Boris and Natasha Katz arrived at Logan International Airport here this afternoon together with their sick oneyear-old child, Jessica, and their 10-day-old daughter Gabrielle. Among the 300 people on hand to greet them was Sen. Edward Kennedy (D. Mass.), who had intervened personally with Soviet authorities to obtain exit permission.
The family left the Soviet Union yesterday for Vienna, where they were met by Dr. Merrill Rosenberg, director of HIAS operations in Austria. After processing by HIAS for U.S. immigration they flew this morning to Zurich where they boarded their overseas flight. Jan Kalicki, Kennedy’s aide, accompanied them.
According to Gaynor I. Jacobson, executive vice-president of HIAS, the worldwide Jewish migration agency, the Katzes had applied to emigrate in 1975 but were denied permission on the ground that Mrs. Katz had access to official secrets while working as a computer programmer at a meteorological institute. Their case received widespread attention when it was revealed that Jessica had a rare digestive ailment that required treatment obtainable only in the U.S.
The family plans to join Katz’s mother and two brothers in Cambridge. The resettlement of the newcomers will be the responsibility of the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Boston, a constituent agency of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston.
Action for Soviet Jewry, the Boston-based group that was responsible for sending special baby formula to the Soviet Union for Jessica, gave Jessica a menorah and the parents a Bible. Boris Katz expressed appreciation to Kennedy for his intervention and to Action for Soviet Jewry for their life-supporting help.
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.
