Jan Krylsky, a 23-year-old Soviet Jew, was released from the Sechovka Psychiatric Institution after a two-year confinement for “schizophrenia and militant Zionism.” it was learned today by the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry. This is the first case known to the West of a patient who has been released from this “special” psychiatric institution. Jan, who was kept in a ward for the criminally insane, was given injections that left him delirious and completely swollen. He had been charged with hitting a drunk, who yelled anti-Semitic epithets at him.
Julius Krylsky, Jan’s father, has been campaigning in the West for his son’s release for over a year. Jan and his mother, Rachel, hope to rejoin the older Krylsky in Israel shortly. The member agencies of the GNYCSJ mounted an extensive campaign for Jan and other Soviet Jewish activists incarcerated in mental institutions. A spokesman expressed the hope that others being held, including Hillel Chayit and Yuri Rothstein, would soon be released.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
