Under this policy. Jews are being denied the right to live as Jews and to practice and teach their religion. They are being denied access to education and employment opportunities and at the same time. the right to emigrate has all but ceased to exist. A bad situation is being made progressively worse by the policies and actions of the Soviet state. All of this is. of course. a violation of that countrys own constitution and basic international human rights standards such as the Helsinski accords which the U.S.S.R. signed in 1975. The utter human misery that the Soviet leadership has created is apparent in the individual case of Grigory Geishis. a young Jewish student who applied for permission to emigrate. Mr. Geishis was expelled from the Institute for Communication in 1978 when it was learned that he wished to leave Leningrad and live in Israel with his grandfather. This action was followed by a call from the authorities for his induction into the Army. Knowing that military service would give him a military security classification that would make emigration impossible for at least 10 years. the courageous and committed young man refused military service. In 1980 he was sentenced to 2 years in a labor camp. He has served his time and the authorities are again trying to have him drafted.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration