Action and interest on behalf of Ida Nudel continued up until just a few days before she was told she could emigrate. In August, 23 Moscow refuseniks appealed to General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to permit Nudel to live in Moscow. Her only crime, they said in their appeal, “was her active struggle for her undeniable right to rejoin her only relative, her sister, in Israel.” The refuseniks’ plea stated: