Tag #154242 - Interview #94325 (Stepan Neuman)

When in the 1970s Jews began to move to Israel, I began to face problems again. Every person moving abroad had to obtain references from their employers to get an exit visa. There were meetings where mud was poured over these people. I hated this. We issued references to our employees in ordinary work order and I signed them. They were not doing anything bad – the state allowed them to leave and they decided to go. The situation was changing and anti-Semitism was growing. Jews didn’t feel solid land under their feet and many decided to emigrate.

The district party committee called me to their office and blamed me that I was training personnel for Israel. Yes, good specialists were leaving and some of them had had training from our plant. Forty employees of our plant left. I signed references for their moving to Israel. The party authorities reprimanded me for this and I knew they were not going to calm down on this.

I didn’t consider departure for myself. Everything that was dear to me was here in Uzhgorod. I couldn’t leave my parents’ house and sell it for peanuts to somebody else. There are graves of my dear ones here and I’ve spent my best years here. I wasn’t going to leave, but I didn’t condemn those who decided to take the risk and change their life.