Were Jews Responsible For Bringing Down The USSR? | The Jewish Story | Unpacked

After centuries of fighting for survival, Jews in Western European countries were finally granted citizenship in the 19th century. However, Eastern European countries like Russia were still encouraging violent pogroms and antisemitism towards their Jewish populations. Following the brutal events of World War Two, Jews in the Soviet Union attempted to escape their dire situation by applying for immigration to Israel. Unfortunately, these attempts were blocked by leader of the , Joseph Stalin. Enraged by the many injustices they faced, Jewish activists like Anatoly Shcharansky (later, Natan Sharansky) fought to help free the Jews of the Soviet Union, and in turn propelled the movement that successfully dissolved the Soviet Union in 1991. Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:46 Antisemitic policies and pogroms in Russia 01:08 The 1917 Communist Revolution 01:44 Civil War and the Antisemitic White Party 02:10 Pro-Jewish Bolsheviks and Red Army 02:24 The Holocaust and Jewish desire to immigrate to Israel 02:39 Antisemitism of Stalin and refusal to allow emigration 03:14 Loss of Jewish identity 04:01 Russian opinions of the 1967 Six Day War 04:26 Renewed inspiration to make Aliyah 04:40 Refuseniks 05:03 Natan Sharansky 06:30 Avital Sharansky 07:09 Arrest and sentencing 07:52 Movement to free Sharansky 08:36 Sharansky’s release 08:46 Free Soviet Jewry movement 09:14 Unlimited Jewish emigration 09:25 The power of strong Jewish identity 10:09 Outro Subscribe and turn on your notifications so you don’t miss future uploads! Recommended video— Freeing Russian Jewry: The Refuseniks We have merch! – Let’s connect: Website — Instagram — Twitter — TikTok — @jewishunpacked Facebook — ----------- Co-Executive Producers: - Melinda Goldrich - Shmuel Katz Gold Level: - Goldrich Family Foundation ----------- Image and footage credits: Israel GPO-Nati Harnik Israel GPO-Moshe Milner Israel Simionsky, Dan Hadani Archive, Pritzker Family National Photography Collection at the National Library of Israel The Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society, Baylor University, Waco, Texas USHMM ----------- About The Jewish Story: Understand three thousand years of Jewish history in these short videos based on the book Letters to Auntie Fori: The 5,000-Year History of the Jewish People and Their Faith by the renowned historian Sir Martin Gilbert. Learn the Jewish story from the ancient Israelites of the Bible to Hellenization, the Jews of the Middle Ages to modern day, and more. About Unpacked: We provide nuanced insights by unpacking all things Jewish. People are complex and complicated — yet we’re constantly being pushed to oversimplify our world. At Unpacked we know that being complex makes us more interesting. Because of this, we break the world down with nuance and insight to drive your curiosity and challenge your thinking. #jewish #refuseniks #russia