This series of photographs comes from American Soviet Jewry Movement Photographs Collection I-495. This collection is comprised of a selection of photographs from various records housed within the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement (AASJM). These materials reflect the efforts of thousands of American Jews of all denominations and political orientations to stop the persecution and discrimination of Jews in the Soviet Union from the 1960s-1980s. The American Soviet Jewry Movement (ASJM) is considered to be the most influential Movement of the American Jewish community in the 20th century. The beginnings of the organized ASJM became a model for efforts to aid Soviet Jews around the world.
The series of images below document a rally held in support of Soviet Jews during the holiday of Simchat Torah in 1983. In the photographs, participants hold signs and balloons with messages including “Let them leave Russia”, “Let my people go”, and “Honor Helsinki Agreement”, an agreement signed in 1975 by 35 nations coordinating efforts to end the Cold War.
View the complete American Soviet Jewry Movement Photographs Collection I-495.
