Archival Collections at AJHS
click here for Finding Aids
The American Jewish Historical Society is the largest and most comprehensive archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement incorporating 8 major national or regional collections and dozens of smaller collections measuring more than 1,000 linear feet. Paper documents, photographs, audio tapes, posters and objects are included. Thanks to a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities*, approximately 60% of AJHS holdings have been processed to date and are accessible through online Finding Aids. Additional materials are being processed through ongoing work and new Finding Aids are posted regularly. For further information contact archivist Andrey Filimonov, or call 212-294-8301 X 6105.
Now accessible:
Moshe Decter. Papers, 1958-1980, 1982, 1989-1990, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2002-2003, P-899The collection contains papers of one of the pioneers of the American Soviet Jewry Movement. Starting in the early 1960s Moshe Decter instigated broad publicity campaigns to raise global awareness about the persecution of Soviet Jews and authored hundreds of articles on the subject in a variety of publications. Mr. Decter established and directed the Jewish Minorities Research bureau, served as the executive secretary of the Conference on the Status of Soviet Jews and as a director of research at the American Jewish Congress. Moshe Decter Papers consist of materials dating from the late 1950s to the early 2000s, with the bulk of the collection dating in 1960s-1970s. The documents include articles, correspondence, transcripts, notes, memoranda, publications, news clippings, broadsides and photographs. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Pamela B. Cohen. Papers, 1968-2005, 2007, 2009, P-897Pamela B. Cohen Papers document activities of the prominent activist of the American Soviet Jewry Movement. Pamela B. Cohen began her activity through the independent grass roots council, Chicago Action for Soviet Jewry (CASJ) and in 1978, served with Marillyn Tallman as co-chair until 1986, when she became the national president of the Washington-based Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ). She served in that capacity for 10 years. The Pamela B. Cohen papers include materials from the late 1960s through 2009, and the bulk of the collection is dated 1970s-1980s. The documents include correspondence, notes, memoranda, publications, news clippings, photographs, ephemera, audio and video recordings and 3-D objects. Click here for the Finding Aid.
David Waksberg. Papers, 1970-1997, P-895The David Waksberg Papers are comprised of materials generated while Waksberg served in a variety of leadership roles in the American Soviet Jewry Movement in the 1980s and early 1990s: Executive Director of the Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews (BACSJ); National Vice-President of Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ); member of the UCSJ Board of Directors; Director of the Center for Jewish Renewal; Director of Development and Communication of UCSJ; a founder of the Russian-American Bureau on Human Rights in Moscow. The materials primarily consist of correspondence, reports, grant proposals, notes, clippings, newsletters and photographs. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Houston Action for Soviet Jewry. Records, 1966-1997, I-500This collection contains the institutional records of the Houston Action for Soviet Jewry, mainly news clippings, correspondence, files about refuseniks, and various materials and programs for events which Houston Action for Soviet Jewry sponsored or was involved with. There are also some materials from other organizations set up to aid Soviet Jewry, including the Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews, the Chicago Action for Soviet Jewry and the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews. Many of these materials concern the situation of Jews in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as in the 1990s, soon after the end of the Soviet Union. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Pinchas Mordechai Teitz. Papers, 1967-1968, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1977-1982, P-891Papers of the prominent Soviet Jewry Movement activist, religious leader, educator and broadcaster Rabbi Pinchas Mordechai Teitz (1908-1995) of Elizabeth, NJ cover the period from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. The collection contains correspondence, related to Soviet Jews, documentation of Rabbi Teitz' trips to the USSR, his articles on Soviet Jews, the Russian-Hebrew religious books published for Russian-speaking Jews by the enterprise MOHIR (established by Teitz) records of shipments of books and religious items to the Soviet Union, a sound recording reflecting the visit of the Chief Rabbi of Moscow to the USA in 1968, and photographs related to Rabbi Teitz' Soviet Jewry activities in the USA and the USSR. The documents include articles, correspondence, notes, prayer books, publications, news clippings, a trip report, photographs and a vinyl record. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Margery Sanford. Papers, 1973-1980, 1984-1986, 1988, P-889Papers of Margery Sanford cover the period from the early 1970s to the late 1980s and document her activities as the Documentation Committee chairperson of South Florida Conference on Soviet Jewry, as well as her individual efforts in the American Soviet Jewry Movement. The documents include correspondence, notes, memos, minutes, publications, news clippings, photographs, stickers and a flag. Click here for the Finding Aid.
David H. Hill. Papers, 1958, 1963-1974, 1976, 1979-1998, 2000, P-888The collection contains papers of a pioneer activist of the American Soviet Jewry Movement Rabbi David Hill. A New York City Rabbi and businessman Rabbi Hill served as the national president of National Council of Young Israel, member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and an officer of National Conference on Soviet Jewry. Starting 1971 he ran Operation Lifeline, an independently funded outreach program created by NCSJ Commission on Education and Culture to support Jewish life in the USSR and Former Soviet Union. David H. Hill Papers include materials from late 1950s to 2000 and the bulk of the collection represents the time period from 1963 to 1990. The documents include correspondence, memoranda, publications, news clippings, photographs with negatives, ephemera and a poster. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Doris H. Goldstein. Papers, 1979, 1981, 1987-1988, 2009, P-887The papers of Doris H. Goldstein represent the activities of the American Soviet Jewry Movement activist from Atlanta, GA. The collection contains notes, photos and memorabilia from two trips to the USSR to meet with the Soviet Jews, a DVD recording of the program presented at an Atlanta rally on behalf of Soviet Jewry in 1987, local press coverage of Doris H. Goldstein's activism, her correspondence and memos of the Atlanta Jewish Federation regarding Jews in the Soviet Union. Materials include memorandums, correspondence, clippings, photographs, a DVD and a scrapbook. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Leonard S. Cahan. Papers, 1985-1986, P-883The papers of Rabbi Leonard S. Cahan focus on the imprisonment of the American Soviet Jewry Movement activist for demonstrating on behalf of Soviet Jews in front of the Soviet embassy in Washington D.C. on May 1st, 1985. Materials include memorandums, correspondence, clippings and brochures. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Shaul Osadchey. Papers, undated, 1968-1978, 1980-1981, 1983-1992, P-882Papers of Rabbi Shaul Osadchey cover the period from the late 1960's to the early 1990's and reflect the activities of Houston Action for Soviet Jewry, co-founded by Rabbi Osadchey. The collection also contains print and near print materials from various American and European Soviet Jewry Movement organizations, and background information on the situation of Jews in the Soviet Union during that period. The documents include correspondence, memos, minutes, publications, news clippings, pins, stickers and a kippah. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Sanford A. Gradinger. Papers, undated, 1985, 1993-1995, 2007, 2009, P-880The collection contains papers of the Rochester, NY businessman and human rights activist Sanford A. Gradinger, who in 1978 co-founded the Andrei Sakharov International Committee to focus international attention on the prominent human rights activist Andrei Sakharov (repressed by the Soviet government), reunite separated Soviet Jewish families and demand the release of Soviet Jewish Refuseniks like Rimma Bravve and Ida Nudel. The documents reflect Mr. Gradinger's contacts and visits with the government officials in Washington D. C., his trips to the Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Russia to visit Refuseniks, participation in demonstrations and vigils, organization of benefit concerts in US and Europe and other activities on behalf of the Soviet Jewry. Materials include photographs, correspondence, clippings, ephemera and travel memorabilia. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Elaine Pittell. Papers, undated, 1974-1991, 1993-1994, P-873The collection documents Elaine Pittell and her husband's Robert Pittell's activities as the leaders of the Jewish Federation of South Broward's Soviet Jewry Committee. It covers the period from mid-1970's to early 1990's. The collection contains correspondence, memos, minutes, publications, news clippings, audiocassettes, videocassette, disc negatives and nine Soviet Jewry Movement pins. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Joel Sandberg and Adele Sandberg. Papers, undated, 1974-1988, 1992, 1994-1995, 2009, P-872The collection contains papers of Joel Sandberg and Adele Sandberg, the co-founders of the South Florida Conference on Soviet Jewry. It covers the period from the mid-1970's to the early 1990's and document the Sandbergs' activities as the leaders of the Soviet Florida Conference on Soviet Jewry, as well as their individual efforts in the American Soviet Jewry Movement. The documents include correspondence, memos, minutes, and news clippings. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Si Frumkin. Papers, undated, 1985, 1988-1989, P-871
The Si Frumkin Papers include Mr. Frumkin's articles on the subject of the Holocaust, Israel, the Soviet Union and Soviet Jews from the mid- and the late 1980's, and a video interview with him and video recordings of several television programs related to the topic of the Soviet Jewry. The documents include articles, news clippings and video recordings. Click here for the Finding Aid.
American Soviet Jewry Movement Photographs, undated, 1914, 1968-1970, 1972-1986, 1988-1989, 1991, I-495
American Soviet Jewry Movement Photographs digital collection consists of 416 digitized photographs and slides selected from 5 major collections of the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement. It documents the everyday struggle for Soviet Jewry in the USA depicting over two decades of demonstrations, vigils and meetings, mourning and celebrations, the Movement activists of all ages and walks of life, politicians and celebrities. A number of photographs in the collection offer a glimpse into the Cold War era Jewish life on the other side of the Iron Curtain: prominent Soviet Jewish activists, clandestine gatherings and forbidden observations of the religious holidays and ceremonies, daring public protests by the Refuseniks in the center of Moscow and Prisoners of Conscience in the Siberian labor camps. Click here to view the collection.
Carolyn W. Sanger. Papers, undated, 1962, 1965-2001, P-870
The collection contains papers of Carolyn W. Sanger, seventh and last President of the Washington Committee for Soviet Jewry/Greater Washington Committee for Post-Soviet Jewry. Carolyn W. Sanger presided over the Committee from the early 1990's until its disbandment in 2001. Carolyn Sanger's papers are comprised of documents spanning the entire thirty-three years of the Committee's existence. The Carolyn Sanger Papers include materials from the mid-1960s through 2001, and the bulk of the collection is dated 1970s-1980s. The documents include correspondence, memoranda, publications, news clippings, photographs, slides, ephemera, audio and video recordings and 3-D objects. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Laurel Gould and Alan J. Gould. Papers, undated, 1963, 1969-1982, P-866
The collection contains the papers of Laurel Gould and her husband, lawyer Alan J. Gould. The materials include correspondence, memoranda, individual files on Soviet Jewish Refuseniks, documentation of special projects, events and visits to USSR, publications, legal materials pertinent to the Soviet Jewry, photographs, slides and audio recordings of conversations and interviews with the Soviet Jews. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Jerry Goodman. Papers, undated, 1954, 1959-2008, P-863
The collection contains papers of Jerry Goodman, the founding director of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, the largest and most influential organization created by the American Jews to coordinate efforts on behalf of Soviet Jews, which survives today as NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia. The bulk of the collection covers the activities from the early 1970s through late 1980s. The collection includes some minutes of meetings, memoranda, correspondence, newsletters and publications of the NCSJ and its precursor, the American Jewish Committee on Soviet Jewry (AJCSJ, 1964-1971). Among other materials are some posters and considerable number of photographs on Refuseniks and of the ASJM events in New York and the US, audio recordings on compact cassettes and reel-to-reels re-mastered into CD format, and VHS tapes. The collection also contains non-paper objects like pins, pendants, bracelets devoted to prisoners of conscience in the USSR, as well as a t-shirt, a scarf and a shopping bag. Click here for the Finding Aid.
National Conference on Soviet Jewry. Records, 1964-1992, I-181, I-181A.
The collection contains the records of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, the largest and most influential organization created by the American Jews to coordinate efforts on behalf of Soviet Jews, which survives today as NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia. The bulk of the collection covers the activities from the early 1970s through the late 1980s. The collection includes minutes of meetings, memoranda, correspondence, newsletters and publications of the NCSJ and its precursor, the American Jewish Committee on Soviet Jewry (1964-1971). Among other materials are individual files Refuseniks, prisoners of conscience and Jewish émigrés. Also included are a considerable number of reports from visits to the USSR by Soviet Jewry Movement activists and others. A significant part of the collection is represented by the audio recordings that include 13- to 14-minute long programs on the WEVD Radio dedicated to Soviet Jewry topics and recordings of phone conversations with Refuseniks. The collection includes a considerable number of photographs, posters and publications, several film strips and VHS tapes. Click here for the Finding Aid. (Large file, allow time to load).
Action for Soviet Jewry. Records, undated, 1943, 1964-1994, I-487
The collection contains the records of the ASJ, an organization active in the Boston area, which survives today as Action for Post-Soviet Jewry, as well as those of two other organizations closely related to ASJ: the New England Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry and the Soviet Jewry Legal Advocacy Center. The bulk of the collection is from the decade starting in the late 1970s through the late 1980s. The collection includes large databases on Refuseniks, prisoners of conscience and Jewish émigrés. Along with the database spreadsheet forms there are a large number of individual files. Among these files are materials related to Soviet Jewish refugees in Italy from the time of the Ladispoli crisis of the late 1980s. The collection also includes a substantial number of reports from visits to the USSR by ASJ activists and other travelers cooperating with the Soviet Jewry Movement as well as a considerable number of photographs, posters and publication. Click here for the Finding Aid. (Large file, allow time to load).
Union of Councils for Soviet Jews. Records, undated, 1948, 1954, 1963-1965, 1967-2000, I-410, I-410A
The collection contains the records of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, an umbrella organization for approximately 50 grassroots organizations. The records documenting the UCSJ's operations, programs, and campaigns relate primarily to the period of the 1980's, when the rescue movement reached its pinnacle of success and international attention, and to the 1990's, reflecting UCSJ's activities following the Soviet Union's collapse and its continuing work on behalf of human rights. The records are notable for including materials of UCSJ individual councils, materials by the Soviet Jewry Legal Advocacy Center, an affiliate of UCSJ, numerous case files regarding prisoners of conscience, Refuseniks, and those allowed to emigrate to the West. Click here for the Finding Aid. (Large file, allow time to load).
Joel Ackerman Papers, P-787
Contains newsletters and related documents composed by San Francisco area organizations pertaining to Soviet Jewry. The newsletters are composed by American Jewish activists on behalf of Soviet Jewish refuseniks and refugees. The documents provide insight into the daily lives of Soviet Jewry and the American Jewish fight for Soviet freedom during the 1970s and 1980s. The newsletters document different organizations and attempts to aid Soviet Jewry, their status and their plight. Organizational newsletters included are from such organizations as: The Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, Bay Area Council on Soviet Jewry and Northern California Lawyers' Committee for Soviet Jews. Highlights of the collection include UN Human Rights documents, the Pesach Project (1978-1979) and Twinning programs for Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Julia Mates Cheney. Papers, 2001-2002, P-806
This collection consists of a published copy of Cheney's Master's thesis, Narratives of Courage: Oral Histories of Jewish Émigrés from the Former Soviet Union, that she submitted to the Public History program of California State University, Sacramento in 2002. As part of her research, Cheney conducted oral history interviews with five Russian Jewish immigrants and one non-Jewish spouse of a Jewish immigrant. The collection includes audiotapes of these interviews, biographical worksheets, release forms, and transcripts. These materials offer a kind of coda to the long epic of the Soviet Jewish struggle to emigrate, as the speakers look back and relate, in English, their struggles in the USSR and subsequent life in the U.S. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Leah Lieberman. Papers, 1970-1971, 2009, P-869
This collection contains the papers and an oral history of Leah Lieberman, the founding member of Brooklyn Coalition for Soviet Jewry.
Audio Collections
Audio collections are accessible on CD at the Center for Jewish History Reading Room.
For the Audio Collections database, click here (pdf, Click here to download Adobe Reader.)
The Audio Collections include the following: “Russia Reports”, a weekly radio program produced in the early 1970s for broadcast on the New York City radio station WEVD (then owned by the Jewish newspaper The Forward). The 13- to 14-minute-long programs usually featured an interview with a politician, foreign policy expert, recently-returned visitor to Soviet Jews, or a recent émigré. There were 179 numbered programs, though fewer recordings – approximately 130 – as some programs were apparently rebroadcast. There are no transcripts of these tapes. Various civil rights and cultural leaders were among the early supporters of the movement, and the NCSJ Records also contain sound recordings of interviews with and speeches by Martin Luther King (1966), Bayard Rustin, Tom Stoppard, Harrison Salisbury, and other prominent individuals. The third major category of recordings consists of audiocassette tapes made in secret in the USSR. These include conversations with Anatoly (now Natan) Sharansky, Ida Nudel, Andrei Sakharov and other, less-famous refuseniks. One cassette contains a recording of a speech by Andrei Sakharov accepting in absentia an award from the Anti-Defamation League; another is chillingly labeled: "Alla Smelianski's plea, Jan 29, '79. Mark to commit suicide March 29." Also among the cassettes are several recordings of several telephone conversations arranged under the auspices of NCSJ’s “Call a Russian” program in the early 1970s, in which individuals in the United States made phone contact with Soviet Jews to discuss their particular circumstances, share information on the emigration process, and offer encouragement. PDF guide to audio collection.
A sample from the Audio Collections, National Conference on Soviet Jewry, listen below:
The address of Anatoly (Natan) Sharansky to the Second International Congress on the Soviet Jewry recorded in February of 1976. Sharansky, one of the prominent activists of the Soviet Jewry Movement, who spent 10 years in Soviet prisons, was released as a result of the American Soviet Jewry Movement campaign.. He later immigrated to Israel and took an active part in political life there becoming a government minister in several Israeli cabinets. In this 1976 address Sharansky expresses gratitude on his and other refuseniks’ behalf, for the support of their cause as he expresses hope for its success. Sharansky names refuseniks that received long prison sentences, describes a new anti-Jewish campaign started by the Soviet authorities, and states that the fight of the Soviet Jews will continue.(1 MB QuickTime)
Collections to be Processed:
In January 2007, approximately 650 linear feet of documents, photographs, posters and film representing the work of individuals and organizations active on behalf of Soviet Jewry, were transferred from the University of Colorado at Boulder to AJHS in New York. The collection, which include the following are currently being organized and will be made accessible to researchers as the archival process is completed.
Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (Additions)
Bay Area Council on Soviet Jews
Seattle Action for Soviet Jews
Chicago Action for Soviety Jews
Colorado Committee of Concern for Soviet Jews
National Conference on Soviet Jewry (Additions)
Forman, Lillian (BACSJ)
Polunsky, Ann
Schapira, Morey
Sitowitz, Myrtle
Turkin, Deborah
Weinberg, Sylvia
Wilkenfeld, Dolores
Additional materials awaiting processing were donated to AJHS by the following individuals and organizations:
Dr. and Mrs. Paul Appelbaum
Paul B. Baron
Dr. Rivkah Blau
Bnai Brith Klutznick Museum
Dr. Victor Borden
Brandeis University Hillel Foundation
Rachel E. Braun
Frank Brodsky
Chicago Action for Jews in the Former Soviet Union
Harold and Judith Einhorn
Betty Fellows
Jack Forgash
Eugene Friedman
Anita Garlick
Ruth Geller Gold
Rabbi David Goldstein and Mrs. Shannie Goldstein
Betty Golomb
Edward Greenwald
Rabbi Fred Greene
Michael Greene
Jules Gutin
Michael Hirschfeld
Jodi Hirschman
Carol Kekst
Alan M. Kohn
Rabbi Irving Koslowe
Billie Kozolchyk
Dr. Irwin H. Krasna
Constance S. Kreshtool
Lawrence I. Lerner
Rabbi Murray Levine
Shelley and Maury Lipowich
Judith A. Manelis
Rabbi Barry Marks
Hon. Jerome S. Medowar
Douglas B. Mishkin
Walter Naegle
Dr. Joel Nathanson
Estelle and Malcolm Newman
Rabbi Norman Patz
Robert Perlman
Alan Rosenberg
Linda Rutta
Rabbi David Saperstein
Tyler and Sharon Sattler
Leslie Schaffer
Jerome Schwell
Bert Silver
Hedda Silverstein
Rabbi Efry Spectre
Springfield Jewish Federation
Joni Sussman
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Babette Wampold
Rabbi Amiel Wohl
Mort Yadin
Related Collections at AJHS
Jewish Student Press Service Records, n.d. 1970-1987, I-249
Includes correspondence, minutes, reports, publications. Click here for the guide.
Jewish Student Organizations, n.d., 1906-1995, I-61
Includes periodicals relating to many Jewish student organizations from the 60s-80s
For example, Soviet Jewry Action Newsletter, 1969-79, Soviet Jewry Update, 1977,
SOS Soviet Jewry, 1966-1974. Click here for the guide.
North American Jewish Student Appeal, 1964-1996 Bulk 1971-1996
I-338 and I-338 A.
Records of student run program promoting Jewish identity among college aged
and records of fundraising arm.
Includes 4 posters: 4 posters in Box 111 Folder 5 :
"Arabs Conquer Israel" Poster circa 1971-1974
"Freedom Ride for Alexei Magarik: The Youngest Prisoner of Zion" Poster [1986]
"In America, You Have to Kill Someone to Get 12 Years in Prison. In Russia, You May Just Have to Teach Hebrew" Poster 1983
"Kruschev, 1903-1971: From Pogroms to Prison Camps" Poster circa 1971.
Click here for the Finding Aid.
National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council Records
(formerly NCRAC, after 1997 JCRC), n.d., 1940-1994, I-172
Includes material on varied activities relating to discrimination, immigration, Israel, and Soviet Jewry. Box 75, Soviet Jewry 1965-1975. Click here for the guide.
UJA Oral History Collection, 1981-2000, I-433. For access to the collection or any other questions about ASJM resources at the AJHS, please contact archivist Tanya Elder.
ASJM Related Collectons at Other Institutions
Columbia University Libraries and Collections
Committee of Concerned Scientists Records. Click here for the Finding Aid.
University of Denver
Beck Archives
Committee of Concerned Citizens for Soviet Jews in Denver, 1968-1991
Wheaton College Library
Charles Colson Papers. Click here for the Finding Aid.
Yeshiva University Archives
Student Struggle for Soviet JewryClick here for the Finding Aid.
Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington
Soviet Jewry Movement Collection
Photographs of protest marches by Ida Jervis, photographer for Washington Jewish Week.
Cleveland Jewish History
Involvement in the Soviet Jewry Movement, online presentation by Louis Rosenblum.
The Cleveland Council on Soviet Anti-Semitism Records, 1960-1983
Cleveland Council on Soviet Anti-Semitism Photographs, 1965-1977
Louis Rosenblum Papers, 1964-2004
Cleveland Council on Soviet Anti-Semitism Audio Tapes
