Five refuseniks suffering from cancer have sent a joint appeal to the International Red Cross in Geneva, it was reported Monday by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry.
The refuseniks wrote: “We have been trying for many years to get permission from the Soviet authorities to emigrate to our children, grandchildren, sisters, brothers and other relatives in Israel. Now, despairing of the constant refusals to satisfy our legal demands, we turn to you and ask you to help us in our calamitous situation.”
The refuseniks and their conditions are:
Leah Maryasin of Riga, 61, multiple myeloma; Yuri Shpeizman of Leningrad, 54, lymphosarcoma; Marianne Simantova of Leningrad, 61, cancer of the uterus; Mikhail Furman of Leningrad, 78, cancer of the larynx; and Elizaveta Gershis of Leningrad, 50, breast cancer.
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