Alexander Slepak, a Soviet Jew whose parents are exiled in Siberia, urged here continued pressure on the USSR for free Jewish emigration in order to “stop the next Holocaust.”
Speaking before a group of 600 at a Solidarity Day rally for Soviet Jews held at the Daley Center Plaza last week, Slepak said his parents and other refusnik will never tire of fighting for their right to be free.”
“Soviet Jews are tired only of discrimination,” Slepak said. “We have seen enough of death and slavery.” He noted that since his parents first applied for exit visas in, 1970, they were subject to interrogation, imprisonment and harassment.
Many of those attending the rally were Soviet Jews resettled in Chicago by the Jewish Federation. The rally was sponsored by the Public Affairs Committee of the Jewish United Fund in cooperation with the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and the B’nai B’rith Council of Greater Chicago. The day was proclaimed Solidarity Day With Soviet Jewry by both Illinois Governor James R. Thompson and Chicago Mayor Jane M. Byrne.
Sister Ann Gillen, executive director, National Interreligious Task Force on Soviet Jewry, who met the Slepaks in 1974, noted that Soviet capriciousness in administering emigration procedures has “destroyed families.” She noted that Alexander’s parents, Vladimir and Maria Slepak, have been in Siberia since 1978 and that Alexander, his younger brother, Leonid, and their maternal grandmother are Israeli citizens.
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