Refuseniks (отказники)by Anna Khomina, Research and Special Projects Intern, Center for Jewish History The refuseniks were Soviet Jews who sought and were denied permission to emigrate out of the USSR in the ‘60s and ’70s, and who organized protests (such as the ones pictured above) to call attention to their plight. Jews in the Soviet Union were systematically discriminated against and barred from certain…
A Perspective on the Revolutionary Warin honor of the Fourth of Julyby Anna Khomina, Research and Special Projects Intern, Center for Jewish History Although the Declaration of Independence–the symbol of America’s freedom and autonomy–was signed July 4, 1776, the real battle for independence had just begun. The American Revolutionary War, fought from 1775 to 1783, came as a shock to many colonists, most of…
Molly Picon in Bublitchki Year: 1938Type: PhotographRepository: American Jewish Historical Society Moshe Leib-Halpern had this to say about Yiddish theater in America: “There was once a vulgarian who went to synagogue … when he wanted to weep, and to a bawdyhouse … when he wanted to be gay. But once, when he wanted to weep and be gay at the same time, he put…
Happy (Belated) Birthday, Emma Goldman!by Melanie J. Meyers, Senior Reference Services Librarian, Center for Jewish History “No real social change has ever been brought about without a revolution… revolution is but thought carried into action.” –Emma Goldman Emma Goldman was an influential political thinker, anarchist and feminist. She was born on June 27, 1869 to an orthodox Jewish family in Kovno, Russia, in what is…