The long-awaited arrival in Israel of refusenik leader Iosif Begun and his family has hit a new snag, according to Soviet emigre sources here.
They said the entire Begun family–Iosif and his wife Inna, his son Boris, 23, and his wife Yanna, 24, and their child–went to collect their exit visas Tuesday. Iosif and Inna received theirs, but Boris and Yanna demanded the right to retain their Soviet citizenship after emigration, and this was refused.
Boris and Yanna say they will not leave the Soviet Union without their Soviet passports and the right to return in order to visit their family, including Boris’ mother (Iosif Begun’s former wife) and Yanna’s parents, who had refused to sign the necessary parental consent for their daughter’s emigration.
Yanna was told last week that she would could leave without her father’s consent. The Begun family’s exit visas expire Dec. 8.
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.
