Preface

Summary

A work of this nature seems to require some methodological explanation since it has not been possible to adhere strictly to the rules of historical writing in its preparation. This is because the task of combining in a single volume the history of the struggle for Soviet Jewish aliya or emigration to Israel both inside and outside the Soviet Union presented a formidable challenge in terms of both content and methodology which dictated a priori some rather than unusual rules. For example, although I strove to maintain a balance between the struggle of the Soviet Jews themselves and the support they received from the outside world, the considerable documentation for the latter — which was largely a public struggle — and the very meager documented information available on the former, which was unorganized, uninstitutionalized and largely clandestine, resulted in my having to use material that is totally different in both genre and quantity.

The sparceness of reliable material on the activities of the Soviet Jews has necessitated the inclusion of numerous stories and incidents for which testimonies could be found. I am aware that, despite my best efforts, the ones I have included may not recount the exploits of all, perhaps not even some of the central, heroes of the struggle. I also realize that the written and oral personal reminiscences on which I have had to rely are not necessarily exact.