In what the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry described as a surprising development, Soviet officials gave Piotr Roitberg permission to emigrate on the same day he applied for an exit visa, Roitberg, the leading Jewish activist in Kishinev and long a major figure in the efforts to strengthen Jewish cultural life in the Soviet Union, was the subject of numerous threats and harassment by the KGB. The home of the 35-year-old philogist had been searched several times and Jewish cultural materials were seized some months ago in what seemed like a prelude to a full-fledged criminal investigation.
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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.