Newspaper Page Text
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Nudel
Photo at left: Ida Nudel in Krivosheino, 1982. Right: Ida Nudel in
Bendary, 1986.
Continued from page 14.
sions. Her barracks-mates were 60
hardened criminals; she was the
only woman. More than once she
was physically attacked, so to pro
tect herself she slept with a knife
under her pillow. Nonetheless she
persevered, confident that after four
years she would be free. “All the
time she was in Siberia, she didn't
complain,” recalls her sister. When
people asked her where she got
strength to carry on, she answered,
“1 feel as though three million
Soviet Jews are standing behind
me.”
In March 1982, Ida Nudel was
officially released from exile. But
when she returned to her Moscow
apartment, KGB agents welcomed
her. They told her that she had 72
hours to leave Moscow'. “Ida had
no place to go. We have no family
in the Soviet Union,” explains her
sister. Ida became a wandering
Jew. For eight months she traveled
from city to city seeking a haven.
More than once, she spent the
night on a bench in the railway
station. With neither a steady job
or a permanent address, Ida lived
in fear of being arrested for the
crime of “parasitism.”
In November 1982, Ida reached
the town of Bendary in Moldavia
and for some reason, the authori
ties allowed her to settle there.
However, Bendary is hardly a home
for Ida. She is an outcast; the
townspeople shun her, learlul ot
KGB warnings that they will face
severe recriminations if they
approach her. Ida lives in isola
tion. Her dog is her only com
panion.
Yet even in distant Bendary Ida
remains the “angel.” She continues
to correspond with her boys, the
prisoners, and sends them care
packages of food and vitamins
whenever she can. She is visited
occasionally by refusnik families
and she does receive some mail
from the west although none of her
letters are allowed to go out.
Ida’s sister spoke with her recent
ly by telephone. She reports that
her sister is ill and broken in spirit.
“When I left, my sister was a strong
healthy woman,” recalls Friedman.
“Now she suffers from chronic
heart, liver and kidney ailments
and her eyesight has badly deterio
rated.” Friedman points to the most
recent photograph of her sister as
prool ot this deterioration.
Meanwhile, the authorities con
tinue to refuse the sisters’ requests
to be reunited, although according
to Obir, the Soviet emigration
authority, Ida’s visa refusal expired
in 1977. Still the government holds
on to her claiming that they cannot
release her because she knows state
secrets from the days when she
worked as a government econo
mist. Friedman says that this is
ludicrous. “First of all, she worked
in an open public agency and never
had access to classified informa
tion and even if she had, what
could she possibly remember after
15 years?” asks Friedman.
Back in Rehovot, Friedman con
tinues her letter-writing campaign.
She has gathered a small group of
supporters called “Israeli Women
for Ida Nudel,” who some years
ago published a book about Ida.
She has other supporters as well.
JNF plans 2nd ‘Adventure Israel’
The Jewish National Fund ex
pects more than 120 participants,
including singles and married cou-
plesages 25-40, to participate in its
second 10-day “Adventure Israel”
tour for young professionals, leav
ing New York Wednesday. Aug. 13
and returning Sunday. Aug. 24.
While traveling w^th peers from
across the country, participants
will experience the nightlife of Tel
Aviv; a yacht cruise on Lake Kin-
neret; a trip around a quaint artists’
colony in Safed; a climb through
the haunting, twisting paths of
Masada; a walk through the ancient
streets and marketplaces of Old
Jerusalem, and a special concert
recital at the mountaintop home of
renowned pianist Yitzhak Tavior.
Adventure Israel tourists will
also visit the Volcani Institute, site
of JNF-sponsored agricultural re
search, where new technologies
provide solutions to fighting plant
diseases and parasites, improve ir
rigation systems and introduce
genetically-engineered fruits and
vegetables. These advances, which
have resulted in substantial in
creases in Israeli food exports, oiler
hope for Third World nations des
perate to increase food yields in
areas with climates similar to
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Recently. World Jewish Congress
President Edgar Bronfman ap
proached the Soviet government
on Ida’s behalf.
But mostly Friedman fights her
battle alone, composing her letters
in Hebrew or Russian. An Ameri
can man from nearby Ra’anana
translates them. “My husband met
him on miluim (reserve army duty).
One night they were doing guard
duty and my husband told him our
story. He wanted to help,” Fried
man explains.
After 14 years, liana Friedman
is tired of fighting. She would like
to have more free time to spend
with her husband and son. But
more than anything, she would like
Ida back.
The release of Anatoly Shcha-
ransky has given the sisters renewed
hope. Shcharansky was one of Ida’s
“boys.” He has vowed to work for
the release of Ida and other Soviet
POCs. Other close friends of Ida’s,
the Goldstein family, have recently
arrived in Israel and have prom
ised to work for her release.
Despite the release of Shcha
ransky and the Goldsteins, Fried
man restrains herself from build
ing up hope for the release of her
sister. She has had her hopes dashed
before. Two years ago, when actress
Jane Fonda visited Ida in Bendary,
Kremlin watchers predicted that
Ida’s release would be imminent. It
was not.
Still Friedman carries on, each
day writing another letter or pes
tering another official. “I cannot
rest until 1 have Ida back,” she
explains. “Perhaps it will be some
day soon,” she says longingly, her
large eyes filling with tears.
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