Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews

Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews

From Moses to the National Mall: Some 250,000 people rallied for Soviet Jewry at the Freedom Sunday march in Washington in December 1987. American Jewish Historical Society.

            The end of World War 2 and the dismantling of Nazi Germany and its genocidal pogroms were not the end of the discrimination, internment and forced culture conversion endured by the Jews of Eastern Europe and Russia. Stalin’s Soviet Union was harsh towards the native Jewish populations of his Russia and the newly established states in the Soviet Bloc. Jews who were unable to escape to Western Europe or the United States were forced to conform to the dominant Russian culture and were barred from leaving.

 A protest that formed in the United States by Jews and other supporters called for Mikhail Gorbachev to end forced assimilation and free movement from the USSR and other Soviet Bloc States. Over 250,000 participants would march on Washington on December 6, 1987 which was the day before Gorbachev and Reagan would meet at a summit regarding disarmament. However, the President assured the public that Human Rights will be a forefront topic during their discussions. Knowing that Gorbachev would be displeased in being strong-armed into changing his nation’s emigration policies Reagan made sure to remind the Soviet Premier of the largest assembly of Jewish protestors ever to march on Washington came with the express mission to ensure that fellow Jews in the Soviet Union would be able to emigrate freely from the Soviet Union as well as being able to openly practice their religion. Foreign Affairs wrote an article speaking further about the practices of the Soviet Union put in place regarding their Jewish Populations if you want to have further readings for yourself.

            Natan Sharansky was the man who initiated the planning for the Washington march. He was also a primary speaker at the protest, speaking of his time of internment while in the Soviet Union for trumped up charges of high treason. The rallying cry of the protest movement was the biblical “Let My People Go” and Mr. Sharansky championed the phrase as they shouted it en-masse to show their support for the cause of allowing the Jewish to be free worldwide. The solidarity towards the millions of Jews of the Soviet Union who were trapped and unable to reunite with their family or just leave to find a better life, Reagan told Gorbachev that he has 250,000 protestors demanding that Gorbachev lets their people go. Which displeased the Soviet Premier greatly. Nor was he happy about Reagan’s constant reminder of the emigration issue that was one of the sources of this protest. It would take nearly a decade for the emigration process to complete. Additional developments were made during the Washington DC Summit in 1987 and the New York Times has written an article detailing more information about it. Most of the Jews who would leave the Soviet Union would find themselves resettling in the United States of America or the newly created state of Israel. The people who moved to the United States have an annual General Assembly where more than 100 groups come to express their gratitude towards the people who came out and protested Gorbachev, which effectively started the Soviet Union down the path of allowing the Jewish populations residing within it to go where they desired. The protests are aligned with the doctrines of the Gaudiem Et Spes in the way of rightful protest in defiance of an authoritarian and oppressive government. The Jewish protestors showing their disappointment with the government that holds millions of their people hostage in hostile territory whom are also subjected to brutal work camps, property theft, and forced assimilation. The Peaceful Protests are just in the terms of the Catholic Doctrine.

Jewish Newspaper publish a Front-Page article about the Demonstrations. Courtesy of St. Lewis Jewish Light.

            This effort would not be for nothing, following the conclusion of the disarmament summit. Soviet leaders would return to the USSR and begin to work on policy that would open up the country in only a few short months. Subsequently, the Jewish population in the Soviet Union were able to emigrate from their homelands and seek a better life both for themselves, and their families. The Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews March is known to being a pivotal moment in the passing of emigration laws in the Soviet Union.