«Ƶ Action for Soviet Jewry Records
«Ƶ Action for Soviet Jewry (BASJ)was established in 1987 as a nonprofitagency to advocate for and eventually assist in the resettlement of more than 250 refuseniks, including Soviet mathematician and human rights actvist, Naum Meiman. BASJ and The Center For Human Rights Advocacy, a nonprofit public interest law firm,continued theirwork advocating on behalf of more than 100 refuseniks from Dushanbe, the capital of Soviet Tajikistan and «Ƶ’s Sister City. After some of the first Dushanbe refuseniks gained permission to emigrate to the U.S. and expressed interest in settling in «Ƶ, BASJ organized a formal resettlement program to welcome and integrate Soviet immigrants into the «Ƶ Jewish and other communities.
As the Soviet Union began to crumble in the late 1980s, a group of Jews in «Ƶ organized to aid and resettle Soviet Jews who faced increasing discrimination from the Soviet state and refusal of their requests to emigrate (earning them the label of “refuseniks”). These Jewish «Ƶites called themselves «Ƶ Action for Soviet Jewry (BASJ). BASJ worked as part of the national Soviet Jewry movement to aid these Soviet Jews, particularly those Jews in Dushanbe, Tajikistan («Ƶ’s sister city), whose struggles were not known to many, if any, of the other Soviet Jewry advocacy organizations across the country.
After some of the first Dushanbe refuseniks gained permission to emigrate to the U.S. and expressed interest in settling in «Ƶ, BASJ organized a formal resettlement program to welcome and integrate Soviet immigrants into the «Ƶ Jewish and other communitiesBASJ then trained and assigned dozens of volunteers as home visitors and ESL tutors. The community came together to help them learn English, find jobs, and navigate the new society they had entered.
A screening of the documentary film "Refusenik" at the «Ƶ Jewish Community Center on November1, 2009became the catalyst for the «Ƶ Action for Soviet Jewry Oral History Project. The film depicted the history of Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union during the 20th century, including the plight of Jewish "refuseniks," who were persecuted for seeking the human right to leave their country, and the American Soviet Jewry movement created to champion their cause. A local branch of this movement, «Ƶ Action for Soviet Jewry (BASJ), assisted refuseniks resettling in «Ƶ, Coloradobetween 1987 and 1997. The «Ƶ Action for Soviet Jewry Oral HistoryProject produceda comprehensive body of oral histories about the work of «Ƶ Action for Soviet Jewryby recording interviews with a cross-section of BASJ organizers, board leaders, volunteer host families, ESL tutors, and medical professionals.
Members of BASJ identified who should be interviewed, contacted each potential narrator so the oral historians had immediate credibility, and helped guide the development of interview topics with the advantage of insider knowledge. The, a program of the «Ƶ Public Library’s Carnegie Branch Library for Local History, brought 35 years of experience in the field of oral history and contributed a wealth of knowledge about oral history practice as well as the ability to archive and disseminate the oral histories through its existing online digital archive and social media vehicles such as a blog, Facebook, Tumblr, Vimeo, podcasts, and a YouTube channel.The Program in Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado offered an honors seminar as well as internships around theproject, allowing students to obtain a rich academic background in the subject as well as training as oral history interviewers.
The «Ƶ Action for Soviet Jewry Oral History Project produceda comprehensive body of oral histories about the work of BASJ by recording interviews with a cross-section of BASJ organizers, board leaders, volunteer host families, ESL tutors, and medical professionals, in addition to a former refusenik whose family plight helped to inspire creation of BASJ and multiple generations of new Americans from the former Soviet Union who benefited from and/or received services from BASJ when resettling in «Ƶ, Colorado, between 1987 and 1997. This body of oral histories constitutesa comprehensive historical resource for research and understanding of the significance of this human rights and refugee resettlement organization.
Theseoral histories are available through the at the Carnegie Branch for Local History of the «Ƶ Public Library. Together, these collectionsserve as primary sources of BASJ's work and constitute a comprehensive historical resource for research and understanding this «Ƶ human rights and refugee resettlement organization.
The BASJ Records contain administrative, research, and case files from the BASJ and The Center for Human Rights Advocacy. Many of the files are confidential and will require written authorization to access these materials. The collection also includes copies of the BASJ Oral History Project interviews from the Maria Rogers Oral History Program.
Gift of Brandon Springer, the Maria Rogers Oral History Project, the Carnegie Branch of the «Ƶ Library, and CU «Ƶ's Program in Jewish Studies in January, 2011. Additional accrual gift of the William M. Cohen of the «Ƶ Action for Soviet Jewry agency and The Center for Human Rights Advocacy in March, 2011.