Soviet Jewish emigration activist Valery Godyak was granted an exit visa and has left the Soviet Union, according to information received by The Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry.
After Godyak, a 42-year-old Moscow physicist, first submitted his application for an exit visa to Israel in 1979, he was promptly dismissed from his job because of his “anti-Socialist act” of desiring to reunite with relatives in Israel. In 1981, Godyak and his wife Etalina, whose parents live in Israel, were refused exit visas on the grounds of “regime” considerations, in spite of the fact that Valery’s work had never involved “secrets,” the Conference reported.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
