I am proud to join in a protest on behalf of Ida Nudel. who has protested and struggled on behalf of so many of her brethren in the Soviet Union. Ms. Nudel. an economist and resident of Moscow. first applied for an emigration visa to Israel in May 1971. Like countless others. her request was denied on the basis of "state secrets." For the next 7 years. Ida Nudel worked tirelessly to improve the lives of Jews imprisoned for their beliefs. She became known as the Guardian Angel of the Prisoners of Conscience. and inevitably attracted the attention of the KGB. Long years of harassment by the secret police culminated in her arrest on June 1. 1978. for hanging a banner outside her Moscow apartment which read "KBG. Give Me My Visa." Ida Nudel is now the only Jewish woman held as a prisoner of conscience in the Soviet Union. In spite of internal exile in a small town in Siberia. she remains undaunted by her oppressors. As she herself has said. her 7 years of giving. that daily battle to earn for herself and others their unquestionable rights. are a source of strength and courage which belong to her and all those whose lives she has touched.
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emigration visa Visa