Jewish Emigration and the Changes in the Soviet Union

September 25, 1991

On a recent visit to Russia, my husband and I met a wonderful couple in St. Petersburg who invited us home, fed us, and talked freely for hours about the situation there.I asked Marinna if she was afraid of going hungry this winter. She said no, her real fear was that her 12-year-old son Dima would be beaten to death. One little Jewish boy in St. Petersburg is in the hospital right now with a concussion from a beating. Everyone predicts more violence this winter as food and fuel run out. Russian Jews are scared. President Bush is dead wrong to use refugees as pawns in negotiations with the Arabs. Karin McQuillan, Cambridge, Mass.

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