Israel Hayom reported that the Nativ organization returned a declassified report to former US Ambassador Michael Oren and educator Yitzhak Sokolov, detailing their covert 19-day mission in the Soviet Union in April 1982. The report, which had been classified for decades, was handed over at a ceremony in Jerusalem on Monday, attended by Oren, Sokolov, and two refuseniks they met during the mission.
Nativ, the Israeli organization responsible for maintaining ties with Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union, returned a declassified report to former US Ambassador to Israel Michael Oren and educator Yitzhak Sokolov on Monday. The report, written in May 1982, documents their 19-day covert mission across the USSR in April 1982, during which they met with Jewish activists, refuseniks, and underground Hebrew teachers. The ceremony took place at Nativ's Jerusalem headquarters, attended by Oren, Sokolov, their families, and two former refuseniks they had met on that mission: Alexander (Efraim) Kholmyansky from Moscow and Michael Albert from Kiev.
The report had been classified for decades, but was declassified as part of a gradual process beginning in 2020. Nativ Director Alon Shoham presented the document to Oren and Sokolov, noting the organization's appreciation for their work. Oren, who had just completed his IDF service as a paratrooper a month before the mission, said in his speech that the courage of the people they met in the USSR has accompanied him throughout his life. He recalled that when writing one of his books, he tried to obtain the report but was refused due to classification, and he had to rely on memory.
The event also highlighted the role of Nativ in the struggle for the emigration of Soviet Jews. Yitzhak Sokolov expressed gratitude to the organization for choosing them for the mission. Former refusenik Efraim Kholmyansky noted that at the time they were so immersed in their work that they did not fully grasp the dangers, which became clear only when he found himself in a Soviet prison.
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