Grigory Goldstein, a 46-year-old Tbilisi physicist, may be put on trial this week for parasitism, according to the Canadian Committee for Soviet Jewry. The Canadian Committee learned of this in a phone conversation with Jewish activists in Moscow over the weekend. Goldstein lost his job when he applied for a visa to emigrate to Israel.
The Canadian Committee also learned that Pavel Abramovich, a Moscow Jew seeking to emigrate, is also being threatened by the Pervomalsky district of the militia in Moscow with being put on trial for parasitism. Abramovich has a job but refuses to reveal its location to the militia for fear of being fired. He also works part-time as a tutor of Hebrew. He has been ordered to report to the militia district tomorrow.
The Moscow activists also told the Canadian Committee that Constantine Ivan Zotov, head of the All-Union Ovir, has offered to meet with 12 women seeking emigration visas, four at a time, tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday. The women had met with Zotov and Albert Ivanov, deputy head of the administrative department of the central committee of the Communist Party. Zotov then had asked to meet with three of the women, but they had refused, saying all must meet with him. They are now considering his latest offer, according to the Canadian Committee.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
