David Waksberg, 1956-

The David Waksberg Papers represent one collection housed within the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement (AASJM). These papers reflect the effort, beginning in the 1960s through the late 1980s, of thousands of American Jews of all denominations and political orientations to stop the persecution and discrimination of Jews in the Soviet Union. The American Soviet Jewry Movement (ASJM) is considered to be one of the most influential movements of the American Jewish community in the 20th century. The beginnings of the organized American Soviet Jewry Movement became a model for efforts to aid Soviet Jews in other countries, among them Great Britain, Canada, and France. The movement can be traced to the early 1960s, when the first organizations were created to address the specific problem of the persecution and isolation of Soviet Jews by the government of the Soviet Union.

David Jonathan Waksberg, born December 14, 1956 in New York City, was involved in the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry before moving to California, where in 1981 he began working for the Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews (BACSJ) as Assistant Director. In 1982 Waksberg became BACSJ's Executive Director, supervising all organizational activities, which included: public and political advocacy on behalf of Soviet Jews; research and monitoring of the living conditions of Soviet Jews; administration of financial, medical and legal aid to refuseniks and prisoners of conscience; demonstrations and vigils; preparing travelers for visits to refuseniks; and fundraising. By 1983 he was on the Board of Directors of BACSJ's umbrella organization, the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ), and he then became National Vice-President of UCSJ in 1985.

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2016-08-19 01:08:44 pm

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