Dear friends, website visitors!
We offer you a chronology of events, directly or indirectly related to the Jewish movement in the USSR in the period from 1948 to the end of 1980th. The chronology presented in our website, is part of the chronology of events compiled by Yuli Kosharovsky and Enid Wurtman and published in the third volume of the book by Yuli Kosharovsky "Once again we are Jews.Essays on the History of the Zionist movement in the Soviet Union. " The first volume of this book was published in Jerusalem in 2007, the second - in 2008 and the third - in 2009, now Yuli Kosharovsky continues to work on the fourth (and last) volume of his fundamental work that can rightly be called the first comprehensive book describing the history of the Zionist movement in the Soviet Union in the second half of the 20th century. Three chapters of this book were posted to our website in the "From the history of the Jewish movement" section.
The fundamental character of the book led lighting history of Zionism in general, as well as the general historical background on which it has being developed. Therefore, the chronology compiled by Yuli Kosharovsky and Enid Wurtman covers the period beginning in the late 19th century and ending in the late 20th century, and includes events which had no direct relationship to the Jewish movement, but, nevertheless, influenced it to some extent. Given that our site is devoted to the period from 1948 to late 1980th, we, with the permission of the authors of the chronology, put here its relevant part. It should also be borne in mind that part of the history after 1980th is currently being processed and not yet ready for publication, so it will be added later.
For technical reasons related to the structure of the site, the chronology provided here is divided into a number of separate parts. Following the chronology is a list of sources that were used in its preparation. References to them are placed in brackets after the summary of relevant events.
Webmaster and the site editor Edward Markov
1948-1971
Date | Event |
01-10-1948 | "Pravda" sharply condemns and critcizes Zionism. |
16-10-1948 | Israeli Ambassador Golda Meir's visit to Moscow synagogue on the Jewish New Year inspires huge crowds (8, p. 4). |
20-11-1948 | Closure of the Jewish Antifascist Committee newspaper Eynikayt (4). |
20-11-1948 | The closure of the Jewish Antifascist Committee by decision of the Bureau of the Council of Ministers. |
10-12-1948 | Adoption of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (8, p. 5). |
25-12-1948 | Arrest of poet Itsik Fefer a member of the Jewish Antifascist Committee (17, p. 8). |
23-01-1949 | Arrest of David Bergelson, Lev Kvitko, Moisey Belensky (9, p.501). |
27-01-1949 | Arrest of Peretz Markish (9, p.501). |
28-01-1949 | Article in Pravda, "An Anti-patriotic Group of Theater Critics" - the beginning of the campaign against cosmopolitanism. |
29-01-1949 | Article in the Literary Gazette - "From the Alien Positions"- the campaign against cosmopolitanism. |
03-05-1950 | Arrest of Vitaly Svechinsky, Roman Brahman and Michael Margulis. Sentence - ten year in labor camp. |
12-08-1952 | "Night of the murdered poets" - execution by shooting of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee members, S.A. Lozovsky, I.S. Feffer, I.S. Yuzefovich, B.A. Shimeliovich, L.M. Kvitko, P.D. Markish, D.R. Bergelson, D.N. Hofshtein, V.L. Zuskin, L.Y. Talmy, I.S. Vatenberg, E.I. Teuman, Ch.S. Vatenberg-Ostrovsky. S.L. Bergman died in prison. |
13-01-1953 | Article in Pravda "Dastardly Spies and Assassins in the Guise of Professors and Doctors"- the beginning of the campaign against the "Doctors plot"(3). |
09-02-1953 | Bomb attack on the Soviet Embassy in Tel Aviv (22, Yaakov Herut, operation participant). |
13-02-1953 | Soviet Union breaks diplomatic relations with Israel due to terrorist attacks on the Soviet Embassy in Tel Aviv. |
05-03-1953 | Stalin's death. Georgy Malenkov headed the Government. |
26-06-1953 | Lavrenty Beria's arrest by the military, headed by Marshal Zhukov. |
00-12-1953 | Ben-Gurion resigned as Prime Minister of the Israeli government. Moshe Sharett becomes Prime Minister. |
23-12-1953 | Execution by shooting of Lavrenty Beria. |
00-08-1955 | Expulsion from the USSR of the "Liaison Office" employees Levanon, Sela and Kegety (46). |
00-11-1955 | After the third elections to the Knesset, Ben-Gurion once again becomes Prime Minister. |
25-02-1956 | Closed speech by Nikita Khrushchev at the Twentieth Party Congress on the personality cult of Stalin (3). |
29-10-1956 | Sinai Campaign of Israel, Britain and France 29.10-4.11 (3, 4). |
04-11-1956 | Soviet troops entry into Hungary to crush the Hungarian uprising (3). |
28-07-1957 | Sixth International Youth Festival in Moscow from July 28 to August 11. |
25-04-1958 | Arrest in Moscow of Dora, Shimon and Boris Podolsky; Tina Brodetsky and Evsei Drobovsky. |
12-12-1958 | Arrest in Moscow of Anatoly Belfer and David Khavkin (22, Khavkin). |
15-09-1960 | First international conference on Soviet Jewry in Paris (13, 12). |
00-07-1961 | Campaign against economic crimes begins, continued until March 1963 (13, 16). |
19-09-1961 | The poem by Yevgeny Yevtushenko "Babi Yar" published in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the mass execution of Jews in Kiev (18, p.180). |
00-08-1962 | Cuban missile crisis after the installation of Soviet missiles in Cuba. |
00-00-1963 | A book, "Judaism Without Embellishment," by Trofim Kichko is published in USSR. (9, p. 618-619). |
00-00-1963 | Elie Wiesel's book, Jews of Silence is published in the U.S. |
00-06-1963 | Ben-Gurion resigned from his post as head of the government due to disagreements with the leadership of his party (Mapai). Levi Eshkol becomes Prime Minister of Israel. |
12-10-1963 | In Cleveland, Ohio, USA, the "Cleveland Committee on Soviet Anti-Semitism" is created under the leadership of Louis Rosenblum, the future first president of the All-American organization, the Union of Councils for Soviet Jewry"(7, p. 4). |
21-10-1963 | Conference in New York on the topic: "The Status of Soviet Jews." Organizer - Moshe Dektor (13, p.18). |
00-01-1964 | All Canadian Rabbinic Conference in Ottawa, Canada, on " Jews in the Soviet Union" (13, p.18). |
00-04-1964 | Symposium in Washington on "The Current Conditions of Soviet Jews" (7, P.34). April 5th and 6th 1964 |
04-04-1964 | American Jewish Conference for Soviet Jewry established in Washington (7, p. 34). |
29-04-1964 | Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry created IN USA (19, p. 156-161, site Jewish movements). |
00-11-1964 | Removal of Nikita Khrushchev from power. Leonid Brezhnev becomes ruler of the USSR . |
00-12-1964 | Canadian branch of "Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry" established by Irwin Cotler (13, p.20). |
19-01-1965 | Start of the full-scale U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. |
08-09-1965 | Arrest of Andrei Sinyavsky. |
12-09-1965 | Arrest of Yuly Daniel. The human rights movement comes to the surface. |
05-12-1965 | First demonstration of defenders of human rights with the posters at Pushkin Square on Soviet Constitution Day. |
00-00-1966 | Israeli singer Geula Gil tours the USSR. |
10-02-1966 | Verdict in the case of Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuly Daniel - seven and five years imprisonment, respectively. |
00-04-1966 | Leadership Conference on "Jews in Russia" organized by the the Canadian Jewish Congress" under the chairmanship of Michael Garber (13. Pp. 21-22). |
05-11-1966 | Creation of the Leningrad organization (22, Hillel Butman). |
03-12-1966 | Press conference of Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin in Paris, where many questions posed on the topic of emigration. Responses of the premier propose the possibility of family reunification (13, p.24). |
16-12-1966 | Adoption of the UN General Assembly (resolution 2200 A) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Covenant is open for signatures by UN member states. |
00-06-1967 | Appeal of Boris Kochubievsky to Brezhnev with request to leave the USSR(13, p.26). |
05-06-1967 | Six-Day War commences and continues until June 10, 1967. |
10-06-1967 | USSR breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel after the Six Day War. |
13-06-1967 | Yaakov Kedmi submits a written appeal to the Supreme Soviet renouncing Soviet citizenship (22, Yaakov Kedmi). |
05-11-1967 | Demonstration of the Canadian branch of Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry at the Soviet Embassy (13, 27). |
30-04-1968 | "Chronicle of Current Events", first edition, is published by samizdat. |
10-06-1968 | Appeal of Gromyko and Andropov to the Politburo with a proposal to resume limited emigration (1, p. 62). |
21-08-1968 | The Soviet invasion into Czechoslovakia, suppression of the "Prague Spring". |
25-08-1968 | Demonstration of human rights defenders at Red Square against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. |
00-11-1968 | Election of Richard Nixon as the new U.S. President. |
00-12-1968 | Arrest of Boris Kochubievsky in Kiev. |
19-12-1968 | Yaakov Kedmi's letter renouncing Soviet citizenship is published in the Washington Post. |
00-01-1969 | Lea and Boris Slovin, Dov Shperling emigrated from Riga to Israel. |
19-01-1969 | Yaakov Kedmi emigrated from Moscow to Israel. |
26-02-1969 | After Levi Eshkol's death, Golda Meir becomes Prime Minister of Israel . |
00-05-1969 | An armed confrontation between China and the USSR on Damansky Island. |
13-05-1969 | Boris Kochubievsky trial, May 13-16 in Kiev. Charged under Art. 187-1 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian Republic (similar to 190-1 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR) - slander with no intention of undermining the regime (16, p. 44-49). Sentence - 3 years imprisonment. |
06-08-1969 | Letter of 18 Georgian Jews to Israel and to the United Nations (8, p.17). |
19-08-1969 | Meeting of Shperling, Slovins and Kedmi with Shaul Avigur (13, p.29). |
00-10-1969 | The first public demonstration of students at Haifa Technion for Soviet Jewry involving Kedmi and Shperling (13, p.29-30). |
19-10-1969 | Meeting of Shperling, Slovins and Kedmi with Prime Minister Golda Meir (13, p.29). |
27-10-1969 | Meeting of Israeli students under the direction of Yona Yahav with Prime Minister Golda Meir and Ambassador Simcha Dinitz, the beginning of the open campaign for Soviet Jewry in Israel (13, p.30). |
10-11-1969 | Golda Meir reads on Israeli radio the appeal of eighteen Jewish families from Georgia (13, 31). |
02-12-1969 | Arrest of Lily Ontman in the Chernovtsi region for alleged "slander" expressed in five letters to the Soviet authorities (20, v.2). |
24-12-1969 | Arrest of Natalia Gorbanevsky , the founder of the "Chronicle of Current Events." |
29-01-1970 | Arrest of Yakov Suslensky in Bendery for letters to Soviet and foreign authorities (22). |
00-02-1970 | Trial of Lily Ontman in Chernovtsi Oblast court. Sentence - two years and six months imprisonment (20, v.2). |
09-02-1970 | Trial of the six students in Ryazan, 9-19 February (17, 21, p. 292-294). |
12-02-1970 | Arrest of Joseph Meshiner in Bendery (22). |
00-03-1970 | Yaakov Kedmi's 9 day hunger strike near the UN building protesting denial of exit visas for his parents from the USSR. (13, p.31-32). |
04-03-1970 | Press-conference of the "state" Jews against Jewish emigration (Dragusky, Bystritskaya, Raikin, Minkin, etc.). |
08-03-1970 | Letter of protest "of 39" in connection with the press-conference of the "state" Jews (22, Svechinsky). |
06-04-1970 | The Union of Councils for Soviet Jewry" is created, an all-American independent organization |
13-04-1970 | Masha and Vladimir Slepak filed an application for exit visas to Israel(22). |
05-05-1970 | Yona Kochinsky from Kharkov sent a formal request for waiver of his Soviet citizenship (2). |
15-06-1970 | An article in Pravda about the arrest of the aircraft hijachers. |
15-06-1970 | The arrest of the attempted 16 plane hijackers. |
27-07-1970 | The delegation of the National Council of Christian Churches in the USA and the American Jewish Committee did not receive permission to visit the Soviet Union, DM (11, p. 103). |
04-08-1970 | Boris Maftser and Aaron Shpielberg arrested in Riga, (22). |
20-09-1970 | World Solidarity Day with the Jews of the Soviet Union. Demonstrations supporting Soviet Jewry took place in London, New York, Paris, Toronto and other cities around the world. |
07-10-1970 | The arrest of Ruth Alexandrovich in Riga (2). |
14-10-1970 | Search of Raiza Palatnik's apartment (2). |
14-10-1970 | Arrest of Igor Borisov on charges of "hooliganism." |
15-10-1970 | Arrest of Mikhail Shepshelovich in Riga. |
17-10-1970 | Arrest of Yona Kochinsky on charges of disorderly conduct. Held for 20 days in a damp cell without trial (2). |
00-11-1970 | The Committee on Human Rights in the USSR, headed by Andrei Sakharov, Andrei Tverdokhlebov and Valery Chalidze, is established. |
20-11-1970 | Search of Raiza Palatnik's parents' apartment. |
29-11-1970 | About 70 Jews and three times as many KGB and police gathered at Rumbuli (2) |
01-12-1970 | Arrest of of Raiza Palatnik in Odessa; intensive search in her apartment (2). |
15-12-1970 | First Leningrad trials, 15th-24th of December (18, p.354-355). |
23-12-1970 | The trial of Igor Borisov in the village Toksovo in the Leningrad region on December 23-24. Sentence - 3 years for "hooliganism" (20). |
24-12-1970 | Canadian branch of Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry protest for seven days in front of the Soviet Mission against the cruel sentences meted out at the Leningrad trials . (13, P.34). |
26-12-1970 | Ten Sverdlovsk activists write a letter protesting against the cruel sentences meted out at the first Leningrad trials (author's archive). |
30-12-1970 | Massive protest in Paris with Jean-Paul Sartre's participation against harsh sentences in Leningrad (13, p. 36). |
30-12-1970 | Generalissimo Franco abolished the death penalty of Basque terrorists responsible for the deaths of several Spanish policemen (22). |
31-12-1970 | Cancellation of the death penalties at the First Leningrad process (13, p. 35). |
00-00-1971 | "Canadian Committee for Soviet Jewry " is founded (13). 1972 |
00-01-1971 | 18 Georgian families, who signed the first open collective letter to the UN and Israel, granted exit visas to Israel (2). |
00-01-1971 | The National Conference on Soviet Jewry is founded (7, p. 4). |
00-01-1971 | More than 200 Jews from Riga appealed to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with the request for exit permits to Israel. |
13-01-1971 | Vitaly Svechinsky receives permission to leave for Israel(22). |
15-01-1971 | The newspapers "L'Humanite" and "Unita" reported that there will no longer be anti-Zionist processes in the USSR (18, p.362). |
19-01-1971 | The first KGB interrogations of the aliya activists in the city of Sverdlovsk. |
23-01-1971 | An article by the Soviet news agency APN observer S. Beglov "Fuhrers and Stormtroopers of Neoracism" is published in The New York Times. |
30-01-1971 | Pinchas Dubrov, author of the song "Let my people go", is beaten in a street of Moscow, and hospitalized unconscious (2). |
00-02-1971 | Lazar Lubarsky (Rostov) is given a warning by the KGB to cease activity, otherwise threatened with arrest (2). |
02-02-1971 | Vitaly Svechinsky arrives in Israel (22). |
09-02-1971 | Press-conference of the Soviet "state" Jews" in Brussels against the organizers of the World Conference on Soviet Jewry. Participated Zivs, Dragoonsky, Peller, Vidyasova and others (11). |
10-02-1971 | Grigori Feiglin received permission to emigrate from Riga to Israel, arrived on February 11th. |
19-02-1971 | Anti-Zionist press-conference of the "state" Jews in Brussels. |
21-02-1971 | The newspaper of the Sverdlovsk Regional Party Committee "Ural worker" published an article "Where is the ancestral land", directed against the Sverdlovsk activists Valery Kukui and Yuli Kosharovsky (aa). |
22-02-1971 | Meetings of condemnation of Jewish activists began in Sverdlovsk, based on the article in the "Ural worker". |
23-02-1971 | "The First World Conference on Soviet Jewry" is held 23-25 February in Brussels. (13, p. 37). |
24-02-1971 | Presidium of the Conference in Brussels decided to reject Rabbi Kahana's right to participate in the conference (13, p. 38). |
24-02-1971 | Vladimir Slepak quoted at the Conference in Brussels that a group of 30 Jews arrived that day to the CPSU Central Committee and submitted an appeal to the Congress of the Communist Party demanding free emigration. |
28-02-1971 | The first public sit-down demonstration of 30 Jews in the Supreme Soviet. Protest against the refusal and persecution. Participated Gelfond, Slepak, Polsky, Orlov, Rosenblum and others (17). |
00-03-1971 | University of Toronto students in Canada, arrange telephone contact with refuseniks with help of Russian speaking Genya Intrator (13, p. 39). |
00-03-1971 | The trial of Haim Rennert in Chernovtsi for "attempting to bribe" workers of OVIR. |
01-03-1971 | Press-conference of the "state" Jews in Brussels after the "First World Conference on Soviet Jewry." Participated Zivs, Dragoonsky, Vidyasova and others (11). |
01-03-1971 | The second anti-Zionist press-conference of the "state" Jews in Brussels. |
02-03-1971 | Assambly condemning Valery Kukui at his job adopted a resolution calling for bringing him to trial (aa). |
10-03-1971 | Kosharovsky, Kukui, Aks, Rabinovich, Voytovetsky and others (ten families) applied for exit visas to Israel in Sverdlovsk (aa). |
10-03-1971 | 146 Jews from eight cities of the USSR, 57 of them are from Latvia, began a hunger-strike at the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR against the "forcible confinement of Jews in the USSR." Later they were joined by 69 Jews from Lithuania and 20 Jews from Moscow (35). |
11-03-1971 | In continuation of the hunger-strike protest Jews staged a demonstration at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and were received by the Minister of Internal Affairs Nikolay Shchelokov (35). |
17-03-1971 | Demonstration of 80 Jews in Moscow in the waiting room of the CPSU Central Committee, demanding freedom of exit from the USSR and more transparent procedures for consideration of appeals. |
17-03-1971 | The first administrative arest of Yuli Kosharovsky in Sverdlovsk. Sentenced to 15 days and then another 12 days for a hunger-strike in the chamber(aa). |
20-03-1971 | Arrest of Valery Kukui in Sverdlovsk. Charged under Article 190-1 (aa). |
23-03-1971 | Expulsion of Yuli Kosharovsky from the postgraduate courses and dismissal from job (aa). |
30-03-1971 | XXIV Congress of the CPSU from 30 March to 9 April (3). |
00-05-1971 | In response to the arrest of Raise Palatnik in Odessa the Women's Campaign for Soviet Jewry "the 35's" is founded in England. |
00-05-1971 | The "Women's Committee for Soviet Jewry"is founded at the largest international women's organization "Hadassah". |
11-05-1971 | The second process in Leningrad, 9 defendants. Held 11-20 May (18, p. 363-364). |
11-05-1971 | Protest rally in Ottawa, Canada, against the cruel sentences in Leningrad, with participation of a member of the Canadian government external affairs Minister Mitchell Sharpe (13). |
12-05-1971 | An article "In the Leningrad City Court" in the newspaper "Leningradskaya Pravda " against the defendants in the Second Leningrad trial, reprinted the next day by "Izvestia" and "Soviet Russia". |
16-05-1971 | Visit of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in Moscow 16-21 May (1913, p. 39-41). |
24-05-1971 | Process in Riga, 4 defendants. Held May 24-27 at the club "Ziemeļblāzma" in the distant suburb of Riga (18, p. 367). |
28-05-1971 | An article "Open trial in Riga" in "Komsomolskaya Pravda", reprinted on the following day in the newspaper "Izvestia". |
14-06-1971 | Hunger-strike of Jews from Baltic Republics in the Central Telegraph 14-24 June. |
15-06-1971 | Trial of Valery Kukui in the building of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court on June 15-16. Sentence - three years imprisonment (aa, 9, p. 692). |
21-06-1971 | Trials in Kishinev, 9 defendants. Held 21-30 June (18, p.367). |
22-06-1971 | The trial of Raise Palatnik, Odessa. Sentence - 2 years imprisonment (17) |
22-06-1971 | 32 Jews from Riga, Vilnius and Kaunas held a hunger-strike at the Central Telegraph Office in Moscow (2). |
23-06-1971 | 50 Jews in Riga held a hunger-strike at the Central Telegraph Office in Riga (2). |
24-06-1971 | 45 Jews in Vilnius held a hunger-strike at the Central Telegraph Office in Vilnius (2). |
00-07-1971 | Letter from Sverdlovsk activists to Podgorny and the Supreme Court of the RSFSR in defense of Kukui (aa). |
12-07-1971 | Hunger-strike Jews of Georgia in the Central Telegraph Office July 12-15. |
16-07-1971 | Sakharov's letter to the Supreme Soviet in defense of Kukui (20). |
18-07-1971 | Letter from Sverdlovsk activists to the newspaper "Izvestia" on wrongdoing in the case of Kukui (20). |
20-07-1971 | The Court of Cassation on the Second Leningrad process. The sentence remains unchanged (20). |
00-08-1971 | Demonstration of 12 women in the Aeroflot representative office in Montreal (13, p. 40). |
10-08-1971 | Arrest of Doctor Boris Azernikov (Yankelzon) in Leningrad (2). |
00-09-1971 | Announcement of the upcoming visit of Kosygin in Canada (13, p. 40). |
04-09-1971 | The first annual meeting of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jewry in Philadelphia (September 4-6). |
19-09-1971 | Trial in Samarkand of Amelia Trachtenberg, aspired to go to Israel. Sentence - three years imprisonment (2). |
20-09-1971 | Group visit of activists to the CPSU Central Committee, reception by the head of the department of administrative departments Albert Ivanov. |
06-10-1971 | Trial of Boris Azernikov (Yankelzon), 6-7 October, in the premises of the Leningrad City Court. Sentence - 3.5 years of imprisonment in the colony (2). |
07-10-1971 | Release of Ruth Alexandrovich from prison (2). |
18-10-1971 | Premier Kosygin's visit to Canada, 18-26 October (1913, p. 43). |
25-10-1971 | Demonstration of 6000 Canadian Jews for Soviet Jewry on the last day of Kosygin's visit (13, p. 45). |
00-12-1971 | Conference in Moscow on the topic "Racism - the ideology of imperialism, the enemy of social progress" (1, p. 128). |
16-12-1971 | Congressman Scheuer visits USSR. The first meeting of the American congressman with refuseniks at the apartment of Alexander Lerner (22). |
18-12-1971 | An article in "Pravda" by academician Mark Mitin "Zionism - a kind of chauvinism and racism". |
31-12-1971 | Aliya to Israel in 1971 - 13,711. First noshrim ( "drop-outs" - those who chose not to emigrate to Israel but to other countries. - Editor's note) - 58 people for the year. |
Employed abbreviations: a.a. - the archive of the author;
DM - date of a message (not of an event); t.m.- a telephone message from Moscow in real time.
Other sources of information are listed below. Their numbers are given in the chronology in parentheses.