A Jewish woman in Riga who has been petitioning authorities since 1960 for an exit visa so that she could join relatives in Israel, was jailed for 10 days last month after visiting the local Ovir (visa) office, according to reports reaching here today from the Soviet Latvian capital. According to the reports, Mrs. Feige Simakova, who is the mother of two daughters and is described as a sick person, was one of a group of 24 Riga Jews who went to the Ovir office on Feb. 26 to find out why their visas were being delayed. The head of the Riga Ovir, whose last name was given as Kaija, was reportedly rude to the applicants and harangued them for wanting to leave the Soviet Union. The woman’s mother, brother and sister live in Israel.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
