We then needed to transport it to the place where we would be developing photos for the issue …. We had almost arrived at our destination when a police cruiser appeared around the corner and headed straight for us. An officer jumped out and ran toward us. We stood still, not attempting to escape. The film with the complete issue of the magazine lay on the bottom of the crate.
The officer rudely demanded to know who we were, and what we were dragging. Misha replied, managing a calm and even voice, as he explained that we were carrying a developing machine. The policeman thrust his hand into the crate, and I feared he would momentarily find the incriminating film. But Misha grabbed his arm. If you break it, you pay.
If we refused to produce them, we would be taken down to the police station. Seeing no alternative, I presented my papers, and my name was taken down…. Although Yosef knew the plan was risky, he also knew there was no life in Russia for a Jew. Twelve people would buy all the seats for a local Leningrad-to-Priozersk flight, supposedly to attend a wedding at their destination. Once the plane was in the air, the group would overpower the pilot, land, and abandon him below. Mark Dymshits was the pilot.
Many underground activists opposed the plot. They preferred using educational and inspirational activities to save Soviet Jews from assimilation.
Unbroken Spirit: A Heroic Story of Faith, Courage, and Survival by Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich
But we intentionally wanted to create a giant spectacle. Soviet propaganda had effectively persuaded the Western world that Jews were satisfied with their lives in Communist Russia. The participants were already on the tarmac when KGB agents brutally arrested them. I think their expectation was that in the face of death, we would express regret and debase the beliefs that had motivated our actions — and so become the ones to quash the Jewish revival we ourselves had initiated.
But in fact, the opposite occurred. They had captured us — but we were the victors. And then a Chanukah miracle occurred. The truth behind their hidden trial was leaked to the foreign media at a press conference engineered by Andre Sakharov, the Nobel Prize—winning nuclear physicist and human-rights activist, whose world status gave him de facto independence from Soviet authority. Even now, over 30 years since he left captivity behind, Rabbi Mendelevich still smiles as he recalls his induction into Soviet prison life. This seems counterintuitive — for what is there to smile about in the prospect of years of frigid cold, starvation-level food portions, and the brutal oppression of sadistic guards?
But the smile is genuine. We had demonstrated to the government and to the world that Am Yisrael Chai — we could not be vanquished. His primary concern was not for the physical persecution he would undergo but for his spiritual welfare. I had to defeat them by becoming an even stronger Jew than I was on that day.
One year after his incarceration, Yosef was dispatched to a labor camp in the Soviet Gulag.
Unbroken Spirit: A Heroic Story Of Faith, Courage and Survival - Yosef Mendelevich
Because there were so many Jews in the camp, Yosef and Shimon made a commitment to celebrate Jewish holidays together with their fellow prisoners. But each Shabbos and holiday posed new obstacles to fulfilling that commitment. But every holiday brought its own tension: Daily life in the labor camp presented its own challenges, as well. It is always cold and there is never enough food — unless your visitors gave you money to use on the black market.
You get up, go straight to work, come home, sleep, wake up, and go to work again. Some people used that time to sit, talk, and drink tea; others used it to learn new languages. Some used that time to discuss politics — the camp was so full of nationalists who had lost their battles of independence against Soviet power that we actually had our own mini-parliament.
And then there were eight Jews who decided that we would use our time to learn Hebrew and Jewish history, to keep Shabbos together, and to work together on all issues — starting with how to obtain more food.
Once again, I was part of a Jewish underground under Soviet rule. But as determined as Yosef was to keep the mitzvot, his captors were equally determined to break him down. One day, he was called in to the office and informed: However, you will not be granted this privilege if you continue to violate camp regulations. Take it off at once. Every year for five years, this scenario repeated itself — until the opportunity was finally lost.
He never saw his father again. Yosef never regretted his decision. Nevertheless, Yosef yearned for the opportunity to ask his father for forgiveness. Eventually, Yosef was put on trial again — this time for observing Jewish commandments while in a gulag — and sentenced to three years in the maximum security Vladimir Prison. But Yosef found the positive even in the horror of being remanded to a tiny jail cell.
Since there was no work there, I was able to keep Shabbos easily; I secretly smuggled in petilos tallis , making myself my first tzitzis; and I smuggled in my Tanach by gluing covers of Russian books on the front and back cover, so I was able to learn. Once, Yosef explains, Sharansky informed him that he was worried about Yosef, since his new friend was always asking the prison nurse for medication.
266,76 RUB
You always need to think ahead. The following year Yosef was returned to the labor camp. His old friends had been released, but Yosef once again found Jewish prisoners and began to teach them Torah. The KGB saw the influence he was having and confiscated his siddur and Chumash. He was placed in solitary confinement, where he still managed to give daily Hebrew lessons to the prisoner in the adjacent cell. Meanwhile, Jews throughout Israel and the US rallied on his behalf, and even the American government lodged a complaint. Finally, the camp major appeared.
He was given back his textbooks, seforim, and his map of Israel, and released from solitary confinement. His non-Jewish friends greeted him in amazement. How is this possible?
Unbroken Spirit
Yosef had won a spiritual victory, but physically he felt he had no more strength. After 11 years in prison, he prayed that he would merit to finally fulfill his dream: One of them gets to his feet: After eleven years of incarceration, the Iron Curtain parted and Yosef Mendelevich was finally released. I took pride in my bandaged skull, as though I were a soldier wounded in battle. But all this only buttressed the walls of my burgeoning faith…. We printed our first issue of Haiton [an illegal Zionist Russian-language newspaper] on a typewriter, using thin paper to make eleven copies at a time.
We had purchased this paper in small quantities at different stores and at different times so as not to draw undue attention. Nor was obtaining a typewriter without difficulty. Then, our printing was laborious, and poor in quality: Finally, the printing completed, we bound the issues and distributed them—in small numbers, of course.
The concluding phase of investigations is usually an auspicious time for a prisoner to make requests. I had heard that during the file-review stage, prisoners are sometimes allowed to get food from home, and even to exchange letter with family members. I wanted my kippah back…. The kippah was brought to me, and I put it on at once. Until then I had been compelled to wear a handkerchief, which served as a source of amusement for them.
Now the jokes stopped.
This was the response of Sylva Zalmanson, the only woman among the hijackers. Sylvia translated the verse—Psalm The prosecuting attorney nearly fainted from anger. From Mendelevich endured brutal conditions, interrogations, and harrassment in the Soviet gulag. What else comforts me? Reflections on the history of the Jewish people. I have no prayer book, but I compose my own liturgy in my mind— prayers for the peace of the Jewish people, for my father, for my release from prison.
The more fervently I pray, the stronger my faith becomes, and the more fully it becomes embodied, in turn, by prayer. I feel as innocent as a child standing before his master and speaking straightforwardly, without intermediaries. A 4-minute inspirational video about the attempted hijacking, and its historical impact.
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- McNallys Chance (The Archy McNally Series);
- Unbroken Spirit: A Heroic Story Of Faith, Courage and Survival;
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