The Russian Federation of Jews Sunday night honored Jewish Agency chairman and former Prisoner of Zion Natan Sharansky as the Man of the Year. It was the first time the Federation has given the award to a non-Russian citizen.
Sharansky said he will not rest on his laurels but rather will continue to campaign for strengthening Jewish identity in the Diaspora. He announced that Hebrew language "ulpan” classes in Russia will be re-opened after having been canceled due to budget cuts.
“We will teach Hebrew to more than 2,600 new students,” Sharansky declared. “I am determined to continue to act for strengthening Jewish identity in the former Soviet Bloc and among Jews throughout the world. I intend to use the award to strengthen the ties between Jews in the former Soviet bloc and the State of Israel.”
Sharansky, who is a former Israeli Cabinet minister, spoke in the same country that, as the Soviet Union in 1973, had denied him an exit visa to Israel on grounds of national security. He was arrested in 1977 and convicted several months later on charges or treason and spying for the United States.
He was sentenced to 13 years of hard labor and was kept in a Siberian labor camp for nine years until Western pressure resulted in his release in 1986, when he was led to East Germany in exchange for two Soviet spies.