Compare Constellations

Cohen, Sara-Jane, 1944-,. Oral history interview with Sara-Jane Cohen, [electronic resource] / interviewed by Brandon Springer and filmed by Elaine Chang, 2010.

Title: Oral history interview with Sara-Jane Cohen, [electronic resource] / interviewed by Brandon Springer and filmed by Elaine Chang, 2010. 2010.

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.

ArchivalResource:

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/670442429 View

Plam, Olga, 1937-,. Oral history interview with Olga Plam, [electronic resource] / interviewed by Brandon Springer and Avery Mills, and filmed by Elaine Chang, 2010.

Title: Oral history interview with Olga Plam, [electronic resource] / interviewed by Brandon Springer and Avery Mills, and filmed by Elaine Chang, 2010. 2010.

Painter Olga Plam emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States with her husband and son in 1977, after three years of trying to obtain an exit visa. She vividly describes the persecution experienced by Jews in the Soviet Union, which banned religious observance and did not consider Jews to be Russians, a persecution that increased in intensity for those who were trying to leave. She describes the resettlement process in the United States, including four years spent living at the Mountain Research Station, learning English and about American culture through the kindness of new American friends, and how she went about regaining a sense of Jewish tradition. She also relates the personal and political efforts made by herself and others in the United States to obtain an exit visa for her father, Naum Meiman, a prominent mathematician - a process that took 13 years.

ArchivalResource:

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/670445720 View

Bailin, Roxanne, 1949-,. Oral history interview with Roxanne Bailin, [electronic resource] / interviewed by Brandon Springer and filmed by Felicia Furman, 2010.

Title: Oral history interview with Roxanne Bailin, [electronic resource] / interviewed by Brandon Springer and filmed by Felicia Furman, 2010. 2010.

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.

ArchivalResource:

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/670449082 View