On Dec 22 the Jewish world lost one of the most inspiring figures in the Soviet Zionist movement, Eduard Kuznetsov. He will be forever remembered as a coorganizer of the unimaginably daring plan to hijack, in June 1970, a small, empty airplane in Leningrad & fly it to freedom. The plot was called “Operation Wedding.” It’s a breathtaking story just waiting to be turned into the next Netflix blockbuster series. For their participation in the plot, Eduard — then a 30 year old who had already served 7 years in the gulag for ‘anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda’ (editing a dissident publication) — and another co-conspirator, the 43 year old Mark Dymshits, a former military pilot, were sentenced to death by firing squad. Seven defendants, ages 21 to 30, were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in labor camps, with two receiving shorter sentences. With two exceptions, all the defendants were Jews. Eduard passed away on the 54th anniversary of the start of their sham trial—almost to the day. I was fortunate to have had the chance to interview him & other participants in Operation Wedding & wrote about it for @Tablet on the 50th anniversary of the trial, exactly 4 years ago. Here’s a 🧵with some excerpts from the piece:
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