Immigration Progress
"My father and his second wife and my half-sister left for Israel in 1963 to find freedom and better life as Jews. " Sheyna said when she was asked about why her family decided to leave. Sheyna's father was trying to get her and her family to emigrate from Lithuania to Israel shortly after he arrived there. Her father had sent an official reunification request to the Soviet government so they could allow Sheyna and her family to immigrate to Israel but that request was denied by the Soviet government. Finally, in the late 1970s, the Soviet Union and USA’s relations warmed up and President Carter’s administration pressured the Soviet Union’s government started to allow Jewish immigration to Israel.
"Antisemitism was always present in the Soviet Union. "
Vienna, Austria where they first arrived before going to the United States
Sheyna's family received permission to reunite with her father in Israel but Sheyna was very concerned about the ongoing war conflict in the Middle East fearing that both of her sons would be drafted into the Army. She and Iosel decided to change plans and direction – they chose to come to America instead once they were outside of the Soviet Union’s borders. When they got out of the Soviet Union by train and arrived in Vienna, Austria, they were greeted by representatives from the American Jewish immigrant aid group called HIAS which assisted them to get to the US. They stayed in Italy for 2 months waiting for their refugee paperwork and visas to be completed. Finally, in August 1979, there were issued refugee visas to enter the US.