Conscription Used by Soviet Officials to Deter Jewish Emigration

Preliminary findings of the Soviet Jewry Research Bureau indicate that enforced conscription is increasingly being used by the Soviet authorities to deter Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union. The Bureau is sponsored by the National’ Conference on Soviet Jewry.

“The mere threat of military conscription.” said Jerry Goodman, NCSJ executive director, “seriously affects families who want to emigrate for fear of reprisals against their sons of draft age. In a serious abuse of individual rights, the Red Army is being used for political purposes.” Many young Jewish students have been expelled from the universities and, with their student exemptions no longer valid, they are subjected to an infamous draft, Goodman noted. “Such service can delay one’s emigration up to seven years,” he said.

Soviet authorities consider that two years of military service as an ordinary soldier has exposed these men to “secret information.” Thus, a five-year quarantine period from the date of discharge may be required before an applicant may again reapply to emigrate. According to the Bureau, Jewish applicants for emigration to Israel presently threatened with enforced conscription include: Semion Pevsner and Rafael Ospovat (Moscow), Leonid Levit (Tiraspol), Leonid Grinshpun (Odessa), as well as applicants in Derbent and Kiev.