The plight of Ida Nudel. "Guardian Angel" of the Soviet Prisoners of Conscience. concerns all Americans and everyone around the globe who cares about human rights. The harsh treatment that she has endured reminds all of us that the Soviet Union continues to deny basic rights to Soviet Jews. Ida Nudel. the only Jewish woman being held as a prisoner of conscience in the Soviet Union. first attempted to emigrate in 1971. After her request was denied. she began her heroic efforts to support Soviet Jews who had been jailed for their beliefs. For the next 7 years. she was harassed. interrogated and falsely branded as a criminal. Finally. she was arrested for hanging a banner outside her Moscow home that said. "KGB. Give Me My Visa." They arrested her for "malicious hooliganism" and sentenced her to Siberia where she has been confined to a small village for the past 4 years. The whole world knows of the struggles of Soviet Jewry and the denial of their rights to practice their faith or to emigrate to a land where they can do so in freedom. Only since 1969 have Jews been able. though with extreme difficulty. to emigrate from the Soviet Union. In the past couple years. however. the emigration of Jews has slowed considerably. The data for 1981 reveal a 90 percent decline from the peak emigration year of 1979 when more than 51.000 left the country. As the door to emigration swings shut. life grows even worse for the Jews remaining in the country. In recent months. Soviet refusenik communities have been abused in several major Soviet cities.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration Visa