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tu dents in school say had things
abo ut J cws. 1 ft::c l hurt insidc a nd 1
do n't even know rea lly what is a
J ew. Hc rc 1 ca n lea rn . Hcrc 1 wea r
the S ta r o f David ."
Price Tag for Freedom- $30,000!
Relucta nt Lo re lease educated. pro–
ductive c iti zens from he r o ft en bitte r
embrace, the Sovie t gove rnment
ma kes it dangerous and very ex–
pe nsive lo scek ex it visas. Yo u could
become an
otkazniki
( refused ), lose
your job. a nd be la be led a parasi te
and a ta rge t o f the KG B. Howeve r,
o ne family a pplied for their visas
du r ing a soft period (N ixon was in
Russia ), a nd things moved a lo ng
qu ickly. J ack. a fac to ry manager.
and his wife Bela, a music reacher at
th e Moscow Conse rvato ry, were
gra nt ed ex it visas a lo ng with their
d a ughte r Ludmill a. her husba nd Al–
exande r. a concert violinis t, a nd
the ir ba by Vic to ria. now fo ur yea rs
o ld.
They were cha rged the regul a r
head tax of a lmost $ 1,000 fo r each
adult. In additio n the government
fi gured that the Moscow Uni versity
educa ti on tha t Ludmilla a nd Al ex
had rece ived was worth $25.000.
The fam ily sold everything they
owned of va lue. including ho use–
ho ld goods, a nd paid th e $30,000 to
ge t out. A rea l hea rtache fo r t hem
was the government not a llowing
Alex to ta ke his violin wi th him.
Someone o ffered to smuggle it o ut,
bu t lhe ins trument was neve r re–
trieved .
T he fa mily firs t went Lo Israel.
and then immigraLed to Detroit.
They a ll carne to Los Angeles when
Alex, who had been a s tudent o f the
renowned vio linist, Dav id Ois tra kh ,
success full y a uditioned fo r the Los
Angeles Philharmo nic Orches tra.
Alex says he was ner vous when he
rea lized he would be compe ti ng
agai ns t 35 other violi nists. J ack
Lu rned down a j ob o ffer from a Ca–
na di a n firm beca use il would be un–
th inkable for him a nd Be la to be
pa rl ed fro m l hei r chil d re n a nd
gra ndchild.
T heir g rea tes t joy has been the
bir th of Ludm illa's second ch ild
whom they named Richard Mi–
chael. "Firs l American citizen in
fam ily.' ' says g randma Bela. " ls il
possible fo r s uch a child to be pres i-
The PLAIN TRUTH December 1976
de n l?" shc asks . " Has th e re evcr
bcen a J ewish presid cnL?" Beta ca–
resses the baby's fi nge rs. ·' Pe rh aps it
is better he sho uld be vio lin is t li kc
hi s papa."
T hese are not blood ied re fugce ·
fl ee ing from grind ing poverty a nd
daily phys ica l da nger. These a re
peo ple wbo gavc up ca reers, fam ily,
a nd fri ends. Why?
"Wha t can 1 te ll you?" says Vi–
tale, a lively young Russian who is
c razy a bo ut American j azz a nd J ew–
is h fo lk me lodies. music he could n"t
hea r in the U.S.S.R. " In Russia
eve ryone must ca rry identifica ti o n
pa pe rs. a nd whenever you have to
sign anything, lh ey ask lhree ques–
tio ns: Lasl name. first name. na tion–
a lity . And no ma tle r if you have
never even .been in a synagogue,
you have to say Jew."
The Soviet gove rnme nt census
lis ls cit izens according to na tio n–
aliLi es depend ing on whe re in th e
U.S.S.R. their ances tors carn e from .
Th ere a re Russ ians, Georgians, Ta–
Lars, Lithuani ans. Ukra nia ns, Arme–
n ia o s. a nd M o ld av ia ns a mo n g
others - a nd J ews. A Jew cannot
cla im an ances tra l home in Russia
no mat ler how many centuri es he
has bee n th ere.
Vilale had lis tened lo Voice of
America fo r years. "NoL fo r po litics,
fo r mus ic," he says. He le ft the So–
vie t Union las t yea r with his bea u–
tiful wife , Alla, a n aclress. and t heir
four-yea r-old d aughte r Ange la. The
only thi ngs they brought with them
were pho nogra ph records and sorn e
family pho togra phs. Vita le was a
$ 130-a-month engineer in a fac lo ry
which mad e ship and pla ne engines.
Al o ng with his !ove o f music, he
says he likes to d esig n and ma ke
clothes. He is pleased with an awa rd
he ea rn ed at a Moscow fas hio n
show fo r h is crea Lio n of men's s uits.
"Oh, but Ame rica has the mos l
beauliful clothes in the world ," he
adds.
Vita le's mo lhe r. a vio linist, a nd
h is fathe r, a retired doctor, are s till
in Russia. Bolh Alla and ViLa le lost
lhei r j obs when th ey appli ed fo r exi t
visas, a nd lhe fam ily had to he lp
lhem ra ise the $2,000 fo r the head
tax and the fa re they oeeded to ge t
out. T hey chose Los Ange les, thiok–
ing lha l Alla might find work asa n
aclress. One of the best st uden ts in
thc Eng lish la nguage das , she is
delerm ined lo lea rn t¡ u ick ly.
Pawns in Superpower Politics
Jo urna li st Matlin says it is a rid icu–
lo us, but vcry compl ex si tua tio n fo r
lh e Jews o f Russia. "They do n' t
a ll ow you to be J ewish re ligiously,"
he expl a ins. " no Jewish teache rs.
o ne synagogue in Moscow. a c ily of
500.000 J ews. Th e cons lit u ti o n
s ta tes it is aga insl the law lo make
rac ia l slurs. but there is such ha tred
fo r Jews. The government wa nts
to
know who they a re a nd where they
a re a t a l! times."
Resea rch psycho logists Vladimir
and h is wife. Vic to rina, have been in
Los Ange les e ight mo nths. " In Russia
we we re slaves, pawns to be sold a nd
excha nged. " l t is dis tress ing to lhis
coup le who describe the feel ing o f
be ing sold . "We ta lk o f trade a nd
d é ten le be tween U.S.S. R. a nd Uni ted
S la tes. What happens? U.S.S.R. se lls
Jews . So many Jews for so much
lrade." T hey carne to Los Ange les
with the ir son Andre and Vladimir's
mother Oiga. They a re work ing a t
UCLA o n Fo rd g rants which will be
running o ut soon.
Vladimir, tugging a l his forehead
in sea rch of the English words, says,
" Yo u musl unde rsLand . In Russ ia it
is no t so bad if you are meek citizen.
Do no t qua r rel wilh government.
Jo in Communist pa rty. If you a nnoy
lhe gove rnment, you can be senL to
menta l ins litu tio n." They descri be a
fri end's condilion after his rel urn
from such a hospita l. " Some lhing
was do ne to his mind. He was sick
with fear, susp icious o f every th ing
and everyone."
Ra bb i Zvi De rshowitz of Los An–
geles Sinai T emple visited the So–
vie t Un ion recently a nd described
wha t he fo und : " An imposs ible s iLu–
a tion fo r a nyone wa nti ng pr ivacy
and freedom from fear. 1 am con–
vinced tha t my wife and
1
were fo l–
lowed a nd bugged whe reve r we
went," sa id the Ra bbi . The Sovie t
government wa nLs lO know which o f
lhe ir cit izens is ta lking
LO
a ra bbi
fro m America. The secreLpolice are
eve rywhere . He sa id Jews were har–
assed if they a Llempt to speak out o r
ge t o ut. Telephones a re cut off; ele–
va tors break down . Everyone won–
de rs who's lhe KG B spy in the
apartmenl bu ilding, who it is in th e
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