Fewer than 60 synagogues remain open. there are no Hebrew or Yiddish schools. Yiddish publications and language instruction are extremely limited. Constantly faced with governmentsponsored antiSemitism. thousands of Soviet Jews have tried to emigrate. Some have waited. and suffered for over 15 years. The number of longterm refusenik cases is estimated between 20.000 and 60.000. Eight thousand one hundred and fiftyfive Soviet Jews were granted exit visas last year. But this is only a fraction of the 51.000 who were allowed to leave in 1979. While many of the longterm and high profile refusenik leaders have been allowed to emigrate. thousands of others repeatedly apply and are denied the right to leave. Many are dismissed from their Jobs. harassed by the police and the KGB. and their children are expelled from schools and universities. It is for each and every one of these individuals. who desire to live in peace and pursue a better life for their children. that we must continue to pressure Gorbachev to respect human rights and allow them to emigrate. We must let these Soviet Jews know that we care. that they have not been forgotten. and that their cause will never be abandoned. I would like to illustrate the plight of the Soviet Jews by telling you about the case of Gennady and Natasha Khassin and their family. In 1975. Gennady left his post as associate professor of mathematics at the Moscow Pedagogical Institute in order to apply for emigration to Israel. In 1976. he and his family were denied on the basis of "secrets" that Gennady was alleged to posess. Natasha wc rked as a computer programmer until 1968.
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emigrate emigration visas