Susan Hoffman
Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
320 Elmer L. Anderson Library
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: 612-625-0192
Email: s-hoff@umn.edu
web: http://www.jhsum.org
Inventory Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest Acquisition Number 0396
Soviet Jewry Collection of the Jewish Community Relations Council
Records, ca. 1966-1995
9 linear feet
Provenance
Received as a gift from the Jewish Community Relations Council.
History
The Soviet Jewry movement was organized in the mid-1960s to advocate for religious freedom and emigration rights for Jews living in the Soviet Union. During the Soviet era, Jews were not allowed to practice their religion in the Soviet Union, were faced with continuing anti-Semitism, and were routinely denied visas to emigrate to Israel or the West. American Jews began to notice and take action in the mid-1960s after several Soviet Jews were condemned to death for economic crimes and Soviet officials passed a series of laws closing synagogues and restricting Jewish religious practices.
On the national level, the movement began as the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry (AJCSJ), later changed to the National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ), and finally became known as the Union of Councils for Soviet Jewry (UCSJ). Local efforts to aid Soviet Jews were first coordinated through the Anti-Defamation League in the early 1970s. The Minnesota/Dakotas Action Committee for Soviet Jewry was formed by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) in 1971 as part of the nationwide Soviet Jewry movement. This local movement was first called the Soviet Action Committee of the JCRC and then the Minnesota Action Committee for Soviet Jewry. During the course of its existence, it was chaired by Herb Kohn, Dollie Brandwein, Bonnie Heller, Harriet and Steve Swartz, Marcia Yugend, Steve Feinstein and Robert Aronson. The movement had three stated goals:
to educate and mobilize the Jewish community
to sustain Jewish life in the USSR
to do everything possible to get those Jews out of the Soviet Union who wish to
leave.
The Soviet Jewry movement gained wide support locally, nationally and internationally. Its scope grew to include subcommittees comprising lawyers, elected officials, and clergy. Much of the work of the Minnesota/Dakotas Action Committee for Soviet Jewry consisted of letter writing. The leaders of the movement encouraged citizens to write letters of encouragement to refuseniks (Soviet Jews who had been denied visas), and to write letters to elected officials on behalf of the refuseniks. The national and local offices of the movement lobbied the U.S. government and encouraged communication between U.S. Jews and Soviet Jews. Several refuseniks gained celebrity status because of widespread publicity about their attempts to emigrate. These included Anatoly Scharansky, Ida Nudel and the Slepaks. Locally, the case of Inna Meiman received widespread publicity in 1987, when her friend, University of Minnesota student Lisa Paul, started a hunger strike on Inna’s behalf.
Publicity was a major part of the Soviet Jewry movement. In order to keep the plight of Soviet Jews in the public eye, the Minnesota/ Dakotas Action Committee for Soviet Jewry (MDACSJ) organized rallies and concerts, began a Twinning program (to pair Bar/Bat Mitzvah youth in the Upper Midwest with Bar/Bat Mitzvah youth in the Soviet Union), and generated publications for use on holidays and in schools. Refusenik profiles were sent out from the national office. Some local citizens visited the Soviet Union to speak with refuseniks and officials in person.
The movement was highly successful in raising awareness of the situation for Jews in the Soviet Union. The number of Soviet Jews that were allowed to emigrate decreased after passage of the Jackson Vanik Amendment in 1973 (an amendment restricting trade with the USSR), but later increased. Initially, most of the Jews that emigrated went to Israel. Later, however, many chose to go to the U.S. or other western countries rather than to Israel. Despite the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the movement continued to help with the emigration and resettlement of Soviet Jews until 1995.
For a detailed history of the national Soviet Jewry movement, see Paul Appelbaum’s article “The Soviet Jewry Movement in the United States” which is found in Box 6 of this collection.
Scope and Content Note
The documents in the collection span the history of the local movement to free Soviet Jewry and include a number of boxes pertaining to the national movement to free Soviet Jewry. The boxes concerning the local movement include correspondence, newsletters, documents related to committee meetings (minutes, agendas, etc.), publicity and some refusenik/immigrant information. The rest of the collection pertains to the national movement to free Soviet Jewry and includes background information, refusenik information, newsletters and publicity.
When the collection was received by the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest, some local and national items were bound together. Some of these have been separated which required altering the original organization of the collection more than might otherwise be considered prudent. The items for 1969-1973, 1975-1979 and 1985, remain bound together in the form in which they were received (found in Box 4). These bound volumes include clippings, newsletters, refusenik information, and committee meeting documentation. There is one three-ring binder containing highlights of the movement from 1970-1999.
The correspondence included in the collection shows how the local movement grew in the 1980s and how offshoots of the MDACSJ (such as Minnesota Elected Officials for Soviet Jewry, and the lawyers’ committee) were formed. Because the collection includes correspondence relating to all of the MDACSJ’s activities, it illustrates the scope of the Soviet Jewry movement. There is evidence in the collection that correspondence with the Soviet Union was a major focus of the MDACSJ. Documents relating to specific events can be found in the national, correspondence, and publicity sections of the collection. Major activities or events (such as rallies, celebrity visits, or trips to the USSR) have their own folders.
The original collection included several boxes about the national movement for Soviet Jewry. Because this movement is well-documented elsewhere, only samples have been kept in this collection. Still, items pertaining to the national movement comprise over half of this collection.
The collection is arranged in two parts. The first section—the Local Movement to Free Soviet Jewry (boxes 1-4)—includes correspondence, events, publicity, items related to meetings, and newsletters. Box 4 also includes bound volumes comprising local and national newsletters, publicity and meeting minutes. The second section—the National Movement to Free Soviet Jewry (boxes 6-9)—includes unsorted documents of all types. Boxes 7-9 are arranged in chronological order. Box 6 contains background information. Box 5 contains refusenik documents that were generated locally and nationally.
Section Descriptions
Section 1. Local Correspondence, Meeting Minutes, Event Publicity, Newsletters,
Articles, 1970-1994.
4 linear feet. Boxes 1-4
This section includes correspondence with elected officials, correspondence with specific refuseniks, and general correspondence from/to the MDACSJ. Also included are all items pertaining to Minnesota Elected Officials for Soviet Jewry. Included here are folders for each of the major events or promotions organized by the MDACSJ. There are several folders on the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Twinning program, and several folders of materials put out by the MDACSJ and the UCSJ for use in schools and on holidays. Minutes and agendas are included here for the Soviet Jewry Committee and the Resettlement Committee. This section includes several personal accounts of trips to the USSR as well as PR and clippings from the years 1974-1992. Also found here are volumes containing local and national newsletters, publicity, and meeting minutes which remain bound in their original form. There is one locally produced three-ring binder containing highlights of the movement from 1970-1999.
The strength of this section is its wide scope. The items provide a comprehensive history of the local movement. Local activities are documented in the correspondence and their impact is shown in correspondence and clippings. The support of elected officials is especially evident here.
Section 2. National Background Information, Newsletters, Correspondence, Articles,
1966-1995.
5 linear feet. Boxes 5-9
This section includes articles that give background information on the history of Jews and anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. Also included are samples of nationally pertinent articles, political events, press releases, newsletters and meetings. These items were generated by the Student Struggle for Soviet Jews, the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, and the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews.
May, 2002
