Jan Krylsky and his mother, Rachel, who last week received permission from Soviet authorities to emigrate to Israel, arrived yesterday in Vienna on the way to Israel, it was reported by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. The Soviet Jewish activist had been confined by Soviet authorities to the Sech-ovka mental institute. His release was due, the NCSJ said, to international pressure and to his father, Julius, who emigrated earlier to Israel. Krylsky was confined to the institute about a year ago and given “corrective treatment” for his activities in the struggle to emigrate. Krylsky, 21, had been accused by Soviet authorities of being a “militant Zionist.”
In other developments, the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry reported today that 34 Leningrad Jews have declared they will stage a hunger strike June 15, the anniversary of the Leningrad “hijack” arrests in 1970. The SSSJ also reported that 18 Soviet Jews were turned back by police this week as they attempted to go to Babi Yar outside Kiev to place a wreath in memory of the children killed in Maalot. The Jews informed the Mayor of the city in accordance with Soviet law, that they intended to visit the site May 19. When they arrived they were blocked by militia men who confiscated the wreaths and warned them not to return.
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