The Struggle for Soviet Jewish Emigration, 1948}}}1967 [Paperback]

A 1991 study of the cultural, social, political and international context of the movement for Soviet Jewish emigration.During the 1970s over a quarter of a million Jews left the Soviet Union. In this important 1991 study of Soviet Jewry, Yaacov Ro'i examines the cultural, social, political and international context of the movement for emigration, from the establishment of the state of Israel to the outbreak of the Six Day War.During the 1970s over a quarter of a million Jews left the Soviet Union. In this important 1991 study of Soviet Jewry, Yaacov Ro'i examines the cultural, social, political and international context of the movement for emigration, from the establishment of the state of Israel to the outbreak of the Six Day War.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.Preface; Acknowledgements; Glossary; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Part I: 1. The euphoria of 1948; 2. Jewish consciousness during the 'black years'; 3. The 'thaw', 19536; PartlÓÕ