Soviet Jews

FICTION
The St. Petersburg Traveling Circus
byMaxim D. Shrayer
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Post-Soviet Jews—all too familiar with pseudo-progressive, anti-Jewish politics—speak their minds
byMendel Uminer
‘We Have Our Own History, Our Own Trauma, and Our Own Experience’
A roundtable discussion with Jews from the former Soviet Union about their experience as immigrants, where they fit into the American Jewish community, how they view rising antisemitism after Oct. 7, and which customs and recipes they’re passing down to the next generation
byAbigail Pogrebin
The Recipe for a Sweet New Year
As Russian Jews, our family always celebrated Novy God—and we always did it by baking my favorite cake
byTanya Mozias Slavin
A Passage to Israel
A new graphic memoir recalls the story of a rabbi who traveled to the Soviet Union in 1965 to investigate the country’s treatment of Jews, and ended up helping one family escape
byCarol Ungar
Shopping List: Yahrzeit Candles, Russian Sourdough, Kasha, and Polish Sausage
For Soviet Jews in Queens, a deli brings a taste of home—right down to the pork products
byOdeya Rosenband
The Cold War Zombie Law That Uses Jews as an Excuse
Decades after Soviet Jews won their freedom, Washington still uses the Jackson-Vanik amendment to squeeze Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries
byVladislav Davidzon
At Home in the Vertical Shtetl
As a child, I yearned to leave southern Brooklyn’s enclave of Soviet Jewish immigrants. But watching old home movies decades later, I saw the place in a new light.
bySamantha Shokin
My Mother’s Black Bread
Trying to recreate a recipe for a treat my mother remembered from her childhood in Leningrad
bySarah Zahavi
How to Do Jewish Right
As an immigrant from the Soviet Union, I had trouble adjusting to life as an American Jew
byMargarita Gokun Silver
The New Refuseniks
Soviet Jews stood up to anti-Zionism once before. Now they are helping the younger generation of American Jews—including their own children—fight back against a wave of defamation and hate, while mainstream Jewish organizations wilt.
byIzabella Tabarovsky
Declaration and ‘Last Will’ of the Leningrad Hijackers
Composed before 16 Soviet Jews attempted to hijack a small plane in 1970, this declaration calls out the U.N. for turning a blind eye to their human rights and pleads for the Jewish world not to take its freedom for granted
byIzabella Tabarovsky
Hijacking History
Fifty years ago today in Leningrad, a small group of Soviet Jews was tried for attempting a daring escape to Israel. Eerily, their story is relevant again—this time, for American Jews.
byIzabella Tabarovsky
The Event That Sparked the Movement to Free Soviet Jewry
Fifty years ago, the Leningrad Trial spurred the American Jewish community to action
byGlenn Richter and Avi Weiss
A Clown’s Funeral
The Odessa-born comedian Mikhail Zhvanetsky was the Seinfeld of everyday Soviet misery and humiliation. His last joke came from beyond the grave.
byVladislav Davidzon
The Afterlife
Alexander ‘Sasha’ Pechersky led a successful prisoner revolt at the Sobibor death camp. His story of extraordinary courage was also the story of millions of Soviet Jews who lived and died in a country that refused to acknowledge their fate.
byDavid Bezmozgis
Opening the Gates of Jewish Study in the Soviet Union
In Memory of R. Adin Even Israel Steinsaltz
byDavid Rozenson
A Portrait of the Philanthropist as a Young Man
Remembering Ilia Salita’s formative years in Moscow
byMaxim D. Shrayer