Vladimir Slepak, the Soviet Jewish scientist and activist who refused to take a gravel-loading job for physical reasons, has accepted work in Moscow as a knife-sharpener, it was reported today by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. The NCSJ said Slepak agreed to take the job because it is not physically debilitating and gets the authorities “off his back.”
The dissident was ordered to take a menial job or face trial for “parasitism,” which carries a sentence of up to one year. Slepak also reported that Prof. Sergie Gurevitz, the Jewish physicist of Moscow who was ordered to accept a factory job or face the same charge, has agreed to work as a repairman at the Escalon factory.
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.
