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A wide-ranging interview with Bill Cohen covering the founding and history of Boulder Action for Soviet Jewry (BASJ) in 1987 and, later, the Center for Human Rights. He talks about increasing anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union and how human rights issues for refuseniks contributed to the creation of BASJ, the goal of which was to provide advocacy and resettlement for Soviet Jews. He describes families who were helped to come to Boulder or Israel, the many Boulder volunteers who assisted in this challenging process, and the steps that helped integrate the New Americans. The Center for Human Rights was founded to meet the legal and political complexities of the resettlement process. Bill talks about how some of the legal problems were solved by working with Soviet counterparts and involving the U. S. Congress, INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service), and other government agencies. He relates the details of refugee cases in which the Center for Human Rights and he were involved and also describes a landmark case that he handled that changed INS policy to allow family members to be given refugee status in a more equitable way.

Victor and Lydia Slonim emigrated from the Soviet Union to Boulder, Colorado, in 1989. Victor, who is Jewish, describes many aspects of antisemitism in the former Soviet Union, as well as harsh treatment of dissidents there. Lydia, whose family of origin was not Jewish, describes employment and personal discrimination she experienced in the Soviet Union as a result of marrying someone who is Jewish. They both compare Soviet and American culture and describe adjustment to life in the United States, including the role of Boulder Action for Soviet Jewry in helping them to learn English and learn about life in America.

This recording is of a rally that took place on February 26, 1987, organized by the group Boulder Action for Soviet Jewry (BASJ), to support efforts to gain the release of the Jewish mathematician Naum Meiman and other "refuseniks" (Jews who had applied for and been denied permission to emigrate) in the Soviet Union. Among the speakers were representatives of several Colorado senators and congressmen, state and local politicians, and Olga Plam, the daughter of Naum Meiman, all of whom speak of the plight of the refuseniks. A resolution of the Boulder City Council in support of the release of Professor Meiman is read by the mayor. The names of the refuseniks in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, are read by various notable Boulder people. The rally concludes with the singing of "We Shall Overcome", and lively klezmer music.