Mr. Speaker. another shocking incident has come to light in which the Soviet Union has unjustifiably denied an exit visa to emigrate to Israel. Boris Levitas. 20. a former student at the Kiev Institute of Building Engineering. was informed on September 23 that he would not be granted an exit visa. The reason given by the Soviet authorities was the fact that Levitas. while a student. had taken classes in basic military training. Levitas has now been advised he will be conscripted into the Soviet armed forces on October 14. precluding his emigration for a number of years. The Levitas family left Kiev for Israel in the spring of 1973 but Boris was not permitted to go with them. because he lived in another city. Since then. he has been the victim of a campaign of continual harassment and persecution conducted by the Soviet authorities. Despite the fact that he was an outstanding student. Boris was dismissed from school for "failing" his examination. after he had refused to make a public antiIsrael statement and after he had applied for an exit visa. His dismissal automatically made him eligible for conscription. The Soviet treatment of Boris Levitas is one more example of the repressive attitude the Russian Government has been taking toward Jews and other minorities who want to leave Russia.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration visa