Thousands upon thousands of Soviet Jews are truly prisoners in their own country even when they are not actually confined to camp or prison. They are not permitted to live openly in the Soviet Union as Jews. or freely to practice their religion. or to learn Hebrew or see that their children learn it. Refused these liberties at home. they are also refused permission to emigrate. and once having taken the courageous step of applying to emigrate they are generally denied gainful employment and forced to live a marginal existence where they are subject to harassment. abuse and. always. the threat of arrest and imprisonment on spurious charges. Emigration rose consistently in the 1970s and exceeded 51.000 in 1979. But in 1984 only 896 persons were permitted to leave. and this year the total is expected to be even lower. Families continue to be torn apart. and lives destroyed.
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emigrate Emigration