In the last few months the world has witnessed some changes in the Soviet Union and the leaderships attitude toward its people and their lives. Some human rights activists. among them Soviet Jews. have been released from labor camps and prisons. although many more still remain unjustly incarcerated. Yet of those Soviet Jewish prisoners of conscience who have been released. only Zachar Zunshine has been allowed to emigrate. Longterm refuseniks such as Ida Nudel and the Slepaks continue to languish even though under the new regulations. they clearly qualify for family reunification and hundreds of thousands more are awaiting the right to emigrate from the Soviet Union. A number of interviews with Soviet officials in the Western media have yielded responses like "if people arent happy here in the Soviet Union. they should be able to leave." Of course. we know that isnt possible. Theory and practice in the Soviet Union are often mutually exclusive.
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emigrate family reunification