FR A NKL N PLAZA FRONT LINES M IDNIGHTMADNESS 15-Year Refuseniks Continued from Page 3 tried to speak the truth and say what I felt," she said. Avi's will to survive was an- other important ingredient on the Goldstein's road to freedom. He often wrote to American children and asked them to con- vince their parents to write let- ters to Senators on behalf of the family. In fact, as soon as students at Akiva Day School learned that Avi was experiencing physical and emotional abuse from his classmates in Tblisi, they launr•Hpd Hundreds of balloons FRIDAY, JUNE 20TH 7 PM TO MIDNIGHT UP TO 70% SAVINGS MANY NEW SHOPS last November to dramatize Avi's plight. Because he didn't have any friends at school, Avi relied on the hundreds of pictures that he received from the boys and girls who wanted to twin with him in honor of their bar or bat mitzvah. He would often speak to the pic- tures as if they were alive and lis- tening to his dream that one day his family would live in Israel. "I spoke with them as them- selves, not as pictures," said Avi who is 12 years old. LIVE ENTERTAINMENT INCLUDING SAM THE CHIMPANZEE CAPITOL DRUGS OPTICAL TRENDS MAI KAI CLEANERS DONLEVYS BACK ROOM DETROIT BAGEL FACTORY PLAZA DELI WALDEN BOOKS TOBACCO ROAD FRANKLIN VIDEO MAX PLAY IT AGAIN RECORDS CADILLAC LUGGAGE CHARTER HOUSE HAIR SHOP FISHER TRAVEL AMERICAN EXERCISE & GYM EQUIPMENT BELLISSIMA JET SPEED DUPLICATING SEROS THE SILK FLORIST THE ADDED TOUCH THE PRINT GALLERY THE TOTAL RUNNER AMERICAN FAST PHOTO MASONS Corner of Northwestern Highway & 12 Mile Road Advertising in The Jewish News Gets Results Place Your Ad Today. Call 354-6060 NOW... THRU JUNE 30 Save 20 50% in every department on every maker! - Bring in this ad and receive an additional 10% off. You must present ad prior to purchase. Offer expires 6/30/86. 8herwood audios PROFESSIONAL INTERIOR DESIGNERS Tel-Twelve Mall • 12 Mile & Telegraph in Southfield Daily 10-9, Sunday 12-5 • 354 - 9060 1986 SHERWOOD STUDIOS, INC 28 Friday, June 20, 1986 J/N 686 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Refusenik's Father Here Pleads For Son's Release BY BETTY ELSTER Special To The Jewish News Aleksey Magarik, a cellist and Hebrew teacher was innocently returning to Moscow from a trip to Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, when the Soviets "busted" him for drugs at the airport. According to his father, Alek- sey is not involved with drugs, and believes that the Soviets planted them in his bags to give them cause to arrest the Jewish refusenik. Since his arrest, he has been denied visitation by an attorney. Testimony from friends who saw Aleksey pack the bags — without the alleged drugs — has not been accepted by the Soviet authorities. His father, Vladimir Magarik, is touring the U.S. to bring atten- tion to his son's plight. Speaking in. Detroit Tuesday night, under the sponsorship of the Detoit Soviet Jewry Commit- tee, the elder Magarik discussed cages similar to his son's and ap- pealed for help on his son's be- half. Aleksey Magarik is the fourth Jewish refusenik to be arrested by the Soviet Union on charges of drug possession. In all four cases, the people arrested have been in- volved in furthering Jewish awareness and Jewish identity in the Soviet Union: Koifman worked in a synagogue, and Kholmiansky and Edelshtein, like Aleksey Magarik, were He- brew teachers. The younger Magarik, 27, was interested in music since his youth, said his father. His initial studies in the Soviet Union, how- ever, were without Jewish con- tent. He later became inspired, said his father, after a friend brought him the score for Ernest Bloch's Kol Nidre. Magarik later told a friend that classical music no longer seemed so important to him now that he had been exposed to Jewish music. He dropped out of the mainstream of Soviet society, began to compose Jewish songs in Russian and Hebrew and per- formed with unofficial Jewish music groups. He and his wife studied Hebrew, and then taught the language to other Soviet Jews. The elder Magarik said he be- lieves that this is the real reason that his son was arrested. His son is currently in a Tbilisi prison awaiting appeal sometime in July. "My son is a musician," the elder Magarik said, "and an athlete. He would have no con- nection with drugs. "There is a clear definite trend in the Soviet Union," he said, "to attack Hebrew teachers — par- ticularly Moscow Hebrew teachers. "The Soviet Union is attempt- ing to crush all Hebrew educa- tion." When asked why Jews are being treated so poorly, he re- sponded: "If a group of people challenges the Soviet Union, they (the Soviet Union) are then no longer in control. The Soviets cannot bear democracy. They must be in full control always. Things are now getting worse." Magarik said he hopes to some day see a change in Soviet policy, he says, and for Hebrew to be taught without any problems. Right now, however, his im- mediate concern is for his son. He fears for his son's safety in prison — the beatings by common crim- inals of Hebrew teachers, the "ac- cidental" maiming. (Edelshtein was "accidentally" hurt by a rail- road tie which damaged his urethra. He is currently being denied adequate medical atten- tion.) The senior Magarik has under- taken this U.S. tour to bring his son's plight before Americans to Jews and non-Jews alike: to expose the trumped-up drug charges, the denial of lawyer- client contact, the denial of medi- cal evidence showing no drug us- age, the denial of testimony of Aleksey's friends on his behalf. Magarik is asking for public outcry against all these denials, and the denial of the freedom to pursue religious belief and free- dom of speech. Telegrams and letters should be sent to: Razmadze V.A, Pro- curator General of Georgia, Pros- pekt Plekhanova 103, Tbilisi 380110, Georgia SSR, USSR. For information, contact the Detroit Soviet Jewry Committee, 962-1880.