A total of 25 Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union and Soviet bloc states arrived in this country in the last two days. In addition, a party of seven Russian nuns arrived to take up residence in Russian Orthodox convents.
Today’s party consisted of Jews from Irkutsk, Czernowitz, Vilna and Budapest. Eight came yesterday from Poland. Most of the immigrants are elderly people coming to join members of their families who are already in Israel.
Zigmund Boiman of Budapest told newsmen that about 10,000 Jews live in Budapest. The synagogues are open, he said, but it is difficult to get the necessary ten Jews together to hold prayers. Assimilation is a danger facing the Jewish community, he asserted, and some 60 to 70 percent of the Jews want to leave Hungary for Israel.
Ahron Berinberg, 82-year-old former resident of Irkutsk, said that he had worked until the day he received his exit visa directly from Soviet President Clementi Vorshilov. He and his wife left Irkutsk 20 days ago.
Reporting the stories that define our era. When history unfolds in real-time, the Jewish world turns to JTA. Your support ensures we can document the complexities of war and the resilience of Jewish communities with integrity.
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.
