Eighteen Soviet Jewish families in Georgia, who have been refused permission to emigrate to Israel, have appealed to Queen Elizabeth to help them. In a letter written in Russian, the Georgian Jews declared that they were “entitled to emigrate.” They related that they had all received invitations from relatives in Israel and promises from Soviet officials that they would be allowed to leave without impediment. Trusting this promise, they wrote, they sold all their property and homes, and resigned from the positions they held. “We filled out the forms and remembered the promises. A year passed and nothing happened,” they wrote. They begged the Queen to bring the “Soviet Jewish question” for “debate in any forum, including the United Nations General Assembly, because time is passing and we don’t know what awaits us even a month from now.” The signatories appealed to her to “use all your prestige and all your influence, sparing no time or effort, because of the scales where life is weighed, the good will be reckoned.” At the close of the letter, they wrote: “Our prayers are with Israel – pray for us, your Majesty.” Meanwhile, it was learned here today that Russia’s top police official, Col. Gen, Nikolai A. Shchelokov, met with about 50 Soviet Jews who want to emigrate to Israel and promised them an answer soon on whether they will be permitted to leave. According to sources, the 110 Jews who staged a sit-in Wednesday in the reception room of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow, and vowed to go on a hunger strike, called off the strike on the strength of Shchelokov’s promise.
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