After centuries of fighting for survival, Jews in Western European countries were finally granted citizenship in the 19th century. However, Eastern European countries like Russia were still encouraging violent pogroms and antisemitism towards their Jewish populations.
Following the brutal events of World War Two, Jews in the Soviet Union attempted to escape their dire situation by applying for immigration to Israel. Unfortunately, these attempts were blocked by leader of the , Joseph Stalin.
Enraged by the many injustices they faced, Jewish activists like Anatoly Shcharansky (later, Nata
...n Sharansky) fought to help free the Jews of the Soviet Union, and in turn propelled the movement that successfully dissolved the Soviet Union in 1991.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:46 Antisemitic policies and pogroms in Russia
01:08 The 1917 Communist Revolution
01:44 Civil War and the Antisemitic White Party
02:10 Pro-Jewish Bolsheviks and Red Army
02:24 The Holocaust and Jewish desire to immigrate to Israel
02:39 Antisemitism of Stalin and refusal to allow emigration
03:14 Loss of Jewish identity
04:01 Russian opinions of the 1967 Six Day War
04:26 Renewed inspiration to make Aliyah
04:40 Refuseniks
05:03 Natan Sharansky
06:30 Avital Sharansky
07:09 Arrest and sentencing
07:52 Movement to free Sharansky
08:36 Sharansky’s release
08:46 Free Soviet Jewry movement
09:14 Unlimited Jewish emigration
09:25 The power of strong Jewish identity
10:09 Outro
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Recommended video— Freeing Russian Jewry: The Refuseniks
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Co-Executive Producers:
- Melinda Goldrich
- Shmuel Katz
Gold Level:
- Goldrich Family Foundation
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Image and footage credits:
Israel GPO-Nati Harnik
Israel GPO-Moshe Milner
Israel Simionsky, Dan Hadani Archive, Pritzker Family National Photography Collection at the National Library of Israel
The Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
USHMM
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About The Jewish Story: Understand three thousand years of Jewish history in these short videos based on the book Letters to Auntie Fori: The 5,000-Year History of the Jewish People and Their Faith by the renowned historian Sir Martin Gilbert. Learn the Jewish story from the ancient Israelites of the Bible to Hellenization, the Jews of the Middle Ages to modern day, and more.
About Unpacked: We provide nuanced insights by unpacking all things Jewish. People are complex and complicated — yet we’re constantly being pushed to oversimplify our world. At Unpacked we know that being complex makes us more interesting. Because of this, we break the world down with nuance and insight to drive your curiosity and challenge your thinking.
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