Nudel’s Birthday Marked with Demands That the USSR Allow Her to Emigrate

Soviet Prisoner of Conscience Ida Nudel’s 50th birthday was marked here with praise for her bravery and demands that the Soviet Union release her from exile in Siberia and allow her to emigrate to Israel. A delegation from the Congressional Wives for Soviet Jewry led by Mrs. Dee Ann Jepsen, wife of Sen. Roger Jepsen (R. lowa), tried to present a letter to Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin on Monday. But the delegation was told the embassy was closed for the day.

The letter urged Dobrynin to “use your good offices to expedite Ida Nudel’s reunification with her family in Israel.” The Congressional Wives noted that as “women, wives and mothers of families” they were “especially sensitive to the pain” of their “sister” Ida Nudel.

Lev Roitburd, a former Soviet activist now living in Israel, appeared before the Soviet Embassy and at a ceremony earlier on Capitol Hill sponsored by the Congressional Vigil on Soviet Jewry led by Rep. Michael Barnes (D. Md.). Roitburd noted Nudel’s courage and said she has become a symbol for the Soviet Jewry movement.

LETTER FROM NUDEL

At both ceremonies, a letter was read from Nudel in which she expressed her “deep gratitude” to those throughout the world who have demonstrated “concern for my fate during these painful years of exile.”

She said the “solidarity” of those who have supported her has not only given her additional strength, “thus enabling me to bear the hard psychological situation in which I have been living, but it is also influencing the people surrounding me. “She added that “an individual’s opposition to social injustice acquires meaning and significance only when it is supported and encouraged by men of good will all over the world.”

In a related event, Rep. Margaret Heckler (R. Mass.) accepted a plaque from the National Conference of Soviet Jewry on behalf of the Congress women’s Caucus for their efforts on behalf of Nudel.