Speech #960265478

Mr. Speaker. I wish to again draw the attention of the Members of the House of Representatives to the plight of Isaak Shkolnik. a Soviet Jew who. for the past 10 years. has attempted to emigrate to Israel. Mr. Shkolnik has always dreamed of living in Israel. Soon after the sixday war he decided to make that dream a reality. He began his attempts to emigrate to Israel with his family while participating in the Jewish community activities in both Vinnitsa. his home. and in Moscow. All his attempts to emigrate. however. were in vain. The documents he needed to start the process of emigration from the Soviet Union were sent from Israel but were never received by the Shkolniks. They did. however. appear at his trial. They were used as evidence of his disloyalty to the Soviet Union. Isaak applied for an exit visa in 1972 and was subsequently arrested for antiSoviet agitation and was tried for treason against the motherland. At first. because of his British acquaintances at work. he was charged with being a British industrial spy. Because of protests from the British Government. the charge was dropped. He was later accused. but not tried. as a spy for Israel. Despite a total lack of evidence. Isaak was convicted and sentenced to 7 to 10 years at hard labor for "collecting information and passing it on to foreign powers." During this time. pressure was applied by the Soviet Government as they offered to drop the more serious charge if Isaak would give up the idea of emigrating to Israel. During his imprisonment. the Soviet Government continued to offer deals for his release. His wife and daughter emigrated to Israel in 1976so the deals then consisted of his freedom from prison for his renunciation of his intent to emigrate and the return of his family to the Soviet Union. Shkolnik refused to deal with the Soviet authorities and thus remained in prison until July 1979. Upon his release from prison.