CAMPAIGN FOR SOVIET JEWRY

This material is held atOxfordshire History Centre

  • Reference
    • GB 160 O26/17
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1972-1992

Scope and Content

Although it is not clear from the records that survive, it is thought by members of the present day Oxford Jewish Congregation that the Oxford Soviet Jewry Committee was the same organisation as the Oxford Interdenominational Action Committee for the Release of Soviet Jewry and also the Oxford Committee for Soviet Jews.

The Oxford Interdenominational Action Committee for the Release of Soviet Jewry was affiliated to the National Council for Soviet Jews, which was founded in 1973 in order to help Jews in the USSR who wanted to emigrate but were refused permission to do so.

The word 'Refusenik' is used frequently in the documents of this section. One definition is 'A Jewish person refused emigration: a citizen of the former Soviet Union, especially a Jewish person, who was not allowed by the government to emigrate'. Another definition is 'Someone who has applied to emigrate to Israel and has been refused permission'.