Mrs. Irina Markish, daughter-in-law of the late Russian-Yiddish poet Peretz Markish who was killed in the Stalin purges 20 years ago, appealed to Queen Elizabeth II today to intercede on behalf of her husband, David and his mother, Esther, who have been refused exit visas by Soviet authorities to go to Israel.
Mrs. Markish asked the British sovereign to “understand my despair–my desperate longing to live with David–to have children–to see them grow up with us.” She said she was asking for her family “the same freedom you treasure and protect in Great Britain.”
Mrs. Markish, who was permitted to leave the USSR, staged a vigil and hunger strike outside the Soviet Embassy here last week. She wrote to the Russian Ambassador that the world would know that there are humanitarians in the Kremlin if her husband and his mother are permitted to leave the Soviet Union.
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.
