A Meeting with the Vins Family

General Petro Grigorenko, Aleksandr Ginzburg, a large group of Ukrainians, and a sizable press contingent were gathered at Kennedy Airport on the evening of June 14 to greet the family of Georgi Vins. Vins is the Ukrainian Baptist minister who was released by the Soviet Union last April, along with Ginzburg and three others, in exchange for two Soviet spies. As part of the deal, Georgi Vins’s family— his mother, wife, and children—was also to be freed, and now, two months later, that pledge was being carried out. Since Vins was away from New York when they were due to arrive and could not get back in time to meet them, we were trying our best to take his place. We never got to see them.

Perhaps somebody in the State Department feared that a triumphant arrival would unduly embarrass President Carter on the eve of the Vienna summit. Whatever the reason, we had to leave Kennedy Airport without welcoming our friends.

AP

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Arkady Polishchuk

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Soviet Union

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Religious Persecution

General Petro Grigorenko, Aleksandr Ginzburg, a large group of Ukrainians, and a sizable press contingent were gathered at Kennedy Airport on the evening of June 14 to greet the family of Georgi Vins. Vins is the Ukrainian Baptist minister who was released by the Soviet Union last April, along with Ginzburg and three others, in exchange for two Soviet spies. As part of the deal, Georgi Vins’s family— his mother, wife, and children—was also to be freed, and now, two months later, that pledge was being carried out. Since Vins was away from New York when they were due to arrive and could not get back in time to meet them, we were trying our best to take his place. We never got to see them.

Perhaps somebody in the State Department feared that a triumphant arrival would unduly embarrass President Carter on the eve of the Vienna summit. Whatever the reason, we had to leave Kennedy Airport without welcoming our friends.