Rachel sharansky
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The turbulent life of Jewish hero Natan Sharansky
An Israeli statesman, politician, author, human rights activist, refusenik, former political prisoner, mathematician and chess prodigy, Natan Sharansky, who was born Anatoly Borisovich Shcharansky in today’s war-torn Ukrainian city of Donetsk, is a Jewish hero known throughout the world.
In 1977 when only 29 years old, the outspoken Sharansky was arrested by the Russian KGB and accused of high treason for spying for the United States. The charges were a sham. His true crime was simply his outspoken adamance that the Russian government should allowed Russian Jews to move to Israel. Thankfully the unrepentant Zionist escaped the death penalty, but nevertheless the court sentenced him to 13 years of forced labor, and not just any old forced labor: Sharansky sat in solitary confinement in a prison system that resembled the Gulags. Yet somehow, during these long years he found the psychological strength not to give in. From his dark and bare prison cell Sharansky continued to speak out, even going on
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Natan (Anatoly) Sharansky
Natan Sharansky is one of the most famous former Soviet refusniks and an Israeli politician, author and human rights activist.
Sharansky (born January 20, 1948) was born and raised in the Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union), and graduated with a degree in mathematics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
Early on, Sharansky got associated with the human rights movement when he became an English interpreter for Andrei Sakharov. Later, Sharansky emerged in his own right as one of the foremost dissidents and spokesmen for the Soviet Jewry movement.
In 1973, Sharansky applied for an exit visa to Israel, but was refused on “security” grounds. Following this denial, Sharansky became more overtly involved with the refusnik movement and became an activist for Soviet Jews.
He remained prominently involved in Jewish refusenik activities until his arrest in 1977. In 1978, Sharansky was convicted of treason and spying on behalf of the United States, and was sentenced to thirteen years imprisonment in a Siberian forced labor camp. For the fir
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Natan Sharansky was born in Donetsk, Ukraine. He was a spokesman for the human rights movement, a Prisoner of Zion and leader in the struggle for the right of Soviet Jews to immigrate to Israel. Subsequent to his request to make aliya, Mr. Sharansky was arrested on trumped up charges of treason and espionage. He was convicted in a Soviet court and served nine years in the Gulag with many stretches in a punishing cell. Following massive public campaigns by the State of Israel, World Jewry and leaders of the free world, Mr. Sharansky was released in 1986, making aliya on the very day of his release.
In his first few years in Israel, Mr. Sharansky established the Zionist Forum to assist Soviet olim (immigrants) in their absorption in Israel. In the 1990's, he established the Yisrael B'Aliyah party in order to accelerate the integration of Russian Jews. He served in four successive Israeli governments, as Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.
In 2018 he received the highest Israeli award – the Israel Prize for promoting Aliyah and the ingathering of
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