Why did you involve yourself in an attempt to recreate Jewish culture in the USSR? My friends and I realised that one of the main problems of Soviet Jewry now is the problem of survival. Our activities were not so much directed at recreating Jewish culture but at helping those who wished to know something … Read more
There have been ominous developments in the case of Anatoly Shcharansky, the arrested Jewish leader and human rights activist. Among Moscow Jews who have been taken for interrogation to Lefortovo prison, where Shcharansky is being held, is Professor Benjamin Fain, who was asked for details of Shcharansky’s work within the Jewish movement. The line of questioning … Read more
Many Soviet Jews who do not share Bukovsky’s views hold him in high esteem for his guidance in the early days of the exodus movement in showing it how to contact western correspondents in Moscow and thus publicise even the smallest aspect of KGB harassment. Together with his friend, Vladimir Telnikov, he organised a … Read more
Duringthe past month, three Soviet Jews have been accused of criminal offences. Amner Zuvurov was sentenced to three years Zuvurov in Uzbekistan on parasitism and hooliganism charges and the failure to possess an internal passport. In Vilnius, physicist Naum Salansky is in his eighth week of investigation, accused of “slandering the Soviet Union for its … Read more
What did you do on arriving in Moscow? I tried to contact the people involved in the seminar and found that all the telephones had been cut. I then attempted to approach some of these people personally. For example, I went to the home of Professor Benjamin Levich. He had earlier been accosted as he … Read more
Despite the severe measures taken by the KGB last week against the organisers of the Jewish cultural seminar in Moscow, 1976 was a better year in some respects for the Jewish activist movement in the Soviet Union than the previous one. There were no trials (there were eight in 1975) and the activists adopted a … Read more
There are now grave doubts about whether the KGB will permit the Jewish cultural seminar to open in Moscow next Tuesday. Five of its 13 organisers were warned by the Deputy Minister of Culture last week that the symposium was a “provocation contrary to the interests of Soviet Jewry and to Marxist-Leninist ideology”. In addition, … Read more
There was rejoicing in Moscow this week—and indeed throughout the Jewish world—at the surprise announcement that the authorities were dropping their charges against two Jewish dissidents, Boris Chernobilsky and Iosif As. The two men had been held in prison since their arrest last month following sit-ins staged by a group of refuseniks. It had … Read more
Why did you apply to go to Israel? It’s a very simple yet very difficult question. We wanted to go to Israel because we wanted to bring up our children in a Jewish atmosphere. • So why did the Soviet authorities refuse to give you permission for over five years? You never know where … Read more
THE visit to Britain of Boris Ponomarev, like that of former KGB chief Alexander Shelepin last year, has been an unmitigated disaster for those who try to promote the human face of Soviet socialism Beginning with the uproar in Parliament and ending with a bevy of cat-and-mouse demonstrations, Ponomarev was quite clearly shaken by the … Read more