French Jewish writer Alain Finkielkraut and French journalist Dominique Nora returned to Paris Friday night after Soviet authorities expelled them from the Soviet Union. The two were under house arrest at their Kiev hotel for two days after they met with several Jewish refuseniks.
Finkielkraut, 35, and Nora, who works for the French daily, Liberation, were accused by the Russians of having given one of the refuseniks unspecified “subversive” material and were accused of “belonging to an international Zionist organization.”
Finkielkraut, who is the author of half a dozen books on Jewish subjects and the author of several philosophical essays, said after his arrival in Paris that the Soviet investigators threatened to have Nora raped and him beaten. One of the police investigators said, “If you don’t cooperate with us, we shall not be able to guarantee your safety any longer. There are many hooligans in this country and Dominique Nora could end up raped and you yourself badly beaten.”
Finkielkraut said the investigators wanted them to reveal the names of the people they had met and the contents of their conversation.
The two were taken to Kiev airport last Thursday night and kept in a separate room till the departure of a plane for East Berlin. From there they flew back to Paris.
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