Haim Elbert, a 68-year-old Red Army veteran who with his family had been denied exit visas since they first applied in 1976, died in Kiev November 8, the National Conference on Soviet Jewry reported here.
His death came two days after he learned that the latest visa application for himself, his wife, their sons and their families had been rejected, the NCSJ reported. Elbert suffered heart attacks and stroke in recent years.
According to the NCSJ, his son, Lev Elbert, a former Prisoner of Conscience, was summoned to OVIR, the visa office, last week expecting the application to be granted. Instead, he was told it was denied on grounds that he had failed to disclose “a former marriage” in a previous application. The charge was false, the NCSJ said.
Haim Elbert was a graduate of the Stalingrad Military Academy and served as a company commander in the Caucusus during World War II. He was captured in 1942 and escaped from a German prisoner of war camp after two unsuccessful attempts. He survived in the POW camp by concealing his identity as a Jew.
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.
