Nevertheless. their determination to face the challenges of their new life was most apparent. It was without doubt the most moving experience in my life. The day after these emigrants arrived. we visited them at a temporary shelter where we sat in groups. and through interpreters. talked informally about their plight in the Soviet Union. If ever anyone had doubt of the suppression of freedoms in the Soviet Union. I only wish he could have listened to these refugees. Among them were doctors. shoemakers. farmers. housewives. elderly men and women. children and young couples. They all came with but one goal: to find new life within the concepts of their spiritual and moral beliefs and to be free of repression and fear. We also visited an absorption center in Israel where highly sophisticated programs were planned for the constructive readjustment of Israels newest citizens. We saw typical housing units for Russian refugees and we spoke to many of the residents. Not all were newcomers. Some had lived there for months. others for years. Later on in our mission we were privileged to be on hand at the airport in Tel Aviv to meet the plane which carried the same groups we met at the train station. at the airport in Vienna and at their temporary residence there before they embarked for Israel. Several of the refugees recognized us as they stepped off the plane with their bright eyes and broad smilessurely more outgoing than when they arrived in Europemore confident and more determined. We exchanged hearty "shaloms" and warm handshakes. This was a touching scene. one that I wish every Member of this House could have experienced.
Keywords matched
emigrants refugees