Another failed immigration attempt.  I was about 8 months old when my family attempted to emigrate to Israel. 

In the 1960s, a number of Soviet Jews, Volga Germans, ethnic Greeks, Ukrainian Catholics and many other religious and ethnic groups attempted to emigrate to Israel, Germany, Greece, or any other place where they would not be persecuted for their ethnicity or religious beliefs. All exit visa applications were reviewed by the KGB, and almost every one of those applications was denied, or refused.  This happened so frequently that the term “otkaznik” (literally, someone who received a refusal) became commonplace in the Russian language.

In the most typical case scenario, hapless exit visa applicants were denied emigration because of some imagined association with Soviet state secrets.  This was especially true for those who were trained as engineers or scientists or had any association with the military.  In some extreme cases, people were labeled as foreign spies and arrested.  People who dared to apply for exit visas in the 1960s were usually fired and denied future employment within their specialty or profession. While researching this book, I have interviewed quite a few families about their immigration experiences and have heard numerous stories where medical doctors, engineers, and scientists worked as street cleaners or construction workers after being fired for daring to apply for emigration visas.

            In 1971, the Soviet Union lifted its ban on Jewish otkaznik emigration to Israel, launching a wave of over 150,000 Soviet Jews escaping the USSR.

            Knowing how quickly the mercurial moods of the communist party may change, my grandparents wanted to take advantage of this thaw in emigration policies and leave for Israel.  An imaginary Israeli relative sent my grandparents an invitation letter for family reunification and by some unknown magic, all the papers flew through all the OVIR and KGB checks without a hitch.  As with the previous emigration attempt, the only thing left was to get letters from relatives, stating that they have no objections to my grandparents, my parents, and their 8-month-old baby (me) leaving the USSR.

This time, it was my paternal grandfather, Grandpa David, who refused to write the letters.