Line Five: The Internal Passport : Jewish Family Odysseys from the USSR to the USA

Book by Snyderman, Elaine Pomper

"Line Five" refers to the Jewish "nationality" on the Soviet Citizen's Internal Passport, and anti-Semitism pervades these illuminating oral histories of 50 people in 19 Jewish families who immigrated to Chicago from 1986 to 1991: distrust after the 1953 Doctors' Plot, workplace discrimination, childhood scapegoating and the recent rise of the nationalist group Pamyat. Interviewees relate the texture of their lives in the former Soviet Union, including material hardships (one bathroom for 40 people), marriages and births and the decision to apply for permission to emigrate and subsequent struggles with the authorities. Though the stories are admirable, especially when two generations in a family are interviewed, sometimes they cover the same ground, such as reactions to the Chernobyl disaster. The immigrants have varying reflections on America: some find freedom and friendliness, while others feel alienated, and many--perhaps the result of a bias in selection--seem to be reclaiming their Jewish identity. A portrait of immigrants in a more concentrated community, like Brooklyn's Brighton Beach, might have yielded different results. The editors are affiliated with the Oral History Project of the Chicago Jewish Community Centers. Photos not seen by PW .
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The title refers to line five of the internal passport of the former Soviet Union, on which the republic of birth is recorded for each citizen--except Jews. For them, line five reads Evrey ("Jew"). Between 1988 and 1990, nearly 10,000 Soviet Jews immigrated to the Chicago area. This is their story, revealed through 50 oral histories that attest to the anti-Semitism they experienced in a homeland crumbling under a Communist rule. Daily they faced lost jobs, discrimination in education, and even the threat of serious injury or death. Equally depressing are accounts of their attempts to emigrate to America. The oral history method makes for frank interviews that tell much about ethnicity in a repressive society, and this volume's value lies in its details of daily life. Though of little literary merit, this book adds yet other voices to our understanding of life for Jews in Russia. Other studies include Rothchild's A Special Legacy: An Oral History of Soviet Jewish Emigres in the United States ( LJ 8/85); and The Price of Freedom (Pergamon, 1986). A significant book, recommended for academic and larger public libraries.
- Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., Ala.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.