Yet. on Sunday. Anatoly will speak not only of his own experiences. but of those of so many Soviet Jews and others whose basic human rights are being violated. Over 400.000 Jews have begun the emigration process guaranteed to them by the Helsinki Final Act and by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. However. once that bold step is undertaken. their lives are forever changed. Loss of employment usually soon follows. and harassment by KGB agents begins. Thereafter. those who were former friends shun the refusenik. and arrest is possible at any time. Soviet officials use any and every means to discourage the family reunification process that is theirs by right. As a signatory to the Helsinki accords. the Soviet Union signaled its intent to allow Soviet Jews to live with their families abroad. Yet. its emigration reports belie that promise. From more than 51.000 permitted to leave in 1979. we are now witness to a meager emigration from the Soviet Union that hovers at 1.000 per year or less. By contrast arrests of Hebrew teachers and other innocent individuals have increased markedly. False charges of drugs or weapons possession are now the order of the day.
Keywords matched
family reunification emigration