In Memoriam


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In Memory of Lev Agmon
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In Memory of Lev Agmon

(14.09.1940—22.11.2025)


Lev Agmon (Yagman), our comrade in the struggle for repatriation to Israel, fellow defendant, and camp companion, has passed away after a serious illness.

As we lay him to rest, let us honor a life of principle and purpose.

Lev was born in Leningrad in 1940. From an early age, he felt a profound connection to the Jewish people and responded with deep conviction to any antisemitism he witnessed. His passion for Jewish tradition and culture led him to study Yiddish, which he mastered completely. Over time, he came to see that attempts to revive Jewish life in the Soviet Union were futile, and changed his focus to the struggle for emigration to Israel.

In early 1967, Lev was among the first to join Leningrad's underground Zionist movement. Even before that, he had organized a small study group on Jewish subjects in his apartment—the seed of what would become a network of ulpanim, informal circles where Hebrew and Jewish history were taught in secret. Lev taught Hebrew in one of these groups. He actively circulated Jewish samizdat (underground literature), encouraged the celebration of Jewish and Israeli holidays, showed slides of Israel to small audiences, and much more.

Gentle and generous by nature, Lev was a steadfast friend who never wavered in his convictions.

In November 1969, he and his family formally applied to emigrate to Israel. They were swiftly denied. Undeterred, he signed and distributed letters of protest and solidarity with Israel.

On June 15, 1970, the KGB arrested him. After nine months of interrogation in the case against the Leningrad Zionist organization, he was branded an "especially dangerous state criminal." The Leningrad city court sentenced him under Article 70 of the Criminal Code—"anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda"—to five years in a strict-regime labor camp. The harsh sentence meant forced labor, severe restrictions on food, visits, and correspondence, and no possibility of early release.

In Israel, he was officially recognized as a Prisoner of Zion.

He served his time in camps in Mordovia and the Urals. Upon completing his full sentence, he was placed under open police surveillance in the town of Luga—forbidden from living within 100 kilometers of any major city, a common Soviet tactic to marginalize former political prisoners.

He immediately renewed his application to join his family in Israel. This time, permission was granted.

Lev settled in Haifa and, despite years away from his field, returned to his profession. A graduate of the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute with expertise in power systems, he took an engineering position at a major energy company and eventually founded his own firm specializing in the design and construction of fuel and energy facilities. He worked well into his retirement years.

He was the father of three children.

Our deepest condolences to his widow, children, and grandchildren.
May the memory of Lev Agmon be a blessing.

David Maayan-Chernoglaz
Dr. Anatoly Goldfeld
Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich

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