Leslie Schaffer Papers
Scope and Content Note
Leslie Schaffer’s collection contains materials related to her trip to the Soviet Union in March of 1982, where she visited Refuseniks in Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev. The collection features Leslie Schaffer’s report on her trip submitted to the Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews, photos, copies of travel documents and receipts, and information on the Refuseniks that she had obtained during her travels. Of particular interest are the Juicy Fruit™ gum wrappers with hidden writings that were used to smuggle sensitive information like names and addresses of the Refuseniks out of the U.S.S.R.
The collection also includes correspondence related to the trip with the Refuseniks, family members, and other Soviet Jewry movement activists. Also included are background materials on the U.S.S.R., profiles of Soviet Jewish Refuseniks, and trip reports from other activists.
Dates
- Creation: undated, 1979-1980, 1982, 1984-1987, 1989
Creator
- Schaffer, Leslie (Person)
Access Restrictions
The collection is open to all researchers, except items that may be restricted due to their fragility, or privacy.
Use Restrictions
No permission is required to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection, as long as the usage is scholarly, educational, and non-commercial. For inquiries about other usage, please contact the Director of Collections and Engagement at mmeyers@ajhs.org.
For reference questions, please email: inquiries@cjh.org
Historical Note
The Papers of Leslie Schaffer 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 the most influential Movement 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.
Papers of Leslie Schaffer of Reno, Nevada document her trip to the Soviet Union to visit Soviet Jewish Refuseniks in Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev in March of 1982.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet (1 half manuscript box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Papers of the Soviet Jewry movement activist Leslie Schaffer of Reno, Nevada document her trip to the Soviet Union to visit Soviet Jewish Refuseniks in Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev in March of 1982. The collection includes trip reports notes and photographs, correspondence, biographies of the Refuseniks, travel documents and receipts and background materials on the U.S.S.R.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into a single series.
Physical Location
Located in AJHS New York, NY
Acquisition Information
Donated by the Leslie Schaffer in 2007.
Subject
- Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews (Organization)
- Women's Campaign for Soviet Jewry (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the Leslie Schaffer (1953- ) Papers, undated, 1979-1980, 1982, 1984-1987, 1989 *P-923
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Andrey Filimonov
- Date
- © 2011
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Sponsor
- Digitization of the Papers of Leslie Schaffer (P-923) was made possible through a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Revision Statements
- May 2015: Added dao links by Eric Fritzler.
- November 2020: RJohnstone: post-ASpace migration cleanup.
Repository Details
Part of the American Jewish Historical Society Repository
