is the little people who count. The little people do not work for them, not even in Russia.”

When he stood up at the podium later, however, he told the reporters: “I had a lot of skepticism about the idea of coming here to tell world leaders to do exactly what they have come here to do. . . . Over the years, I’ve had the feeling that people like me have no influence on what the leaders of the world do. I mean, who am I?”

But, the retired lieutenant colonel went on, “I decided that although I won’t devote my life to this cause, I will lend it my moral support. I won’t support peace at any price, but I will support going the peace route rather than the war route.”

Also vying for a share of attention are several Jewish organizations, mostly from the United States. All are concerned about Soviet treatment of Jews and the Soviet refusal to allow more than a trickle of Jewish emigration. But, unlike Kotzobue, these groups know they have a good deal of political influence back home and a President who often agrees with them.

Their impact at Geneva, however, may be weakened somewhat because they cannot agree on their approach to the Soviet Union. At a news conference, Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies in Los Angeles, released a report by Soviet Jews about their recent treatment in the Soviet Union.

The report, according to Hier, is additional evidence that Gorbachev cannot be trusted. “We did not come here to be spoilers,” he said, “or to belittle the singular importance of what is going on here. . . . But is the Soviet Union worthy of our trust? Up to now, the Soviet signature is not worth the paper it is printed on.”

Hier seemed critical of Edgar M. Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress, for indicating earlier in the day that Gorbachev had hinted that he might increase the flow of Jewish emigration in the future. “No more generalities,” Hier insisted. “We need to know how many came out this year, how many will come out next year.”

Not Hawkish Enough

Although the rabbi seemed more hawkish than Bronfman, he was not hawkish enough for one spectator at the conference. Moshe Ronen of Toronto, president of the North American Jewish Students Network, demanded: “We are at the summit, and you are talking about after. What steps will you take now?”

“We held a news conference,” Hier replied. “That’s one thing we have done for keeping up the issue of Soviet Jewry. . . . We intend to be heard from.”

“We will be taking action at the summit,” Ronen shouted back. “I hope you will join us.”