Dymshits-Kuznetsov hijacking affair
Encyclopedia
The Dymshits–Kuznetsov aircraft hijacking affair (Leningrad Process) was an attempt to hijack
a civilian aircraft on 15 June 1970 by a group of Soviet refuseniks
in order to escape to the West
. Even though the attempt was unsuccessful, this was a notable event in the course of the Cold War
because it drew international attention to human rights
violations in the USSR and resulted in temporary loosening of emigration restrictions.
in 1967, the USSR broke off diplomatic relations with Israel. This stirred up Zionist feelings among some Soviet Jews, the majority of whom were assimilated
and non-religious
.
Eduard Kuznetsov
(who already served a seven-year term in Soviet prisons), prepared to hijack an aircraft and fly it to Sweden. One of the participants, Mark Dymshits, was a former military pilot. Under the guise of a trip to a wedding, they bought up all the tickets for the local flight Leningrad
-Priozersk
on a small 12-seater aircraft Antonov An-2
(colloquially known as "кукурузник", kukuruznik).
On 15 June 1970, after arriving at Smolnoye (later Rzhevka) Airport
near Leningrad, the entire group of the "wedding guests" was arrested by the MVD.
, punishable by the death sentence
under Article 64 of the Penal code of the RSFSR.
Mark Dymshits and Eduard Kuznetsov were sentenced to capital punishment
but after international protests it was appealed and replaced with 15 years of incarceration,
Yosef Mendelevitch
and Yuri Fedorov - 15 years,
Aleksey Murzhenko - 14,
Silva Zalmanson (Kuznetsov's wife) - 10,
Arieh-Leib Khanokh - 13,
Anatoli Altmann - 12,
Boris Penson - 10,
Israel Zalmanson - 8 years,
Wolf Zalmanson (brother of Sylva and Israel) - 10,
Mendel Bodnya - 4 years.
The affair was followed by a crackdown on the Jewish and dissident movement throughout the USSR. Activists were arrested, makeshift centers for studying the Hebrew language
and Torah
were closed, and more trials followed.
At the same time, strong international condemnations caused the Soviet authorities to significantly increase the emigration quota.
In the years 1960 through 1970, only 4,000 people (legally) emigrated from the USSR. In the following decade, the number rose to 250,000, to fall again by 1980 .
On 20 May 1978, three Soviet foreign intelligence
officers were arrested in New Jersey
while collecting an agent's report from a secret cache. One of them, the attaché of the Soviet mission to the United Nations
Vladimir Zinyakin, had diplomatic immunity
and was released. Two others, Rudolf Chernyaev and Valdik Enger, were employees of the UN secretariat who did not have such status and in October were sentenced to 50 years in prison each. After long negotiations, on 27 April 1979, they were exchanged for five Soviet political prisoners: Aleksandr Ginzburg, Eduard Kuznetsov
, Mark Dymshits, Valentin Moroz, and Georgy Vins
.
After immigrating to Israel, Kuznetsov headed the news department of the "Radio Liberty" (1983-1990), and was the chief editor of the largest Israeli Russian-language newspaper "Вести" (1990-1999), the most popular Russian language newspaper outside of Russia.
"The Committee to Free the Leningrad Three", headed by Colorado State Senator Tilman Bishop, was instrumental in organizing grassroots
and diplomatic campaigns to release the remaining prisoners.
In February 1981, Mendelevitch was released and joined his family in Israel. He urged continuance of the campaign to free two Russian
members of the group, Fedorov and Murzhenko: "The fact that both are non-Jewish is the worst example of Soviet discrimination and must not pass without protest".
On 15 June 1984, Aleksei Murzhenko was released, only to be rearrested for "parole violation". In June 1985, after serving 15 years, Yuri Fedorov was released under the 101st kilometre
settlement restriction. He was denied an exit visa until 1988 when he left for the USA. In 1998, he founded The Gratitude Fund in order to commemorate the Soviet dissidents "who waged a war against Soviet power and sacrificed their personal freedom and their lives for democracy".
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
a civilian aircraft on 15 June 1970 by a group of Soviet refuseniks
Refusenik (Soviet Union)
Refusenik was an unofficial term for individuals, typically but not exclusively, Soviet Jews, who were denied permission to emigrate abroad by the authorities of the former Soviet Union and other countries of the Eastern bloc...
in order to escape to the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
. Even though the attempt was unsuccessful, this was a notable event in the course of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
because it drew international attention to human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
violations in the USSR and resulted in temporary loosening of emigration restrictions.
Background
In the wake of the Six-Day WarSix-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
in 1967, the USSR broke off diplomatic relations with Israel. This stirred up Zionist feelings among some Soviet Jews, the majority of whom were assimilated
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
and non-religious
Secularity
Secularity is the state of being separate from religion.For instance, eating and bathing may be regarded as examples of secular activities, because there may not be anything inherently religious about them...
.
Incident
In 1970, a group of sixteen refuseniks (two of whom were non-Jewish), organized by dissidentDissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
Eduard Kuznetsov
Eduard Kuznetsov
Eduard Kuznetsov is a Soviet dissident, human rights activist, and writer.In 1961, Kuznetsov was arrested for the first time and served seven years in Soviet prisons for making overtly political speeches in poetry readings at Mayakovsky Square in the centre of Moscow and for publishing samizdat...
(who already served a seven-year term in Soviet prisons), prepared to hijack an aircraft and fly it to Sweden. One of the participants, Mark Dymshits, was a former military pilot. Under the guise of a trip to a wedding, they bought up all the tickets for the local flight Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
-Priozersk
Priozersk
Priozersk is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, centered on an island at the southwestern shore of Lake Ladoga, at the estuary of the northern armlet of River Vuoksi on the Karelian Isthmus. It is served by a station of the Saint Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railroad with the same name...
on a small 12-seater aircraft Antonov An-2
Antonov An-2
The Antonov An-2 is a single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft designed in the USSR in 1946...
(colloquially known as "кукурузник", kukuruznik).
On 15 June 1970, after arriving at Smolnoye (later Rzhevka) Airport
Rzhevka Airport
Rzhevka Airport is an airport in Leningrad Oblast, Russia located 15 km east of Saint Petersburg. It services small transport aircraft.Abandoned since 2007, the runways are currently used as General Motors dealer car parking...
near Leningrad, the entire group of the "wedding guests" was arrested by the MVD.
Aftermath
The accused were charged for high treasonHigh treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
, punishable by the death sentence
Death Sentence
Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...
under Article 64 of the Penal code of the RSFSR.
Mark Dymshits and Eduard Kuznetsov were sentenced to capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
but after international protests it was appealed and replaced with 15 years of incarceration,
Yosef Mendelevitch
Yosef Mendelevitch
Yosef Mendelevitch , was a well-known Jewish refusenik, also known as a "Prisoner of Zion" and now a Religious Zionist rabbi in the former Soviet Union who gained fame for his adherence to Zionism and public attempts to emigrate to Israel at a time when it was considered to be against the law in...
and Yuri Fedorov - 15 years,
Aleksey Murzhenko - 14,
Silva Zalmanson (Kuznetsov's wife) - 10,
Arieh-Leib Khanokh - 13,
Anatoli Altmann - 12,
Boris Penson - 10,
Israel Zalmanson - 8 years,
Wolf Zalmanson (brother of Sylva and Israel) - 10,
Mendel Bodnya - 4 years.
The affair was followed by a crackdown on the Jewish and dissident movement throughout the USSR. Activists were arrested, makeshift centers for studying the Hebrew language
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
and Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
were closed, and more trials followed.
At the same time, strong international condemnations caused the Soviet authorities to significantly increase the emigration quota.
In the years 1960 through 1970, only 4,000 people (legally) emigrated from the USSR. In the following decade, the number rose to 250,000, to fall again by 1980 .
On 20 May 1978, three Soviet foreign intelligence
Intelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
officers were arrested in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
while collecting an agent's report from a secret cache. One of them, the attaché of the Soviet mission to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Vladimir Zinyakin, had diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
and was released. Two others, Rudolf Chernyaev and Valdik Enger, were employees of the UN secretariat who did not have such status and in October were sentenced to 50 years in prison each. After long negotiations, on 27 April 1979, they were exchanged for five Soviet political prisoners: Aleksandr Ginzburg, Eduard Kuznetsov
Eduard Kuznetsov
Eduard Kuznetsov is a Soviet dissident, human rights activist, and writer.In 1961, Kuznetsov was arrested for the first time and served seven years in Soviet prisons for making overtly political speeches in poetry readings at Mayakovsky Square in the centre of Moscow and for publishing samizdat...
, Mark Dymshits, Valentin Moroz, and Georgy Vins
Georgy Vins
Georgi Petrovich Vins was a Russian Baptist pastor persecuted by the Soviet authorities for his involvement in a network of independent Baptist churches. Following an agreement between Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and U.S...
.
After immigrating to Israel, Kuznetsov headed the news department of the "Radio Liberty" (1983-1990), and was the chief editor of the largest Israeli Russian-language newspaper "Вести" (1990-1999), the most popular Russian language newspaper outside of Russia.
"The Committee to Free the Leningrad Three", headed by Colorado State Senator Tilman Bishop, was instrumental in organizing grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
and diplomatic campaigns to release the remaining prisoners.
In February 1981, Mendelevitch was released and joined his family in Israel. He urged continuance of the campaign to free two Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
members of the group, Fedorov and Murzhenko: "The fact that both are non-Jewish is the worst example of Soviet discrimination and must not pass without protest".
On 15 June 1984, Aleksei Murzhenko was released, only to be rearrested for "parole violation". In June 1985, after serving 15 years, Yuri Fedorov was released under the 101st kilometre
101st kilometre
101st kilometre is a colloquial name for the law restricting freedom of movement in the Soviet Union.In the Soviet Union, the rights of an inmate released from the prison would typically still be restricted for a long period of time...
settlement restriction. He was denied an exit visa until 1988 when he left for the USA. In 1998, he founded The Gratitude Fund in order to commemorate the Soviet dissidents "who waged a war against Soviet power and sacrificed their personal freedom and their lives for democracy".
See also
- Eastern Bloc emigration and defectionEastern Bloc emigration and defectionEastern Bloc emigration and defection was a point of controversy during the Cold War. After World War II, emigration restrictions were imposed by countries in the Eastern Bloc, which consisted of the Soviet Union and its satellite states in Eastern and Central Europe...
- Jackson-Vanik amendmentJackson-Vanik amendmentThe Jackson–Vanik amendment is a 1974 provision in United States federal law, intended to affect U.S. trade relations with countries with non-market economies that restrict freedom of emigration and other human rights...