Dr. Ben-Yaakov: The Six-Day War Shattered the Myth of the Diaspora Jew

Tel Aviv University hosted a symposium entitled "Jewish Life and Living in the Soviet Union" (from the murder of S. Mikhoels to the "Leningrad Airplane Affair" of E. Kuznetsov).

The conference brought together researchers such as Z. Khanin, V. Chernin, Z. Kopelman, L. Belenkaya, and K. Bondar, alongside direct participants in those events—prominent refusenik activists including Y. Begun and Z. Dashevsky—as well as essayists and journalists.

Participants addressed the preservation of historical memory regarding Soviet Jewry's struggle for national culture, tradition, resistance to totalitarianism, and the right to emigrate to Israel. The agenda also covered current issues in archival research, memoir and diary literature of the era, as well as analyses of antisemitism and the concept of "dual loyalty among Soviet Jews."

EAJC Director General Dr. Haim Ben Yakov delivered the concluding address, "The Zionist Movement in the USSR after the Six-Day War," noting: "The Six-Day War shattered the mythical image of the 'Diaspora' Jew. Soviet Jews found the strength to oppose the official policy of state antisemitism and declare solidarity with Israel. Simultaneously, for the first time in Soviet history, many Jews experienced a profound internal pride in their Jewish heritage."

These complex processes of Jewish resistance against a totalitarian regime must continue to be documented, rigorously researched, and preserved for future generations.

As noted, the conference was interdisciplinary in nature. Within a single forum, it combined personal testimonies and recollections of cultural figures with a serious attempt to conceptualize the struggle for national revival, while providing a theoretical overview of contemporary academic approaches to the history of Soviet Jewry.