Prisoners of Zion. 1948.

Born in 1925 in the Czechoslovak Republic, he was arrested in 1948 when he tried to cross the border illegally. He was sentenced for two years in 1948, but was released in the end of 1949. He left for Israel in 1952.

Born in 1919 in Riga (Lithuania), he was a member of Beitar. In 1948 he was arrested and charged with attempting to leave for Israel. His sentence of 8 years in prison was spent in the Kolyma and Berlag camps. He was released in 1956 and immediately applied to leave Soviet Union for Israel. He actually received permission only in 1971. He passed away in 1994.

Born in Chenovtsy in 1908, he belonged to the “Poalei Zion” organization and was deputed to teach their members basic agricultural skills. In 1941 he was drafted into the Red Army and fought in the Second World War. After his discharge he discovered that all his family perished in the Holocaust. In 1948 he was arrested on participating in a meeting with Golda Meir and was sentenced to 25 years of hard labor. He was released in 1955 and got the chance to leave for Israel in 1973. He passed away in 1983.

Born in 1906, he was drafted into the Soviet Army and was wounded during World War II. In 1948 he requested permission to leave USSR for Israel, but was arrested as a Zionist, a traitor and an anti-Soviet activist. He was sentenced to 10 years hard labor, of which he served 7 years. After his release in 1955, and again in 1966, he applied to leave for Israel and was refused. After tremendous efforts he finally received permission and left for Israel in 1973.

Born in 1928 in Kishinev, she was a member of “Ha-Shomer Ha-Tsair” from childhood. After the war she organized Jewish groups for Aliyah to Israel. In 1948 she was arrested and the following year was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Archangelsk. She was released in 1956 after serving seven and a half years of her prison term and, after her release, continued her Zionist activities. She finally was given her chance to leave for Israel in 1960.

Born in 1912 in Markoleshti, Besarabia, he was a member of “Ha-Shomer Ha-Tzair” from his youth and was active in the “Keren Ha-Kayemet”. He became well known as a poet and talented philosopher, who expressed yearning for Zion and longing for the independence of the Jewish people. He was persecuted by the Soviet regime for his activities and eventually was arrested in 1948 when he was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment. After his release in 1952 and after a long struggle with the authorities he succeeded in getting to Israel in 1972. In Israel he published ten books of his poetry and appeared regularly in the anthology “Palk on Zion” published by the Sokhnut (Jewish Agency). He died in 1993.

Born in 1903, in Poland and having experienced the occupation of Poland by Soviet Union, he was an active member of the “He-Halutz” movement. He was conscripted to the Red Army and fought with the Germans. In 1948 he tried to escape from the Soviet Union to Poland and then into Israel, but was arrested and sentenced to 8 years of labor camps for “treason”. He spent his term in Irkutsk and at the Baikal lake. Having been released in 1958, he left for Israel in 1959.

Born in 1930 and arrested in 1948, she was charged as a Zionist activist and sentenced to exile for life. She was released in 1956 and left for Israel in 1971.

Born in 1915 in Brosov, Poland, he was a member of “Ha-Shomer Ha-Tzair” from his youth in the town Sarno. During World War II he served as commander of a reconnaissance guerrilla group in the Byelorussian forests. In 1948 he was arrested as a Jewish nationalist based on statements he had made about anti-Semitism in USSR. He was sentenced to 8 years of prison that were spent in the Ural labor camp. He was released in 1956 and left for Israel in 1957. There he devoted himself to helping people who had followed in his footsteps. He is an active member of the Committee and of the organization “Prisoners of Zion”.

Born in 1920 in Akerman, Romania, she was a member of the “Gordonia movement”. Arrested in 1948, she was charged with attempting to leave the Soviet Union for Israel, and for participation in the operation “Brikha”. She was sentenced to 10 years in a labor camp in the district Inta and was released in 1958. She left for Israel in 1960.

Born in 1905 into a traditional Jewish family where Hebrew was spoken, he left home for Israel with a group of young Zionists when he was 15 years old. He returned to Russia because his father became sick, and graduated at a college in Moscow. During following years he fought for equal rights for all Jews. In 1948 he was arrested, together with an underground group of Zionists, and was charged with Zionist activities. The «OSO» (Special Tribunal Committee) sentenced him to 10 years of labor camp. After his release from the camp he continued to fight for the right to leave the Soviet Union for Israel. Only in 1973 was his dream realized. He passed away in 1983.