Prisoners of Zion. 1957.




Tzvi (Hirsch) Remennik

Born in 1910 in the shtetl of Belilovka, Russia, he became a member of "HaShomer HaTzair" in the 1920s, in the town of Berdichev. Arrested in 1957, he was charged with "Zionist activity, conducting nationalist propaganda among Jewish youth, and criminal connections with the Israeli Embassy in Moscow". Sentenced to 4 years imprisonment in the Gulag, he spent his sentence in the infamous Pot'ma camps in Mordovia. Released in 1961, he got to Israel together with his family in 1971.He died in 1986.





Yosef Schneider

Born on May 26th, 1927 in Riga, Latvia, he was arrested in 1957 for "criminal connections with Israeli Embassy in Moscow, an attempt to hijack the cruiser warship "Molotov" in order to escape on it to the state of Israel and also for the attempt to assassinate Egyptian President H.A. Nasser". He was Sentenced to 4 years imprisonment in the Gulag, he served his sentence in the infamous Pot'ma camps in Mordovia. Released in 1961, he left for Israel in 1969.





Dov Shperling

Born in 1937 in Riga, Latvia, he was arrested in 1957 charged with "conducting Zionist propaganda among Jewish youth and students in Riga, organizing groups for studying Jewish history and Zionism, and distributing propaganda about the State of Israel". He was sentenced to 2 years in the Gulag. Released in 1959, he received permission to leave the USSR for Israel in 1968.





Leah Tslavits

Born in 1922 in Riga, Latvia, she was an active member of "Beitar" from an early age. In 1940-41 she served in the Lithuanian Division. Arrested in 1957, she was charged with "the attempt to leave the Soviet Union illegally in order to be able to immigrate to the State of Israel", and sentenced to 9 months imprisonment. In 1971 her dream of making aliyah came true.





Abraham Yalowitz

Born in 1915 in Lithuania, he became an active member of "HaShomer HaTzair" in 1925. Arrested in 1957 for an attempt to cross the Polish border near Vilnius. Sentenced to 1 year imprisonment, he was unable to leave for Israel till 1972.



To the page "Prisoners of Zion"