Page 231 - ISRAEL'S CRADLE

received government funding. Since then and until the early 21st century, Aryeh Kroll trained and dispatched 6,000 "tourists"(!) and ensured that they would make contact with Prisoners of Zion, with the Refuseniks and with tens of thousands of Jews. The emissaries-tourists brought hundreds of thousands of gifts to the Soviet Union: Public relations materials on the State of Israel; Calendars; Books on Jewish history; booklets and books for studying Hebrew; "Gesher" booklets that were published by the Jewish Agency and adjusted for new Olim who had difficulties reading Hebrew; records with Hebrew songs; prayers book (only those that included a prayer for the welfare of the state); Passover Haggadahs; Bibles; Games and toys for children (such as dreidels or cards with pictures of the Land of Israel) and more. KrolL also took care to send the Prisoners of Zion and prominent activists, items that they specifically requested: Thermal underwear (which were smuggled to the "Prisoners of Zion"); Books such as poems by Zelda and the court records for the Eichmann Trial; Cassette tapes of Israeli singers; A knife for slaughter chickens and a whet stone; Lenses for glasses; Medications that could not be acquired in the Soviet Union; A blood pressure monitoring device and more.
On Independence Day 5760 (2000), Aryeh Kroll was awarded the "Israel Prize" for contribution to society and the state for his "tourism enterprise." The prize's judges noted that he "operated a vast system, while showing initiative, resourcefulness and intellectual creativity [...] and that he took care to forge relationships with ever expanding circles of Soviet Jews, most of whom arrived in Israel in the Nineties."
The Jews that Ignored the Soviet Antisemitic and Anti-Zionist Propaganda
As of late 1967, the Soviet authorities created a wall of propaganda intended to distort the information on the State of Israel's achievements in the Six-Day War and deter Jews from wanting to come to Israel. One of the actions they took was the printing and distribution of millions of books and booklets against Israel and against Zionism. Two books enjoyed special support: Trofim Kichko's antisemitic book "Judaism and Zionism" (1968) and Yuri Ivanov's book "Caution, Zionism" (1967), which was claimed by the author to be a "scientific update" of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." Both books were printed and distributed for free in the hundreds of thousands, at least. Most Jews attempted to ignore the anti-Zionist propaganda and antisemitic incitement. For some, the Soviet propaganda only intensified their aversion to the regime in their country and thousands of Jews continued to request exit visas to Israel. The Soviets responded with repeated denials, persecuted the visa applicants and arrested quite a few of them.
In the summer of 1968, the 27th Zionist Congress convened in Jerusalem, part of which was dedicated to the fate of the Soviet Jews. The participants of the Congress estimated that tens of thousands of Jews were expected to make Aliya from this country. Following the projections, which were only realized years later, it was decided to redistribute the authority on issues of Aliya and absorption between the government and the Jewish Agency. It was agreed that a government ministry for absorption of the Aliya would be established and the Agency was responsible for the
229