Sylva’s daughter, Anat, comments: “During her whole life in the USSR and especially in prison, she had to stay strong; she would never show ‘them’ her weakness. Once she arrived in Israel and traveled to help promote awareness, once she was surrounded with love and respect – after four years of being alone in a hostile environment – she couldn’t stop crying. Her emotions were overwhelming. She could only cry around good people – like Esther Gordon.”
On April 27, 1979, Edward Kuznetsov and five other refuseniks were released in exchange for three Soviet spies. Sylva and Edward, married for only five months at the time of their arrest, had been imprisoned and separated for nine years. Finally reunited, they started a family and had their daughter Anat. However, it was soon after that the couple divorced. It seems it was the fight for freedom which drew them together, and once achieved, there was no second act for them – unlike the Scharanskys who had a fairytale reunion and are together as a married couple, to this very day.
Sylva worked in Israel as an engineer, raised her daughter Anat, “the light of my life,” and painted in her spare time.
Today, retired, she devotes her time to helping Anat make her movie “Operation Wedding” (it will premiere in 2016) about the 1970 hijacking attempt, which opened the doors for Jews to escape the USSR. And she paints her heart out.
What are her dreams for the future? “There are still unmoved strings in my heart, which I’m afraid to touch. I would like to fulfill my secret dream, which will require a lot of mental strength and work.”
What is this secret dream? “It’s a secret,” she says.
What’s not a secret is how she feels about her homeland, Israel.
“I thank G-d for every day that I live in this beautiful and amazing country that is a miracle on its own, with people I am proud of. This is the reward for all my suffering.”
Igor Limonik, who is originally from Zhitomir, Ukraine – once a center of Jewish life and culture – is an aspiring artist and professional Russian-English translator, who now lives and works in Brooklyn.