Iosif Mendelevich. in his youth. studied Hebrew and became intimate with Jewish history and culture. Between 1967 and 1970. Iosif and his family were refused permission to emigrate to Israel on three occasions. It had become obvious to everyone in the Soviet Union that emigration was. if not impossible. most certainly a long and abusive procedure. Accordingly. the alternative choice. not unlike the one chosen by the thousands of other citizens of East Germany. was simply to flee the country. On June 15. 1970. a group of courageous freedomseeking individuals were arrested for attempting to flee the Soviet Union to Israel by hijacking a Soviet airliner.
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emigrate emigration