Prisoners of Zion. 1949, page 1.

Born in 1893 in Dvinsk, he was an advocate of Zionism all his life and also a member of “Poalei Zion” and of its Council. He was an actor by profession. In 1949 he was arrested in Birobidjan, sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and served his sentence in Taishet, Siberia. He was released in 1956 and in March 1972 he succeeded in getting to Israel. He died in 1982.

Born in 1921 in Kishinev, he was from childhood a member of “Gordonia” and was also active in “Aliyah” and “Bricha”. He was conscripted into the Red Army during the war and after that he worked for “Bricha”. He was arrested in 1949 and served 6 years imprisoned in Siberia. He got to Israel in 1972 and died in 1976.

Born in 1920 in Besarabia, he was an active Zionist in Kishinev up to 1940. In 1949, when he tried to cross the border to get to Israel, he was arrested and sentenced to 8 years in a labour camp in Siberia. He served his term in the camps in Karaganda, Komarov and Omsk. He was released in 1954 but could not leave the Soviet Union for Israel till 1973. He died in 1994.

Born in 1922 in Kishinev, Besarabia, she was a member of the “Gordonia” movement in her town from her youth onwards.. In 1949, while trying to cross the border in order to travel to Israel, she was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison in Kishinev. She was released after 8 years, in 1957, but was only allowed to leave the Soviet Union for Israel in 1973.

Born in 1926, in Russia, he was arrested in 1949 for his wish to leave the Soviet Union for Israel and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released in 1954 but didn’t manage to get to Israel until 1990.

Born in 1920 in Kovno, Lithuania, he worked as a youth in “Beitar”. He was prominent as a propagandist for Zionism and the right to settle in Israel. After the Soviet occupation he went underground and after the war was active in organizing escape routes from the Soviet Union to Israel through Poland. He was arrested in 1949 and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, but continued his Zionist activity in the camps. He was released in 1956 and got to Israel in 1957.

Born in 1910 in Kovno, Lithuania, he was, from 1925 to 1928, a member of the “Gordonia” movement, and, from 1928 until the beginning of the war, he was a member of “Jardenia”, a Jewish party for the State of Israel.In 1949 he was arrested for attempting to get to Israel and for Zionist activity in general He was sentenced to 8 years in prison. Released in 1958, he continued his struggle until he received permission to settle in Israel in 1960.

Born in 1927 in Riga, Latvia, he was active in “Beitar” from 1939. He was arrested in 1949, together with his whole family, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He served his sentence in a hard labor camp, Ozerlag. His father, who was also an active Zionist, died in the camp. Yosef was released in 1959 and eventually got to Israel in 1971.

Born in 1902 in Mirgorod, he was arrested in 1949 for Zionist activity and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He managed to get to Israel in 1972 and died in 1981.

Born in 1926, he was arrested in the town of Bryansk in 1949 and charged with participation in anti-Soviet activity in a Jewish nationalistic youth organization. He was sentenced to death by a military tribunal, but the death sentence was commuted to 25 years imprisonment, which enabled him to settle in Israel in 1972 .

Born on September 20th,1921, in the town of Konrashtee, Moldovia, she was a member of the “Gordonia” movement. After World War II she worked in a Zionist underground group trying to find ways of reaching Israel. She was arrested in Chernovtsy in1949 and was sentenced to 10 years which she served in Vorkuta . She was released in 1956 and, in 1958, managed to get to Israel.

Born in 1906, in the small town, Kotzman, in the Chernovtsy region, he joined “Beitar” in 1929 and was a prominent activist in the organization. In 1940, after the occupation of the region by the USSR, he went underground and continued his Zionist activity among what was left of the organization. In 1941 he was sent to the death camp in Ternosdnistri but survived and in 1945 was among those who organized operations “Bricha” and “Aliyah”. In 1949 he was arrested by the Soviet secret police and sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment Both in the camp in Irkutsk region and in prison, he continued his Zionist activities and observed the Jewish holidays. He was released in 1955, but not until 1969 did he receive permission to leave for Israel. He died in 1992.

Born in 1929 in Zhmerinka, Ukraine, he was, from 1945 onwards a member of the “Einikeit” movement. He was arrested in 1949 and was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment and 5 years exile. He served his sentence in the camps of Jezkazgan, Kazakhstan. He was released in 1954 but only managed to get to Israel in 1991.

Born in 1930 in Zhmerinka, Ukraine, as a teenager, together with others, he founded the Zionist youth organization “Einikeit”. Members of the group were arrested in 1949 and sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment. Meir was sentenced to 8 years but was released in 1954. After the Six Day War he was responsible, as part of a Moscow Zionist group, for the organization, the printing and the distribution of the Jewish “Samizdat”. In 1971 he moved, with his family, to Israel where he continued his Zionist activity. In 1972 he was a delegate of the “Asirei Zion” (“Prisoners of Zion”) organization at the Zionist congress in Jerusalem. He died in 1985.

Born in 1919 in Chernovtsy, she was exiled in 1941 to Siberia with all her family for Zionist activities. She continued to be active in exile-organizing conferences, courses in Hebrew and in basic Zionism. She was arrested in 1949, charged with treason and Zionist propaganda and sentenced to 7 years in prison. She was released in 1956, and in 1964 she succeeded in reaching Israel.

Born in 1930, in Zhmerinka, Ukraine, she was arrested in 1949 for participation in the Zionist organization”Einikeit” and for the distribution of Zionist posters. She was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. Released in 1954, she finally got to Israel in 1993.

Born in 1930 in Zhmerinka, Ukraine, Alexander was evacuated to the east of Russia during the 2nd World War. He returned in 1944 and, having been strongly impressed by Nazi atrocities and local Anti-Semitism, became an active member of the Zionist Youth organization ”Einikeit”. Arrested in 1949 and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in a Karaganda camp, he was released in 1954 and went to Israel in 1990.

Born in 1911 in Bessarabia, he was a member of the Jewish Youth Zionist organization “Dror Ha-Banim” and was active in “Poalei Zion”. He also worked in the “He-Halutz Center” and in a public kashrut organization, raising money for the “Jewish National Fund” and for the “Jewish Agency Fund”. He was arrested in 1949 for his work in Zionist organizations before the Soviet occupation and was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment and 3 years exile. He served his sentence in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and at Sakhalin. He was released in 1956 and was finally reached Israel in 1966.

Born on March 25th, 1923 in Lithuania, when young he joined “Hashomer Hatzair”. After the occupation by USSR he hid most of the Zionist library books in his town. He was conscripted into the Red Army and wounded twice during the war. After the war he organized a student group for Hebrew study, and in 1945-49 headed the Zionist publicity campaign for the freedom to travel to Israel. He also engaged in the distribution of Jewish books among Zionist activists throughout Soviet Union. He found some of the books, which he had hidden in Kovno, and transferred them to Vilno and Leningrad. He was arrested in the end of 1949 and sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment in Kolyma. Although released in 1955, it still took him till 1975 to get to Israel.

Born in 1906. In his twenties he became a member of the underground organization “Hashomer Hatsair” in Tbilisi. In 1949 he was arrested, charged with Zionist activity and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. He spent his term in a jail in Tbilisi and then in the Karaganda labor camp. He was released in 1954 and was allowed to go to Israel in 1972. He died in 1974.

Born in 1917 in Grodno, he was from childhood a member of “Beitar” and at the age of 18 was already a commander of the Grodno detachment of the Warsaw’s “Beitar”. He participated in the training of “Beitar” members. He was arrested in 1949, charged with writing letters to his friends in Israel, in which he expressed his desire to join them, and with participation in illegal organizations of Zionist youth. He was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. After his release he continued to fight for the right to leave the USSR and, in 1972, he finally joined his friends in Israel.