Born in 1940 in Leningrad, he became an activist in an underground Zionist organization in 1966, and in 1970 was elected as a member of its committee. Arrested that same year, he was charged with pro-Israeli, anti-Soviet Zionist activity and an illegal attempt to escape to Israel. At the 2nd Leningrad trial, in May 1971 he was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and spent his sentence in the high-security camp of Perm. Released in 1975 he left the USSR for Israel that same year.
