From the History of the Jewish Movement

Review on a book by Michael Beizer and Ann Komaromi. "A Time to Sow: Refusenik Life in Leningrad, 1979-1989"

By Dr. Leon Gershovich

A book by Dr. Michael Beizer, Executive Director of the "Remember and Save" Association and Professor Ann Komaromi from the University of Toronto, was published in January 2025. It deals with the lives of Jewish refuseniks in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), the northern and unofficial capital of the USSR, during 1979-1989, the final decade of active struggle for the liberation and emigration of Soviet Jews.

During the period of détente between the United States and the USSR, from 1969 to 1979, Moscow sought to improve relations with Washington, in part by allowing Jews to emigrate to Israel. Over 200,000 Soviet Jews left the USSR, primarily for Israel but also for the United States. However, when détente gave way to renewed confrontation, Moscow rejected the applications of many Jews seeking to make aliyah. Those would-be emigrants whose applications were denied became known as "refuseniks." They often lost their jobs and access to higher education, finding themselves in a state of frustrating uncertainty. This book addresses that period.

Historians Michael Beizer (himself a former Zionist activist and refusenik in Leningrad) and Ann Komaromi describe how the refuseniks built a community based on mutual aid. The book offers a glimpse into unofficial Jewish life in Leningrad during the 1980s, shaped by the numerous and prolonged refusals by Soviet authorities to grant exit visas to Jews wishing to leave. It shows how the lives of refuseniks were characterized by an ongoing struggle for the right to emigrate, as well as by the establishment of an unofficial community. The book traces how the community provided mutual assistance in times of distress, including special aid to arrested activists and their families. The community also maintained contacts with Jews outside the USSR, whose help was vital in alleviating the plight of the refuseniks.

Most Leningrad Jews had grown up in the USSR and were quite assimilated, knowing very little about Jewish language and culture. Therefore, Jewish activists engaged in teaching Hebrew, leading a religious and cultural awakening, organizing joint celebrations of Jewish holidays, distributing self-published materials (samizdat), delivering popular lectures on Jewish history and culture, and pursuing Jewish studies. Trapped in a country they sought to escape, the activists created a renewed Jewish identity through underground seminars, Hebrew and Yiddish classes, and observance of Jewish holidays.

In the book, the authors demonstrate how all these activities took place privately, despite prohibition and persecution by Soviet authorities. The authors base their analysis on historical sources, rare archival materials, and documentation of personal experiences including interviews with activists, providing a rich and deep understanding of this unique period. Ultimately, "A Time to Sow" presents a critical and unapologetic perspective on a unique and nearly unknown chapter in the Jewish history of Leningrad, one of the most important cities in the USSR.

The book's great significance lies in bringing the struggle for the liberation and emigration of Soviet Jews onto the academic, cultural, and educational agenda in Israel and among Diaspora Jewry at a time when engagement with this important subject has diminished. This book is optimistic by nature, emphasizing human capability and a community's ability to face life's challenges when the goal is clear and there is strong will, and the determination and perseverance to achieve it. The book does this without compromising for a moment on factual historical truth, underscoring the need to build a living historical memory based on reliable historical research.