The Struggle for Soviet Jewish Emigration, 1948 1967

Description

In this important new study of Soviet Jewry, Yaacov Ro'i examines their struggle for emigration from the establishment of the State of Israel to the outbreak of the Six-Day War. Using a range of personal interviews, he explores how Jewish self awareness arose both as a result of the founding of the State of Israel and as a product of the Holocaust. Local groups developed and sustained Jewish cultural interests and their Jewish identity in the face of popular anti-Semitism and Soviet policy. The author continues by analyzing the campaign conducted in the West and mobilized by the Israeli government on behalf of Soviet Jewish rights as a whole and emigration in particular. Ro'i convincingly argues that despite the efforts of Soviet Jewish groups to flourish in a steadfastly anti-Semitic system, by 1967 most had accepted that the only way of implementing their Zionist aspirations was to emigrate to Israel. However, without the extensive groundwork carried out in the period 1948-1967, it is doubtful if the mass emigration of the 1970s would have been possible. Cover Title Copyright Contents Preface Acknowledgments Glossary List of abbreviations Introduction PART I 1 The euphoria of 1948 Soviet Jewry in the immediate postwar years The Soviet Jewish reaction to the establishment of the Jewish state First encounters with representatives of the State of Israel 2 Jewish consciousness during the "black years'' The mood of Soviet Jewry The arrest Inside the camps 3 The "thaw," 1953-1956 Unfulfilled hopes and promises The State of Israel and its representatives in the Soviet Union Soviet Jewish activists: inside and outside the camps The beginnings of family reunification The Sinai War PART II 4 The outside world becomes aware of the problem Early rumblings The Slansky trial and Doctors' Plot arouse world Jewry The Israeli government takes up the cudgels Harassment of the Soviet leadership First contacts between Western and Soviet Jewry 5 The campaign in the West gathers momentum Publicizing the Soviet Jewish plight Western reactions to Soviet Jewish policy The American Jewish establishment and Khrushchev's "peaceful coexistence" The mobilization of intellectuals, left-wing opinion and public figures The U.S. Congress joins the protest Direct succor to Soviet Jewry 6 The outside world takes up the issue: 1963-1967 The United Nations Other international forums The U.S. Congress and administration The American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry Public opinion and "grass-roots" organizations in the U.S. Jews and non-Jews in other Western countries in the fight for Soviet Jewish rights Israel "goes public" Jewish and Israeli tourism to the USSR as an instrument in the struggle The outcome of Western pressure to help Soviet Jews PART III 7 A first breakthrough: November 1956-December 1959 The "Polish" repatriation The Sixth World Festival of Youth and Students Jewish "nationalist" activity in the USSR toward the end of the fifties 8 The early and mid-1960s: the Soviet Jewish national awakening Jewish "activists" in the Soviet Union Forms of activity Arenas of action Aliya The outbreak of the Six Day War Conclusion Notes Introduction 1 The euphoria of 1948 2 Jewish consciousness during the "black years" 3 The "thaw," 1953-1956 4 The outside world becomes aware of the problem 5 The campaign in the West gathers momentum 6 The outside world takes up the issue: 1963-1967 7 A first breakthrough: November 1956-December 1959 8 The early and mid-1960s: the Soviet Jewish national awakening Bibliography PRIMARY SOURCES SECONDARY SOURCES Index