Soviet Jews

About the Project 

Soviet Jews After Stalin: Local Experiences and Foreign Interpretations

Researcher: Dr. Alex Valdman

The project aims to provide a synoptic, transnational view of the Soviet-Jewish experience – both as a lived reality and as a source of ideological, educational, and cultural reflection in Israel and the West – within the broader context of Cold War ideology and diplomacy from the 1960s to the early post-Soviet years. The core idea is to focus on several key aspects of the Soviet-Jewish experience, including antisemitism, education (as both practice and concept), and the dynamics of memory and nostalgia. The project will explore the roles these aspects played within the internal Soviet-Jewish context, as well as how they were understood, interpreted, and utilized outside the Soviet Union.

This approach will not only lay the groundwork for a more nuanced understanding of Soviet Jewish history – often oversimplified through dichotomous terms such as “oppression” vs. “revival” – but also foster a critical rethinking of the role the Soviet-Jewish cause played in transnational Jewish dynamics, particularly within ideological, educational, and political contexts in Israel. In the broader context of modern Jewish history and the history of Israel, the project will shed light on one of the earliest stages of the social, cultural, and ideological encounters between Israel, North American Jewry, and Soviet Jewry. This encounter, by the late 20th and early 21st centuries, became one of the most formative influences on Israeli society and on Jewish communities in North America.

Preparatory research for this project has already resulted in one published article and a forthcoming book – a scholarly edition of travelogues written by Israeli visitors to the USSR – accepted for publication in the Dorot series by Mosad Bialik Press. Over the coming year, I plan to develop a monograph proposal based on this project, with the goal of transforming it into a comprehensive scholarly monograph.