64 Friday, March 30,1919 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Resettlement Service, Other Agencies Aid Soviet Immigrants new arrivals in their home caseworker takes them to if we can't find an apart- the bank and shows them Resettlement Service will ment for them in time, and how to cash it. The immig- we ask them to help us look rants also fill out applica- be busy this year. The service, a member for housing and provide a tions for Social Security agency of the Jewish Wel- security deposit. Even those cards. - Finally, the newcomers fare Federation supported who have only been here a by the Allied Jewish Cam- year or less can usually pro- are taken to their apart- ment and shown how all the paign - Israel Emergency vide a lot of help." Resettlement Service appliances work. Fund, has the overall re- They're also shown where sponsibility for settling gets only five days' notice immigrants to the Detroit of the new family's arri- to catch the bus to take them to the Jewish Com- val. area. "That's not much time to munity Center, where they This year, about 25,000 Soviet Jews are expected to get the apartment fur- 'are expected to start arrive in the U.S., more nished and stocked with English classes the very than double the number ab- food and to make all the ar- next day. The bus is pro- sorbed last year. The De- rangements for utilities and vided by the Center. Children also start troit Jewish community telephone," Ms. Karr said. will welcome 500 of these "And the immigrants have school immediately. If no credit ratings and we the family arrives in late immigrants. Once a family receives want to have the .bills from spring or summer, they its exit visa from the utilities and other services may sttend the Fresh Air USSR — frequently after in their names, even though Society's Camp years of waiting — it must the money comes from Re- Tamarack or a Jewish, leave within two to four settlement Service in the Community Center day weeks, said Alicia Karr, first months. Luckily, the camp program. "The camp is an excellent Resettlement Service's utility and phone com- casework supervisor. panies have been very way for them to become ac- culturated," Ms. Karr said. The Joint Distribution cooperative." Finding suitable housing "There are other Russian Committee helps the families leave the Soviet is a continuing problem, kids there and they can Union and travel to Vie- since the agency likes to learn English without the place the immigrant pressures of a school set- nna. In Vienna the immig- families in neighborhoods ting." "Teenagers have a lot of rants spend a short interval close to Jewish institutions and declare their intentions and services. A new Jewish social problems, as well as to go to Israel or to another Welfare Federation com- language problems," Ms. ' country. Those wanting to mittee, headed by Stanley Karr said. "In our schools, come to the U.S. are sent to L. Berger and Maurice S. kids have a lot more free- Rome, where they stay two Cohen, has been formed to dom than in Russian to three months. In Rome deal with the housing prob- schools. The immigrants are often overwhelmed by the -U.S. Immigration and lem. There is a dire need for this. On the other hand, Naturalization Service in- terviews the immigrants two-bedroom apartments in they want to - conform to and clears their travel to the Oak Park and Southfield their parents' expecta- tions." -4 U.S. HIAS (Hebrew Immig- which have a modest rental Along with the diffi- . rant Aid Society), which - rate and accept children. Relatives already liv- culty of learning a new .-.: helps the immigrants dur- ing their stay in Rome, also ing here or Russian- language and adjusting interviews them and de- speaking volunteers to a new way of life, the cides where in the U.S. they greet the new immigrants Russians often have a at the airport and bring problem with transporta- will go. The Allied Jewish Cam- them to Resettlement tion, Ms. Karr said. In- paign - Israel Emergency Service's Southfield deed, their lack of mobil- ity hampers their ability Fund supports the Joint office. There, a caseworker tells to socialize and learn Distribution Committee and HIAS, whose local arm them about. the agency, about the American lifes- about their new home and tyle. is Resettlement Service. "We get information community and about the "They feel somewhat so- about the families coming to English classes they will cially isolated because- it's Detroit while they're in attend. The immigrants are hard for them to get Rome," Ms. Karr said. "Al- given lists of emergency around," she said. "In the most all of the new arrivals telephone numbers in Rus- beginning they don't have have relatives here, and we sian and English. cars, and bus transportation The family receives a ask them to help us in the in the suburbs is not very resettlement process. check to cover immediate efficient. The Jewish Fam- They're asked to put up the expenses; then the ily Service provides volun- teer drivers to take them to job interviews and to medi- cal and dental appoint- ments at Shiffman Clinic and Sinai Hospital, but they can't just decide to go to a movie or lecture or similar activity like most people can because they lack transportation." - For the first months after arrival, the immigrants meet with their caseworker every other week. "We take them through an on-going acculturation program dis- cussing the American life- style — political system, Resettlement Service helps Jewish immigrants from religion, jobs, family mat- the Soviet Union adjust to life in Detroit. By BARBARA LEWIS Jewish Welfare Federation S ters and other issues," Ms. Karr said. "The Russians often find it hard to adjust to our life- style. The culture they came from is very passive, in the sense that jobs and apart- ments are assigned to people; they don't have to take the initiative," she said. "It's hard for them to understand the fluidity of jobs and upward mobil- ity, since in the USSR they stay in one job a lot longer than people gen- erally do here " she said. "They're reluctant to take a job that doesn't pay as well or isn't as prestigious as the one they had in Russia be- cause they're afraid they'll get stuck in it." About two to six weeks after their arrival here, Ms. Karr siad, many of the im- migrants experience feel- ings of depression. "It's really a delayed reac- tion to the stress of immi- gration," she said. "Until that point, they'd been deal- ing with survival problems — getting their visas, pack- ing their belongings, mak- ing the trip. Now, after they're somewhat stabilized, the emotional problems catch up. This is a difficult phase, and it usu.; ally lasts a few weeks. Often the end of this stressful period coincides with their job placement." Jewish Vocational Serv- ice starts trying to place the immigrants soon after their arrival, but most need at least a few months of English classes before they are able to start working. A city-wide employ- ment committee to help the new immigrants is being set up by Jewish Welfare Federation Vice President Irwin Green in conjunction with leader- ship of the Jewish Voca- tional Service. "When they get a job, they're just thrilled," Ms. Karr said. "But they're also frightened. Most of them haven't worked for a long time, since they usually lose their jobs as soon as they apply for an exit visa. The anxiety they feel about not having worked for so long compounds the anxiety most of us feel when we start a new job." As an immigrant group, the Soviet Jews do very well, Ms. Karr said. "Two or three years after they ar- rive, many are living the typical American middle- class life, with a house and a car. "Maybe it's a product of living in the Russian Com- munist culture, but they are incredibly resourceful," she said. "If there's a way of doing something, they'll find it. They're a strong people. They're survivors." * * * This year's Passover Seder will be a special one for the Trakhman and Imas families. They won't have to strain their imaginations to feel that they, person- - The Trakhman and Imas families, recent immig- rants from the Soviet Union, get together frequently. Shown are, from left, Zina and Idel Trakhman, Grig- ory and Leah Trakhman with aon Artur, Mikhail and Bella Imas with son Sasha. * * * ally, have been brought from bondage. The words, "last year we were slaves, now we are free" will have special mean- ing for them. Since their arrival here last May, the Trakhmans and Imases are at last able to openly celebrate their Jewish heritage without fear of reprisal. The families formerly lived-in Kishinev, capital of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and the site of two vicious anti-Jewish pogroms in 1903 and 1905. "In Russia my mother would make a Seder but it had to be a big secret," said Bella Imas. "Here- every- thing is free. You can be- lieve in God, you can go to the synagogue, you can do what you want. You an even buy matzot in the stores; in Russia we had to make our own." Bella, with her husband Mikhail and son Sasha, made the long trip from Kishinev with her parents, Idel and Zina Trakhman, and her brother Grigory Trakhman, his wife Leah and their son Artur. The families had to wait only four months for permission to leave the USSR. They had the further good fortune to be able to keep their jobs after they asked to leave. But their journey was far from easy. After a long train trip through Russia and Czechoslovakia, they had to wait several months in Rome while their entry to the U.S. was arranged. They arrived in Detroit knowing no one, and know- ing no English. "Our social worker from Resettlement Service met us at the airport and brought us right here," said Leah Trakhman in her modestly-furnished South- field apartment. "We were very sur- prised. You never see an apartment like this in Russia. _Everything -was as it is now: Resettlement Service gave us the furni- ture, food, and paid the rent until we could do it ourselves." "If they hadn't helped us, it would have been terrible for us," said Mikhail Imas, who lives next door to Grig- ory and Leah Trakhrhan. The elder Trakhmans live a short distance away. • Grigory and Mikhail, both university-trained engineers, had a hard time finding jobs. With the help • of the Jewish Vocatic, Ill Service, a member agency the Jewish Welfare Federa- tion, both secured positions as draftsmen. When they become more proficient in English and learn more about American technol- ogy, they hope to work as engineers again. Bella works as an ac- countant for a retail carpet store. Leah, who taught Russian language and lit- erature at a - teacher- training college, is still looking for a job. One of the first things they noticed when they ar- rived in Detroit was the number of synagogues. "We never saw so many synagogues in Russia," said Mikhail. "In Kishinev, a city of half a million, there was one synagogue, a very old building. Only old people would go there. The young people were afraid to go, because if anyone found out, they could lose their jobs." Jewish children in Russia are often unaware of their heritage because there are no Jewish schools and the parents are afraid to teach them, he said. "If the other children know they are Jewish it will be bad." The Imases had a Brit Mila for their son Sasha, now eight, "but it had to be a big secret," he .said. The Trakhmans waited until they reached the U.S. to cir- cumcise Artur, now three. "We didn't know any- thing about Jewish history or Jewish law," Mikhail said. "We only knew it was not good to be a Jew in Rus- sia. We couldn't hide it either, because our nation- ality is listed as Jewish on our documents." Jews are often dis- criminated against, he said. "You could apply for a job, and after t found out you we Jew, they would say, 1, yesterday I had a job for you; today I don't' " Sasha is now learning Hebrew, as well as English, at Hillel Day School. He, in turn, teaches his parents, aunt and uncle what he learns about Jewish history and customs. The Trakhmans and Im- ases are now waiting for additional family members to come from Russia. "One thing we learned here is that Jewish people help each other," Mikhail said. "We didn't expect such help." . .