Soviet dissidents were persons who disagreed with certain features in the embodiment of Soviet ideology and who were willing to speak out against them. The dissidents were small groups of marginalized intellectuals whose modest challenges to the Soviet regime met protection and encouragement from correspondents. The Soviet dissidents faced the choice of
exile, the
mental hospital, or the
labor camp. Prison after prison, decade after decade, the dissident movement created vivid awareness of Soviet Communist tyranny.