Alexander and Yevgeny Levich, the two sons of Soviet scientist Benjamin Levich, have been told they will be permitted to emigrate to Israel, the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry reported today but the SSSJ was unable to confirm reports that the sons were told they will be allowed to leave before the end of 1974. The Soviet practice is normally to tell Jews given exit permits to leave within a matter of days or weeks.
The Levich brothers have been seeking exit visas for more than two years. Their father, a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, applied to leave for Israel more than two years ago and was fired from his Moscow University post and from the Institute of Electrical Chemistry.
The National Conference on Soviet Jewry said the Soviet decision was obviously made to coincide with President Nixon’s visit to Moscow. The Conference welcomed it but pointed out that “vague promises” such as this had frequently resulted in persons having to wait even longer for their exit permits.
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