The National Conference on Soviet Jewry has learned that Col. Yefim Davidovich has recently suffered an additional heart attack. His first in 1969 resulted in the Soviet Jewish activist’s retirement. For the last five years. Davidovich has suffered continual harassment and persecution by Soviet authorities because of his desire to emigrate to Israel, and his protests against Soviet anti-Semitism. During World War II, Davidovich was wounded five times and decorated on 15 occasions.
On the 30th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis on May 9, 1975, Davidovich in full military uniform and war decorations addressed an audience of almost 1000 Jews assembled in the area of the old Minsk ghetto, the NCSJ reported. In defiance of local authorities the participants held a memorial service for the Jewish martyrs of World War II. Two days later, Davidovich was notified by the authorities that he had been deprived of his rank and army pension.
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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.