The Wreckage

The World in Front of Me: The Soviet Union

From the American Jewish Historical Society comes a new series, The World in Front of Me, hosted by Ruth Andrew Ellenson in conversation with her lifelong friend, renowned photographer of Jewish life, Bill Aron. In this incredible episode, Bill travels to the USSR to document the lives of Refuseniks -- and encounters some KGB opposition along the way. Featuring expert commentary from The Wreckage: Open Up the Gates co-writer Shaul Kelner. Please enjoy this very special episode, and head over to The World in Front of Me, now available on all podcast platforms, to hear more incredible stories from Bill Aron. On Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wreckage/id1743434835 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wreckage/id1743434835] On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7LeJU4dPEqlMuncZcuLNtJ [https://open.spotify.com/show/7LeJU4dPEqlMuncZcuLNtJ] The World in Front of Me is presented by Jay and Gretchen Stein, with generous support from the Knapp Family Foundation, the Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation in Honor of Alan Bloch, Scott and Dianne Einhorn, The Karetsky Family, and Michael and Corie Koss.

The Dissolution: Bonus Episode

Taped live in front of a limited studio audience at Sound Lounge in NYC, our series finale welcomes back author and critic Julie Salamon to host special guests Gal Beckerman, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of "When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry," Shaul Kelner, professor of of Jewish Studies and sociology at Vanderbilt University and author of "A Cold War Exodus: How American Activists Mobilized to Free Soviet Jews," and Gemma R. Birnbaum, executive director of the American Jewish Historical Society and creator/producer of The Wreckage. Image: Scholars discuss cultural genocide in the USSR, from the collection of the Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews at AJHS, I-505. The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program [https://ajhs.org/exhibitions-programs/exhibitions/american-jewish-education-program/], generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.

The New Americans

Over the course of four decades, over 500,000 Soviet Jews emigrated to the United States. Soviet Jewish families settled throughout the country, from small towns to big cities, with many joining synagogues, enrolling their children in Jewish day schools and summer camps, and celebrating milestones like bar and bat mitzvahs. For these families, life in the United States came with its own set of challenges. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Dr. Andrew Sperling, Historian & Director of Academic Initiatives at the American Jewish Historical Society. Image: Natan Sharansky with Morey Schapira, Selma Light, Lillian Foreman and others. From the Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews Records at AJHS, I-505. The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program [https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fajhs.org%2Fexhibitions-programs%2Fexhibitions%2Famerican-jewish-education-program%2F&data=05%7C02%7Crmiller%40ajhs.org%7C19cb934ee17b4e5aaff708dd5c49a038%7C81196ead69114e2caebd5dffd230275b%7C0%7C0%7C638768193470203100%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=lvWZkft%2FJbWXv7hFmPASrAJVcB4km0B4gr%2B5qCVIzmQ%3D&reserved=0], generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.

The Stateless

Throughout the movement to free Soviet Jews, American Jewish aid organizations deployed caseworkers around the world to help resettle Jewish emigres. Beginning in the 1960s, NGOs like HIAS (the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) helped hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews find new homes in the United States, Israel, Canada, and other nations, just as they had done after World War II. By the late 1980s, tensions emerged far beyond Cold War politics, as American Jewish organizations and the Israeli government came to proverbial blows over where Refuseniks who obtained exit visas would go. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones, featuring Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the Rabbi Edward Sandrow Chair in Soviet & East European Jewry at the Hebrew University; and Mark Hetfield, former caseworker and current President of HIAS. Image: Meeting of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in Winter 1993, from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS Collections), I-363. The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program [https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fajhs.org%2Fexhibitions-programs%2Fexhibitions%2Famerican-jewish-education-program%2F&data=05%7C02%7Crmiller%40ajhs.org%7C19cb934ee17b4e5aaff708dd5c49a038%7C81196ead69114e2caebd5dffd230275b%7C0%7C0%7C638768193470203100%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=lvWZkft%2FJbWXv7hFmPASrAJVcB4km0B4gr%2B5qCVIzmQ%3D&reserved=0], generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.

The Travelers

In addition to advocacy at home, including through efforts like the twinning program, a number of activists working on behalf of Soviet Jewry traveled to the USSR, arranging meetings with Jews living behind the Iron Curtain in an effort to provide support and gain access to information to bring back to the United States. The journey was dangerous, and entailed a great deal of risk as the KGB enacted tighter and tighter restrictions on foreign visitors, and looked at each traveler with intense suspicion. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Dr. Shaul Kelner, author of A Cold War Exodus: How American Activists Mobilized to Free Soviet Jews. Image: In October of 1985, American travelers Cheryl Pollman and Mark Werbner meet with the Pevzner family in Odessa, from the National Conference on Soviet Jewry Records, I-181. The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program [https://ajhs.org/exhibitions-programs/exhibitions/american-jewish-education-program/], generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.