Australia and the Struggle for Soviet Jewry: 1961-1972 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Jews from the Former Soviet Union in Australia: Assimilating or Maintaining Jewish Identities?
Journal of Jewish Identities, 2011
is one of the few diaspora communities growing in size. This growth, however, is due entirely to immigration rather than natural increase. Since the 1960s, there have been three main Jewish ethnic groups immigrating to Australia: South Africans, Russians, and Israelis. It is very difficult to estimate the exact number of Jews from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) who have migrated to Australia during this period. The 2001 census shows 6,404 Jews from the FSU, which constitutes 7.6% of the total Jewish population in Australia. However, the number sponsored by the Australian Jewish community is much greater. This article will outline the history of their migration, the challenges they faced settling into life in Australia, and the way they perceive their Jewish and Russian identity. It is based on a study commissioned in 2003 by the Jewish Agency in Israel. 1 Migration Patterns of Jews from the FSU There have been two distinct waves of immigration among Russian-speaking Jews. The first occurred between 1971 and 1980, when the Soviet government responded to the demands of world Jewry and protests from Soviet Jews themselves to permit family reunion in Israel. During this period, Soviet Jews received per-permit family reunion in Israel. During this period, Soviet Jews received permission to migrate to Israel only, but once they left the country, many opted to go to other Western countries and were called noshrim. Migration reached its peak in 1979. During this period, Jews from the FSU coming to Australia were classified under the government's humanitarian migration program. Emigration from the Soviet Union plummeted after 1980, when, despite ongoing campaigns by world Jewry, almost no Jews were granted permission to leave. One interesting case study is that of Dr. Arkady Lipkin, a physicist who was forced to work as a common laborer after he applied to emigrate. In the 1980s, young Jewish students in Melbourne were encouraged to write to
'The Russians are Coming': migration and settlement of Soviet Jews in Australia
‘The Russians Are Coming’: migration and settlement of Soviet Jews in Australia. The exit out of the former Soviet Union that began in the 1970s and reached its peak in the 1990s, following the dissolution of the USSR, led to the subsequent worldwide resettlement over four decades of almost two million Soviet Jews.. A large majority of these Jewish emigrants relocated to Israel and the US, while others found new homes in other western countries, including, it is suggested, probably around 12,000 in Australia. Indeed throughout the period, Soviet Jews represented one of the three major sources (alongside South Africa and Israel) of new Jewish immigration to Australia. However, for many of these former Soviet citizens, the resettlement process, particularly their reception and integration into their new ‘communities’ did not always go as the Jewish leaders and activists who had helped facilitate their exit from the USSR had envisaged. In this paper I first present an overview of the broader historical contexts of both Jewish life under the Soviets and the process of emigration since the 1970s . I then explore the broader demographic characteristics of those former Soviet citizens who chose to settle in Australia as well as some of their post-immigration adaptation issues. I conclude by identifying a few of the more significant sociological, psychological, cultural and political factors that together may have contributed to the observable tendency for many Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union and their families to still both be perceived as, and to see themselves as “Russians”; a social identity that remains separate and distinct from other Australian-born and other immigrant Jews, who together constitute ‘mainstream’ urban Jewish community life in contemporary Australia.
Resettling the Survivors of the Holocaust in Australia
Holocaust studies, 2010
In 1945, the majority of the surviving remnant of European Jewry wished to leave the European continent. For some, distant Australia seemed a hopeful refuge. In the period from 1945 to 1961 around 25,000 Jewish Displaced Persons migrated there, reinforcing a community that only numbered 23,000 in 1933. Despite this significant intake, Jews continued to constitute only 0.5 per cent of the overall population. As a result of anti-refugee hysteria against Jewish migrants, the Australian governments, both Labor and Liberal, insisted that the reception and integration of the refugees was the responsibility of the Jewish community. This period marked the beginning of a partnership between Australian and American Jewry in this enormous resettlement task. Without this support, there would be fewer Jewish Holocaust survivors in Australia.
Conflicting visions: debates relating to Soviet Jewish emigration in the global arena
Routledge eBooks, 2020
In 1966, Soviet leader Alexei Kosygin stated that Soviet citizens had the right to emigrate for family reunification. This sparked the campaign for Soviet Jewish emigration movement, which adopted the slogan "Let My People Go." Yet, despite the biblical symbolism, there was a significant controversy about their final destination, with those opting for the West known as "drop-outs" (noshrim). There were intense debates between those Jewish Diaspora leaders, particularly in the United States, who stressed the democratic right of "freedom of choice," and the Israeli leadership. When the Soviets drastically reduced emigration in the 1980s, the drop-out phenomenon (neshira) was blamed. In 1983 Morris B. Abram became chairman of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry and reversed the accepted American Jewish approach. He developed a close friendship with Australian Jewish leader, Isi Leibler. Both men believed Soviet Jews should migrate to Israel. In the late 1980s, the United States ended the refugee status of Soviet Jews, reducing its financial support. As a result, one million Russians migrated to Israel in the 1990s. This article focuses on this global debate over neshira and illustrates the importance of cooperation between American and non-American actors in global Jewish politics.
Australian Historical Studies, 2019
This article assesses the role of anti-Communism in Australia's postwar immigration policy in the years before the Petrov affair, with particular reference to the entry of Russians and Russian-speaking Jews from Europe and China. Our discussion focuses on the Department of Immigration under Arthur Calwell and his successor, Harold Holt, and the security agency, ASIO. We conclude that policy in this sphere was essentially bipartisan, and that anti-Communism was an important but not overwhelming motivation, stronger than the desire to prevent entry of Nazis and war criminals but probably less salient in practice than concern to minimise the entry of Jews.
Adaptation of Jewish migrants from the former Soviet Union in Melbourne, 1975-1999
PhD thesis, 2019
This study examines the socioeconomic and cultural adaptation of the estimated 7,000 Jews and their relatives from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) who settled in Melbourne, Australia, between 1975 and 1999. They mainly migrated to Australia under specially devised humanitarian visas. Soviet Jews had been subject to discrimination. The Soviet state undermined Jewish identity, transforming it from its traditional multidimensionality that encompassed religion and culture into a distinctive, mainly unidimensional, secular ethnic identity. This research aims to understand the ways that Jews from the FSU settled in the thriving and prosperous Jewish communities of Melbourne with their distinctive identity. The study is socio-historical and employs a triangulation methodology. Sources utilised include the Australian Census and other statistical sources, the Gen17 Australian Jewish community survey with 8,621 participants and six international Jewish surveys, records in four archival holdings of government and communal organisations, 14 life story interviews, three-year participant observation, and local and international newspaper articles. Age at migration was an important factor that contributed to the extent to which Jews from the FSU were able to attain labour market success. Those who migrated to Melbourne after having completed their tertiary education in the FSU were less able to achieve socioeconomic success relative to the Australian-born population. On the other hand, those from the FSU who migrated under 25 years of age experienced considerable socioeconomic upward mobility. Younger migrants were able to achieve a socioeconomic status similar to local Jews in Melbourne, and one considerably higher than the Australian-born population. The cultural adaptation of Jews from the FSU indicates that the identity of many was affected by the local Melbourne context, but that their distinct Soviet secular upbringing remained the primary influence. I argue that in order to compare ‘like with like’, Jews from the FSU—of whom about nine in ten self-identify as non-religious or traditional—should be compared to the non-religious and traditional cohorts in the Melbourne Jewish community. Comparing like with like indicates an increase in their observance of Jewish traditions, although they remain far less observant than local Jews. Their ethnic identity is relatively strong, similar to Australian-born Jews. They indicate, however, a weak feeling of connection to and participation in Jewish communal life. It remains to be seen whether they will transmit their relatively ‘thin’ Jewish culture to their children.
Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal, 2023
During and following the 1967 Six Day War, many groups within the international Left abruptly shifted their position on the Middle East conflict from either pro-Israel or relatively neutral perspectives to overtly pro-Arab alignments. Yet, progressives remained substantively divided, particularly between those who endorsed the Palestinian demand to liquidate the State of Israel, and others who still supported the right of Israel to retain national sovereignty. Similar divisions existed within Jewish Left groups globally. This paper examines the struggle by key figures within the Australian Jewish Leftparticularly Norman Rothfield and Henry Zimmerman-to resist the extreme anti-Israel agenda. Attention is drawn to their key arguments and strategies, and also to alternative perspectives presented by other local Jewish Left figures.
Australian reactions to German persecution of the Jews and refugee immigration, 1933-1947
1972
one Je'.vish grandparent were defined as 'non-Aryan' 8 The great 1najority of non-Aryan civil servants, university and school teachers, doctors, lawyers, journalists and 1nusicians were dismissed from employment. 'fhe livelihood of about 25,000 Jews, together with 23,000 dependents, was affected.9 At this stage, the Government took no legislative action against the country's 200,000 Jews who were engaged in commerce and industry because it feared that Germany's unstable economy would be completely disrupted. Any major interference with Jewish business was prohibited until the end of 1934. On 25 April, the law against the 'overcrowding of German schools and universities' limited the percentage of non-Aryans in educational institutions to their percentage of the total population. The Nazis made little effort to hide their antisemitic violence and legislation. International attention was focussed on the new Nazi regime and foreign press correspondents in Germany kept the world wellinformed of the latest developments. In Australia, both the press ana public condemned the Nazi antisemitic campaign. Press commentators referred to other instances of persecution in the history of mankind and drew parallels-•-•-between the present situation and Nero's treatment of the Christians, the activities of the Arabs at Alexandria and the antis~mitic terrorism of the Middle Ages. 10 For more 8. This definition became known as the 'Aryan paragraph' which is quoted in full in The Yellow Spot, London, 1936, p. 130.