A 33-year-old Jew from Riga has appealed to President Zalman Shazar for help in emigrating to Israel. The President’s office disclosed the contents of a letter from Eisik Gamza who said that an application for exit permits for himself, his mother and his sister was rejected by Soviet authorities in July, 1969 on grounds that they were “a united, well settled family.” According to Gamza, he and his family were deported to Siberia during World War II where his father died. When they returned to Latvia after the war they found that all members of their family had been killed. “Our desire to return to our historic homeland is natural and legitimate,” Gamza wrote.
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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.
