As many of my colleagues have done. I would like to bring to the attention of this body and indeed to the entire Nation the plight of one of the many Soviet Jews known as refuseniks. These Soviet Jews. who are being denied permission to emigrate from the Soviet Union. are consistently persecuted and harassed by Soviet authorities. They are accused of trumpedup crimes ranging from defaming the Soviet State to "hooliganism." The punishment they receive is as Just as the crimes they are charged with are legitimate. such as loss of citizenship. employment or at worstimprisonment in a labor camp. These ordeals have had a lasting and often irreversible impact upon the lives and families of these refuseniks. The simple desire to emigrate. so that they may freely practice their religious beliefs and be with family members. appears justification enough for the Soviet authorities to commit such unconscionable acts. This desire to emigrate has not been suppressed by the authorities. however. the Soviets have managed in the last few years to stem the flow of emigrees to a trickle. This has become a deplorable state of affairs for the Soviet Jew. One such case involves the refusenik family of Lev Shapiro. Lev is a 45yearold electronics engineer. who was employed until 1970 at the Research Institute of Radio Electronics in Leningrad. In 1977. Lev and his family applied for an exit visa. He was refused on the grounds of the secrecy of his work at the institute 7 years earlier. and. therefore. such a request was not In the interest of the Soviet Union. All of his requests since that time have also been denied. The Shapiros maintain a traditional Jewish home despite the lack of religious and cultural material available to them. Because of his beliefs and his support for the Jewish emigration movement. Lev has been publicly harassed by the Soviets. The Leningrad newspaper. in May 1980. ran a story characterizing Lev as a criminal and a person who has Zionist friends.
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emigrate emigration visa