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Eastern Europe was virtually 
nonexistent in the decades 
that followed the 1940s.

VOIDING JUDAISM
In the U.S.S.R., there were no 
celebrations of High Holidays 
or Shabbat dinners. Matzah 
for Passover, if even con-
sidered, was brought home 
illegally by Jews in pillowcases 
and briefcases, quietly pur-
chased at underground syn-
agogues housed in the base-
ments of nondescript build-
ings. Yet, religious suppression 
was only a small fraction of 
the problems that Jews living 
behind the Iron Curtain faced 
on a day-to-day basis.
Soviet Jews generally weren’t 
able to pursue higher educa-
tion. They were denied the 
right to attend university, 
unless they could offer a hefty 
bribe, and faced decreased 
options in the workforce. In 
regions of the former Soviet 
Union where antisemitism was 
higher than others, it was not 
uncommon to see antisemitic 
posters around town.
Jewish children born after 
World War II were taught 
from an early age never to 
speak of their religion. There 
was a sense of shame attached 
to being Jewish, like a barrier 
that couldn’t be budged and 
negatively impacted every 
corner of life. In the U.S.S.R., 
Judaism wasn’t a religion, but 
a nationality. Having the mark 
of evrai, or Jew, on the fifth 
line of one’s passport meant 
that person would always be at 

a disadvantage.
Despite growing up with 
almost no understanding of 
Judaism and remaining silent 
about their religion, Soviet 
Jewish children were still 
bullied at school. They were 
called Jewish slurs by class-
mates, beaten up and even 
ostracized by teachers. These 
children would often stick 
together, uninvited to play 
with non-Jewish peers. Only 
their grandparents who grew 
up in pre-Holocaust years 
would teach them things like 
Yiddish lullabies.
For many decades, noth-
ing could be done about 
this widespread problem. 
Emigration was illegal in 
the U.S.S.R., as was Judaism. 
Millions of individuals 
couldn’t leave, but they also 
couldn’t be free in their own 
country. It was a paradox that 
was finally relieved following 
mounting international pres-
sure in the 1960s and 1970s 
to let the Jews of the Soviet 
Union go. It would become 
one of the greatest rescues of 
the 20th century.
Jews began to slowly trickle 
out of the U.S.S.R., claiming 
repatriation to their rightful 
homeland of Israel. While 
some Jews continued on to 
Israel, others would change 
course and go to America, 
Canada or Australia, three 
countries that would accept 
them in numbers. As the 
Soviet Union began to crum-
ble, the trickle turned into 
a stream, which eventually 

turned into a wave of 2 mil-
lion Jews leaving the Soviet 
Union forever.

VIA VIENNA-ROME
Most traveled through the 
Vienna-Rome pipeline, an 
escape route set up by inter-
national Jewish organizations. 
Upon leaving the Soviet 
Union, Jews would forfeit their 
passports, rendering them 
stateless. Waiting for approval 
for applications to emigrate 
took months, sometimes even 
years, and many Jews were 
denied. This particular group 
of people became known as 
refuseniks and were ostracized 
by society.
Yet, those who were 
approved were still consid-
ered traitors of the state. 
They would lose their jobs, 
friends and personal belong-
ings deemed property of the 
U.S.S.R., like military medals 
and artwork. Jews were only 
allowed to take a certain 
amount of cash, pushing peo-
ple to pack precious luggage 
space with knickknacks to 
later sell for money. Many 
also faced verbal abuse and a 
chaotic emigration system at 
Soviet Union borders.
Most had no guarantee of a 
future. They’d wait in Vienna 
and the greater Rome area for 
a second round of approval 
to come to the United States. 
Bloomfield Hills-based Jenny 
Feterovich, now 45, remem-
bers being a teenager in Italy 
with her family in 1989.
“It was adventurous, but 
at the same time I was very 
sad,” she recalls. “I left all my 
friends. I left the comfort of 
my life. We were living with 
my parents in one single room 
without knowing where we’re 
really going.”
It was common for families 
or even groups of families to 
share single rooms as they 
waited in Italy, facing high 
rent prices that were unafford-

Freedom,
Finally!

 IN THE SOVIET UNION, THERE WAS A
 SENSE OF SHAME ATTACHED TO BEING 
JEWISH ... IT NEGATIVELY IMPACTED

EVERY CORNER OF LIFE.

COURTESY OF JFS. 

Families welcome their Soviet 
relatives to Detroit in this 
historical photo from JFS.

