1125 Pine Street
Boulder, CO 80302
303-441-3110
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1
Call Number
OH1677-V
Date
2010
Description
Boris Bachayev and his family immigrated to the United States from Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in the Soviet Union, with the help of Boulder Action for Soviet Jewry. He discusses both the lack of religious and other freedoms in the Soviet Union and antisemitism that he experienced there. He contrasts life there with life in the United States. He also describes the process of adapting to American culture and the close ties that his family formed with the American family that helped them with that process. He reflects on the differences among several branches of American Judaism and describes being the founder of a Bukharian Jewish synagogue in Denver.
2
Call Number
OH1649-V
Date
2010
Description
Sara-Jane Cohen was involved with Boulder Action for Soviet Jewry (BASJ) from its beginning and through the process of resettling refuseniks from the Soviet Union in Boulder. She talks about her own experiences as an activist, starting in college with the civil rights movement, and then working in war protest and other social justice causes. She recalls the various steps in the evolution of BASJ from advocacy to resettlement of refugees. Sara-Jane became an ESL tutor for adult refuseniks after they had moved to Boulder. In this interview she tells about ESL tutoring and also about the practical aspects of helping families from the former Soviet Union develop the skills to meet the challenges of acculturation to a completely new lifestyle. She describes reciprocal learning and lasting friendships formed and some of the achievements of these New Americans.
3
Call Number
OH1671-V
Date
2010
Description
Joan Nagel, along with her husband, Bill, served as an "anchor" family (aka host family) through Boulder Action for Soviet Jewry for a family of Soviet Jewish emigres from Dushanbe who arrived in 1991. Joan describes her own family history relevant to this undertaking and relates stories regarding the family (mother, father, grandmother and four children), their life in Dushanbe and their experiences in America from the moment they stepped off the plane, all their possessions in hand, until today. (The Nagels are still very close wtih their family.) Nagel discusses the family's ability to adapt quickly to American culture and their industriousness in finding an array of work opportunities. Nagel also discusses the family's move to Aurora along with other Bukharan Jews (Jews originally from central Aisa) who were brought to the United States by BASJ and who formed Denver's now growing Bukharan Jewish community.
4
Call Number
OH1648-V
Date
2010
Description
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.
5
Call Number
OH1651-V
Date
2010
Description
Judge Roxanne Bailin discusses her role in the initial founding of Boulder Action for Soviet Jewry with Bill Cohen, and her motivations for being a part of the project. She first discusses a trip to the Soviet Union, from Dushanbe to Moscow, with fellow BASJ member Rebecca Bradley. During the trip Bailin and Bradley made secret contact with Jewish refuseniks, including Naum Meiman, living in the cities they visited. Bailin later discusses her interactions with Jewish emigres living in Boulder, including one family she had met on her initial trip to Dushanbe. Her narrative details her role as "The Judge With a Truck", driving around Boulder collecting furniture and housewares, later stored in her barn for use in setting up homes for the Jewish refugees BASJ brought from the former Soviet Union.
6
Call Number
OH1644
Date
2010
Description
Dr. Bill Blanchet speaks about his association with Bill Shiovitz, Bill Cohen, and the Boulder Action for Soviet Jewry project. Two major topics are covered: Dr. Blanchet's experiences with patients who were Jewish emigres from the former Soviet Union and Russia, and his visit to St. Petersburg with Bill Cohen in the late 1990s. Dr. Blanchet's narrative details the nature of caring for his Russian patients, his experience with learning Russian, economic conditions in Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union, comparisons of the Russian and American medical systems, and the nature of the emigration process for these Russian Jews.