Our Soviet Sisters “Guardian Angel” in Siberia

Ida Nudel, “guardian angel” of the Soviet Prisoners of Conscience, has been exiled to the village of Krivosheino in Siberia and is living in “primitive and hostile surroundings,” according to information received by the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry and Union of Councils for Soviet Jews.

Nudel was sentenced to four years’ internal exile on June 21 after participating in a demonstration in Moscow to protest the arrest of Vladimir and Maria Slepak. The Slepaks were charged with “malicious hooliganism” after they hung a banner from their Moscow apartment with a plea to be reunited with their son Alexander, who is in Jerusalem.

Until her arrest, Nudel, an engineer-economist, had frequently risked her safety to secure better conditions and liberation for the Prisoners of Conscience. When sentenced, she told the court:

“During the past seven years I have been filled with a daily battle for myself and others. Every time I was about to help another friend, my heart filled with an extraordinary feeling unlike any other. Perhaps the closest such feeling is that which a woman feels when giving a new life “

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that Nudel is the only woman in a men’s hostel, and has already faced several assault attempts.