I have visited the Soviet Union on two other occasions. most recently in the fall of last year. and on every trip I have had the opportunity to meet with several refuseniks whose basic human rights have been blatantly violated. Not only have their personal stories touched me. but their courageous efforts are to be admired by all of us. It is difficult for free people to comprehend the extreme anguish that many Soviet citizens endure when they are deprived of their individual. cultural and religious identity. as well as their freedom to emigrate. Today. I would like to focus attention on the tragic fate of Dr. Iosif Begun. a Jewish Prisoner of Conscience. who has dedicated his life to. the problem of Soviet Jews. to teaching Hebrew. and to fighting for the right to unrestricted departure from the U.S.S.R. Dr. Beguns nightmare began in April 1971. when his request for an exit visa to Israel was refused. He was subsequently dismissed from his job as a senior research assistant at the Moscow Central Research Institute and was later dismissed from jobs as a telephone operator and as a night watchman. In 1977.
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