A Soviet official warned in Moscow that there would be a “solution of the Jewish problem” after the end of next year’s Olympic Games in Moscow. Konstantin Zoltov, an official of ovir, the organization which processes exit visas, gave the warning to Alla Smuliansky who, with her husband Mark, has been trying to leave for Israel for the past nine years.
According to a British visitor to Moscow, who returned to London, Alla went to the ovir office on receipt of an official invitation addressed to her husband. Zoltov told her that despite a threat by her husband to kill himself outside the Kremlin, the couple would never be allowed to leave the country.
A few of the other refusniks would be allowed to emigrate before the Olympics but the others would go on a long journey to a place they would not like, and after the Games “we will solve the Jewish problem,” Zoltov said. Shortly after this interview, the Smulianskys arrived in a distraught state at the hotel where some British tourists were staying and described to them what had happened.
Smuliansky lost his job as a metallurgical engineer nine years ago. He has since had a series of progressively lower paid jobs and is now a night watchman on a building site earning 65 Rubles a month. His wife, a former Intourist guide, now coaches students in modern languages.
Zoltov’s statement is seen as the latest sign that the Soviet authorities plan to clear as many dissidents as possible from Moscow during the Olympics to prevent embarrassment to the regime while so many foreign tourists are present. Smuliansky was among Jewish activists imprisoned during President Nixon’s visit to Moscow in 1972.
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.
