Born in 1926 in Vilno, Lithuania, his youthful confrontations with the anti-Semitism which existed in the Soviet Union, made him turn to Zionism. He took an active part in the struggle led by his friends advocating Zionism, and tried to organize Zionist groups among his friends in the army during his service. He was arrested in 1951, charged with Zionist and anti-Soviet activities and sentenced by a military tribunal to 25 years imprisonment and 5 years of disfranchisement. He served his sentence in a prison in Leningrad and in camps in the Urals He was released in 1956 and went to Israel in 1959.
