Our hearts go out to them as they face an unending stream of discrimination. rejection. and outright abuse at the hands of the Soviet Government. Furthermore. we must let the Soviet Union know that the new wave of antiSemitism in the Soviet Union. much of it officially sanctioned. makes it more difficult for U.S. relations to be improved. We must also let the Soviet Union know that the overwhelming roadblocks that they have thrown in the way of Jews who seek to emigrate also hurt the relations between our two countries. No one can look at the disastrous drop in the figures on Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union in the last few years and not be concerned. From a 1979 peak of 51.320. emigration has dropped over 97 percent to only 1.314 in 1983. If this trend continues. fewer than 700 will emigrate in this Orwellian year of 1984. We must remember the good and decent Jewish people and other victims of conscience in the Soviet Union who want nothing more than to emigrate so that they can live without fear of persecution. and worse. for their beliefs. I think of Lidiya Staskevich and her family. with whom I have tried to correspond but with only limited success. I am grateful for the selfless efforts of those who have helped me in trying to stay in touch with her.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration