Speech #990269697

Recent events in the Soviet Union emphasize the repression and harassment that are part of the daily lives of many Soviet Jews. These brave people are known as refuseniks. They are Soviet Jews who have been denied permission to emigrate. are harassed by the KGB. and are often dismissed from their work. They live in fear of arrest and imprisonment on trumpedup charges. Gennady and Natalia Khassin of Moscow are one such refusenik family. Gennady Khassin graduated from Moscow State University in 1959. completed his thesis. Ph.D.. in 1965. and now has 27 published works to his credit on projective and differential geometry. He worked and taught in various Soviet academic institutes and was associate professsor of mathematics in the Moscow Pedagogical Institute. but left this post in order to be able to emigrate. He worked as a teacher in a middle school from 1975 until 1977. but was nevertheless denied emigration on the alleged grounds of being a privy to secrets. Gennadys wife Natasha worked as a computer programmer until 1968 and organized and helped to run the kindergarten for refusenik children in Moscow. She was also one of the original 12 women who formed what was called the Womens Group in 1978. This group protested the constant refusals of emigration. The women felt that their protests would be less vulnerable to harassment and arrest than the male refuseniks. The KGB had different ideas. Demonstrations by the group were constantly interrupted and the women were beaten. arrested. and taken to the Moscow suburbs. far from their homes. and dropped off. The Khassins home was searched and Gennedy was arrested and sentenced to 10 days imprisonment. More recently the Khassins have been offered a deal by the KGB: If Natalia admits her crimes in public. the family will get an exit visa. If she does not. they will not get a visa until the year 2000. or Natalia may be exchanged on the bridge as Anatoly Shcharansky was. As always. the constant harassment continues. The Khassins story is not unusual.