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Russian Speaking Jewry Collection

From 1989 to 1993, it is estimated that about 1.4 million Jews left the Soviet Union in one of the largest mass emigration movements in world history. Some made the decision to leave because of blatant persecution. Others, though they were doing well socioeconomically, sought to leave behind stereotypes and anti-Semitism. Those who left established new communities in Israel, the United States, Germany, and an expanding Russian-speaking Jewish diaspora. And then there were those who could not leave. Every person who applied to leave the Soviet Union risked losing employment, privileges, connection with friends and family, and social status. Jews whose requests to leave were refused earned the label “Refusenik.”

The Refusenik Movement became one of the pivotal political and cultural movements of the last half of the 20th century. Today, significant collections relating to this history are scattered, at risk of being lost, or inaccessible because they are uncatalogued and have not been digitized. As a result, scholars, specialists, and researchers are lacking important sources of information, and the collective memory of Refuseniks and Soviet Jewish émigrés is being forgotten.

The Soviet Jewry Archives will preserve the history of the Soviet Jewish experience and make it accessible to present and future generations to learn from.

The cataloging and digitization of this collection was made possible by the support of Arcadia – a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.

Subcollections

Alexander Smukler Collection      
Showing search results 16-30 of 52
Elena Genusova
Elena Genusova
Photograph
Maker: Aron, Bill
ID: 2022.025.016
Date Made: 1981
Ephraim Rosenstein
Ephraim Rosenstein
Photograph
Maker: Aron, Bill
ID: 2022.025.017
Date Made: 1981
Ida Milgrom, Musician, economist, and activist who led a campaign to free her imprisoned son Anatoly Shcharansky (now Natan Sharansky)
Ida Milgrom, Musician, economist, and activist who led a campaign to free her imprisoned son Anatoly Shcharansky (now Natan Sharansky)
Photograph
Maker: Aron, Bill
ID: 2022.025.018
Date Made: 1981
Professor Alexander Lerner, Cyberneticist
Professor Alexander Lerner, Cyberneticist
Photograph
Maker: Aron, Bill
ID: 2022.025.019
Date Made: 1981
Lev Blitshtein, Administrator in meatpacking plant
Lev Blitshtein, Administrator in meatpacking plant
Photograph
Maker: Aron, Bill
ID: 2022.025.020
Date Made: 1981
Retired Colonel Lev Ovischer
Retired Colonel Lev Ovischer
Photograph
Maker: Aron, Bill
ID: 2022.025.021
Date Made: 1981
Sukkot, View through the Candelabra in the Synagogue
Sukkot, View through the Candelabra in the Synagogue
Photograph
Maker: Aron, Bill
ID: 2022.025.022
Date Made: 1981
Sukkot Hallel Service
Sukkot Hallel Service
Photograph
Maker: Aron, Bill
ID: 2022.025.023
Date Made: 1981
Yom Kippur Torah Reading
Yom Kippur Torah Reading
Photograph
Maker: Aron, Bill
ID: 2022.025.024
Date Made: 1981
Simchat Torah during Hakafot, Archipova Street Synagogue
Simchat Torah during Hakafot, Archipova Street Synagogue
Photograph
Maker: Aron, Bill
ID: 2022.025.025
Date Made: 1981
Yom Kippur Day
Yom Kippur Day
Photograph
Maker: Aron, Bill
ID: 2022.025.026
Date Made: 1981
Kol Nidre
Kol Nidre
Photograph
Maker: Aron, Bill
ID: 2022.025.027
Date Made: 1981
Федерация еврейских общин России / איגוד הקהילות היהודיות ברוסיה, yarmulke
Федерация еврейских общин России / איגוד הקהילות היהודיות ברוסיה, yarmulke
Yarmulkes
Maker: Federat︠s︡ii︠a︡ evreĭskikh obshchin Rossii
ID: 2023.027.001.013
Date Made: [circa 2000s]; 2000s
Jews in the U.S.S.R. : a weekly information bulletin, Vol. XVII. No. 3, 21 January 1988
Jews in the U.S.S.R. : a weekly information bulletin, Vol. XVII. No. 3, 21 January 1988
Bulletins
Maker: National Council for Soviet Jewry of the United Kingdom and Ireland; Greifer, Nan
ID: 2023.027.001.025
Date Made: 21 January 1988; 1980s
Jews in the U.S.S.R. : a weekly information bulletin, Vol. XVII. No. 26, 7 July 1988
Jews in the U.S.S.R. : a weekly information bulletin, Vol. XVII. No. 26, 7 July 1988
Bulletins
Maker: National Council for Soviet Jewry of the United Kingdom and Ireland; Greifer, Nan
ID: 2023.027.001.026
Date Made: 7 July 1988; 1980s
Showing search results 16-30 of 52

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