Mr. Brezhnev. a contemporary of 7.5 million of his countrymen who died during World War II can understand the spirit of fellow human beings. the Jews who lost some 6 million at the hands of the same murderous Nazis. Whether built in fear. for confinement. protection or a combination of these reasons. walls will not silence the voices of a reported 116.000 Soviet Jews who. it is believed. have filed affidavits declaring their desire to emigrate. without success to date. I cannot accept numbers games applied to human beings and human freedom. But if we accept Mr. Brezhnevs reported statement that 60.200 Soviet Jews have been permitted to emigrate. what of the 66 percent who are estimated to have officially sought to leave and been refused? If we accept the report that 10. 100 exit visas were issued during the first 5 months of this year. how can he explain that the rate. projected on a yearly basis. is 25 percent lower than last year? How many thousands more long for freedom but are reluctant to expose themselves and their families to oppres.sion as the result of applying for emigration? The barrier thrown up against Soviet Jews is not the only hindrance to the greater improvement of United StatesSoviet relations. There remains the continuing persecution of hundreds of Ukrainian intellectuals.
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emigrate emigration visas