Frank Brodsky Papers

The Papers of Frank Brodsky 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.

The papers of Frank Brodsky reflect his work as co-chairman of the Soviet Jewry Council of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia. The collection includes two reports on trips to the U.S.S.R. by Mr. Brodsky that he and several other members of the Philadelphia Jewish community took in 1985 and 1987, in order to deliver material aid and moral support to the Soviet Jewish Refuseniks. Also included are two calendar books for the years of 1986-1987 and 1987-1988 published by the Soviet Jewry Council of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia, with forewords by Mr. Brodsky. The books contain photographs, profiles, contact information of, and updates on, Soviet Jewish Refuseniks. The books also contain photos and articles on the Soviet Jewry movement rallies, lectures and other related events in Greater Philadelphia.