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When They Come For Us, We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle To Save Soviet Jewry (2010)

by Gal Beckerman(Favorite Author)

4.25 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0618573097 (ISBN13: 9780618573097)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

review 1: Piecing together three strands of narrative--the grassroots, secret organizations of Soviet Jews to preserve culture and emigrate in the face of Russian bureaucracy, the shifting US Cold War policies of detente and hostility and the Israeli attempts to react to and juggle both, the author gives valuable sidelights on the fracturing of the American Civil Rights partnership of Jews and African-Americans, the creation of Cold War Jewish Neo-Cons and the unsung but critical importance of small, portable Xerox machines to pre-internet insurgency.
review 2: This book is a comprehensive history of the struggle for freedom by Jews in the Soviet Union. Chapters alternate between personal stories of refuseniks, and the growing awareness of American Jews of the situation.... more The interplay of politics between the Soviet Union, the United States, and to a lesser extent Israel, was very interesting. Having taken courses in this subject area while in high school, and having participated in some of the demonstrations (I especially remember the huge demonstration in Washington DC in 1987), I found this book to be engrossing. Beckerman makes all the characters come to life. He imbues them with fascinating detail, and allows the reader to sympathize, without becoming overly sentimental. Beckerman describes the disagreements in philosophy between the various Soviet human rights activist groups, as well as the various groups of American activists, and the Israeli government. It is refreshing to me, also, to recall the strong sympathies of high-level American politicians, including Henry Jackson, George Schultz, and Ronald Reagan. less

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