Two of the five Jews who had a confrontation with Soviet Politburo officials recently over the lag in processing visa applications have been fired from their jobs. Jewish sources in Russia reported today. The two are Pavel Goldstein and Boris Orlov, both activists who had applied for emigration visas some time ago. The sources said their dismissals followed the meeting in the Politburo office at which a high official told the Jews that they had a right to apply for visas and the State had the right to turn them down. Goldstein and Orlov remain unemployed and may have to rely on friends for support.
Jewish sources in Russia reported today that three Jewish families in Crimea were suffering severe harassment and feared the possibility of physical violence as a consequence of having applied for exit visas. The family heads were identified as Arkady Shteinbuk of Gurzuf, and Edgar Zhukovski and the Shoikhed family, all of Simferopol. There are four members in the Zhukovski family and five in the Shoikhed family. According to the sources, Mrs. Elizabetha Zhukovski, a mother of two, was told “people like you should be killed without mercy” when she applied for the character reference necessary for all visa applicants.
Edgar Zhukovski, a chief engineer, was demoted. Arkady Shteinbuk was told in the factory where he worked that it was “a pity the time has passed when people like you were executed.” The Shoikhed family was reportedly defamed in the local newspaper. When they complained, the manager of the visa office reportedly told them it was the right of Soviet citizens to treat Jews badly.
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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.
