Triumph Over Tyranny: The Heroic Campaigns that Saved 2,000,000 Jews

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Remembering A Modern-Day Exodus

April 17, 2009

Dear Friend of Israel,

The sacred Jewish holiday of Passover is one of the pivotal festivals of the Jewish year, during which we remember our passage from bondage into freedom in biblical times.

As I reflect on the story of the Israelites' deliverance from bondage in Egypt, I am always reminded of the fact that the Jewish people have experienced many "exoduses." Throughout history, Jews have sought to escape countries where they have lived in oppressive circumstances to seek freedom in Israel, their biblical and historic homeland.

Now a new book chronicles one of the greatest of those movements. Triumph Over Tyranny by Philip Spiegel is the first complete account of the monumental effort to rescue Jews living under oppression in the Soviet Union prior to the fall of Communism.

What was life in the Soviet Union like for these exiles? In the foreward to Triumph Over Tyranny Natan Sharansky, a Russian Jew and well-known dissident who spent many years in prison for challenging his country’s oppressive policies, tells of his experience:

Growing up in Communist Russia, the narrative of the Jewish people was almost completely unknown to me. This was not by accident: The Communist regime had declared a decades-long war against Jewish identity in all its forms. There were mass executions of Jewish intellectuals and community leaders. Our synagogues and schools were shut down. Any public expression of Jewish identification was met with swift and savage punishment; any chance of reconnecting with our Jewish brothers and sisters beyond the Iron Curtain seemed as likely as the parting of the Red Sea.

Indeed, few could have predicted the events that would eventually lead to the doors of freedom opening for Soviet Jews events recounted so powerfully in Triumph Over Tyranny by Philip Spiegel. News of Israel's amazing victory in the 1967 Six Day War eventually penetrated the Iron Curtain and emboldened ever-growing numbers of Jews to speak out against oppression. In turn, Jews worldwide responded by raising money and staging protests demanding freedom for these people who had suffered so greatly for so long. The resulting movement played a part in toppling the evil Communist regime, which paved the way for Soviet Jews, who had for so long dreamed of coming to Israel, to finally reach the Promised Land.

Spiegel also readily acknowledges in his book that Christians, working through The Fellowship's On Wings of Eagles program, played a key part in the "exodus" of Jews from the Soviet Union that followed the fall of Communism. Though its mission has expanded to reach out to oppressed Jewish populations throughout the world, Wings was initially launched to bring these oppressed people to freedom in Israel. I am proud to say that the response by our donors to this initiative was overwhelming.

I strongly urge you to read Spiegel’s book, Triumph Over Tyranny. I think you'll find it a sobering account of the ravages of anti-Semitism, as well as an uplifting story of God's favor toward His people and the good that can be accomplished when ordinary people stand up to confront evil and help the oppressed.

And please consider making a generous gift today to On Wings of Eagles.. Throughout the world in the former Soviet Union, South America, Ethiopia, India, and elsewhere there are still Jewish populations living in poverty and with the daily threat of anti-Semitic persecution. In these critical times, the work of Wings is as important as it was 20 years ago.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: Excellent history of the Soviet Jewry movement, January 26, 2009 By  Glenn Richter - See all my reviews    As an individual closely involved in the Soviet Jewry movement from 1964 to the opening of the USSR's iron gates in the 1990s, I found "Triumph Over Tyranny" the best overall history so far published. It's wide-ranging, extremely well-documented and touches on many of the "refuseniks" and Prisoners of Conscience denied emigration by the Kremlin. It also gives a very good feel of the grassroots nature of the American movement to free Soviet Jews; that movement gave Congress and the White House through successive administrations the political will to pressure Moscow to free its Jews. The Soviet Jewry movement is a prime case study proving that determined people, with the assistance of foreign support, can win their liberation even against a mighty power. Report this | Permalink  Comment (1)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: Highly Recommended, March 24, 2009 By  donna "Donna" (San Diego) - See all my reviews As a person deeply involved on behalf of Soviet Jewry in the l980s, it was a pleasure for me to read this excellent book. The author has provided information with which i had no personal knowledge. Many of the individuals are personally known to me, and it is so very important that this book records their history. For those looking for a well-written survey history, this is definitely the book for you ! My thanks to the author for a great read. Donna

From Booklist, the magazine of the American Library Association:

Spiegel recounts many of the clandestine activities of the Chabad movement to keep Judaism alive in the Soviet Union during the regimes of Joseph Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev. Spiegel writes of the Israeli government’s secret missions to contact and aid Soviet Jews in their efforts to immigrate to Israel. Citing recently translated KGB documents, the book describes how leaders in the Kremlin rationalized their cruel and oppressive actions. Part 1 relates the efforts to save the “Jews of silence” from 1920 to 1967. Part 2 tells of the Soviet Jewish resistance and renaissance from 1967 to 1990. Part 3 deals with the so-called human rights connection (1968–1986). Part 4 describes support groups in the Free World (1967–2007). Part 5 concerns American legislative and diplomatic support (1972–2007), and part 6 covers post-Soviet campaigns (1991–2007). The book is a compelling read. — George Cohen

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From a retired Stanford University librarian:

The following endorsements appear on the book’s jacket:

"The best reason to record and remember how Soviet Jews were saved is to be prepared to act again when the need arises. If we are ever to live in a civilized world, what was accomplished for the Soviet Jews must become the rule rather than the exception. We must not only preach the doctrine of human rights, we must learn how actually to be our brother's keeper."

- George P. Shultz, 60th U.S. Secretary of State (addressing the American Jewish Historical Society in 2007)

“…efforts being done today to preserve the memory, including this important book by Philip Spiegel, are so crucial to make sure that the story of the struggle and its lessons are kept alive.

- Natan Sharansky, former Prisoner of Zion and Israeli Cabinet Minister; Chairman of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies

“Philip Spiegel has written a fascinating account of one of the great human rights struggles of our time, the struggle of the Jews of the Soviet Union to be able to live in a land where being Jewish would not be a burden or a crime.”

- Sir Martin Gilbert, Author of seventy-two books, Winston Churchill's official biographer, and one of Britain's leading historians

"Spiegel illuminates a "tipping point" for global Jewish peoplehood where pro-activity, idealism and creative activism converge.”

- Wayne Firestone, President, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life

“A well researched book and a powerful story that should remind us that freedom is not a given, and that the thirst for it can defeat the strongest regimes in the darkest of times.”

- Wyatt Andrews, CBS News correspondent

“Philip Spiegel brings to life an important chapter of modern Jewish history that is too often forgotten: The extraordinary efforts of Jews in the West to save the Jews of the Soviet Union from extinction. This detailed account of Jewish mobilization in Europe, Canada, and the United States makes fascinating and inspiring reading.”

- Prof. Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College

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