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Descriptive Summary
Creator:	Decter, Moshe
Title:	Moshe Decter Papers
Dates:	undated, 1958-1980, 1982, 1989-1990, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2002-2003
Abstract:	The collection contains papers of one of the pioneers of the American Soviet Jewry Movement. Starting in the early 1960s Moshe Decter instigated broad publicity campaigns to raise global awareness about the persecution of Soviet Jews and authored hundreds of articles on the subject in a variety of publications. Mr. Decter established and directed the Jewish Minorities Research bureau, served as the executive secretary of the Conference on the Status of Soviet Jews and as a director of research at the American Jewish Congress. Moshe Decter Papers consist of materials dating from the late 1950s to the early 2000s, with the bulk of the collection dating in 1960s-1970s. The documents include articles, correspondence, transcripts, notes, memoranda, publications, news clippings, broadsides and photographs.
Languages:	The collection is in English, Hebrew, French and Italian.
Quantity:	1.5 linear feet (3 manuscript boxes)
Identification:	P-899
Repository:	American Jewish Historical Society

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Historical Note

The Papers of Moshe Decter 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 Movements 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.

Moshe Decter was among the pioneer activists of the American Soviet Jewry Movement. He began his work on behalf of Jews in the U.S.S.R. by establishing and directing the Jewish Minorities Research bureau, and continued in the capacity of the executive secretary of the Conference on the Status of Soviet Jews and director of research at the American Jewish Congress. Despite opposition from the sizeable segment of the American Jewish community advocating policy of quiet diplomacy in dealing with the U.S.S.R., Mr. Decter instigated broad publicity campaigns to raise global awareness about the persecution of Soviet Jews. He authored hundreds of articles on the subject in a variety of publications. The report "Jews in the Soviet Union: A Report by the Editors," which he co-wrote and published in the capacity of the managing editor of the New Leader magazine, became one of the pivotal publications in the Soviet Jewry Movement in America and abroad. Mr. Decter was instrumental in influencing national and international politicians, intellectuals and other public figures, including Martin Luther King Jr., Bertrand Russell and Saul Bellow, to speak out against the oppression of the Soviet Jewry. After the collapse of the U.S.S.R., Mr. Decter continued to support Jewish life in the Former Soviet Union.

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Scope and Content Note

The Moshe Decter Papers consist of materials dating from the late 1950s to the early 2000s, with the bulk of the collection dating from the 1960s-1970s. The documents include articles, correspondence, transcripts, notes, memoranda, publications, news clippings, broadsides and photographs.

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Arrangement

The collection is arranged into a single series.

• Papers of Moshe Decter, undated, 1958-1980, 1982, 1989-1990, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2002-2003

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The collection is open to all researchers by permission of the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society, except items that are restricted due to their fragility.

Use Restrictions

Information concerning the literary rights may be obtained from the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society. Users must apply in writing for permission to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection.

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Related Material

The Papers of Moshe Decter is one individual collection within the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement (AASJM) located at the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS). Other Soviet Jewry Movement collections at AJHS include the records of Action for Soviet Jewry (I-487), the National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ; I-181 and I-181A), the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (I-410, I-410A) , the Houston Action for Soviet Jewry (I-500) , Medical Mobilization for Soviet Jewry, the papers of Joel Ackerman (P-787), Julia Mates Cheney (P-806), Jerry Goodman (P-863), Laurel and Alan J. Gould (P-866), Carolyn W. Sanger (P-870), Si Frumkin (P-871), Elaine Pittell (P-873), Sanford A. Gradinger (P-880), Shaul Osadchey (P-882), Leonard S. Cahan (P-883), Doris H. Goldstein (P-887), David H. Hill (P-888), Margery Sanford (P-889), Pinchas Mordechai Teitz (P-891) and Pamela B. Cohen (P-897).

Individual accounts of activities within the Soviet Jewry Movement are preserved in the UJA Oral History Collection (I-433), which includes accounts from members of the following organizations: the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, Bay Area Council on Soviet Jews (BACSJ), Seattle Action for Soviet Jews, Houston Action for Soviet Jews, Chicago Action for Soviet Jews, Colorado Committee of Concern for Soviet Jews and the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. Interviewees include accounts by Lillian Forman (BACSJ), Ann Polunsky, Morey Schapira, Myrtle Sitowitz, Deborah Turkin, David Waksberg, Sylvia Weinberg and Dolores Wilkenfeld. In addition, posters related to the Soviet Jewry Movement can be found in the Jewish Student Organizations Collection (I-61).

Additional materials from other collections include records dealing with the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ) located within the North American Jewish Students Appeal (NAJSA, I-338) and the records of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC, I-172). Related records are also located at the AJHS in Newton Centre, MA including memorabilia and ephemera of the New England Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (I-237) and the Records of the Student Coalition for Soviet Jewry – Brandeis University (I-493).

Library of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research holds several publications by Moshe Decter on the subject of Soviet Jews.

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Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); Moshe Decter Papers ; P-899; box number; folder number; American Jewish Historical Society, Boston, MA and New York, NY.

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Acquisition Information

Donated by Joshua Decter in 2007.

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Access Points

• Subject Names:

  • Decter, Moshe
  • Eliav, Binyamin, 1909-1974
  • Galbraith, John Kenneth, 1908-2006

• Subject Organizations:

  • Academic Committee on Soviet Jewry
  • Conference on the Status of Soviet Jews

• Subject Topics:

  • Antisemitism
  • Emigration and immigration
  • Human rights
  • Jews, Soviet
  • Jews--Soviet Union--Politics and government
  • Refuseniks
  • Zionism

• Subject Places:

  • Brussels (Belgium)
  • Soviet Union
  • Tel Aviv (Israel)
  • United States

• Document Types:

  • Articles
  • Broadsides (Notices)
  • Clippings
  • Correspondence
  • Memorandums
  • Notes
  • Photographs
  • Publications
  • Transcripts

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Container List

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Papers of Moshe Decter, undated, 1958-1980, 1982, 1989-1990, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2002-2003.
English, Hebrew, French and Italian.
26 folders.
Scope and Content: See the collection Scope and Content Note.
Box	Folder	Title	Date
1	1	Academic Committee on Soviet Jewry: National Academic Conference, New York	May 11-12, 1968
1	2	Ad Hoc Commission on Soviet Jews	1966
1	3	"American Imagination and the Jews of Russia, The," Research Proposal	undated, 1995
1	4	American Intellectuals for Israel in Crisis, Ad in New York Times	June 1967
1	5	Antizionist and Antisemitic Articles in Soviet Press, Translated Into English	1959, 1967-1968, 1974
1	6	Articles by Moshe Decter	1958-1963
1	7	Black Years of Soviet Jewry: 1939-1959, The, by Yehoshua A. Gilboa, (Brandeis University, Translated From Hebrew)	1971
1	8	Commission of Inquiry on the Rights of Soviet Jews, June 22, 1971, New York, NY, Coordinated by Moshe Decter	1971
Box	Folder	Title	Date
2	1	Conference on the Status of Soviet Jews	1963, 1967
		(contains Italian)
2	2	Conference on the Status of Soviet Jews	1963, 1967
		(contains Hebrew)
2	3	Correspondence with John Kenneth Galbraith	1968-1969, 2003
2	4	Correspondence with Yehoshua Pratt	1970, 1972-1979, 1992
		(contains Hebrew)
2	5	Correspondence, General	1964, 1971-1972, 1982, 1989, 2002
2	6	"End of Russian Jewry," Essay by Moshe Decter	1997
2	7	International Committee of Jurists	1963-1964
2	8	Memorandums	1963-1965
2	9	New Outlook: 20th Anniversary International Symposium, November 16-21, 1977, Tel Aviv	1977
		(contains Hebrew)
2	10	News Clippings and Broadsides Regarding Soviet Jewry	1966-1967, 1970-1972, 1975
Box	Folder	Title	Date
3	1	Oral History Interview Transcript	1990
3	2	Photographs	1963
3	3	"Poland's Anti-Jewish Campaign," Letter to the Editor of New York Times	1968, 1977
3	4	Publications and Near-Print Materials Regarding Soviet Jewry	1958-1960, 1966, 1968
3	5	Publications on Soviet Jewry Edited by, and Featuring Writings by Moshe Decter	1961, 1970-1971
3	6	Publications on Soviet Jewry Edited by, and Featuring Writings by Moshe Decter	1972-1973, 1976
3	7	Statements	1960, 1971
3	8	World Conference of Jewish Communities on Soviet Jewry, February 23-15, 1971, Brussels	1971
		(contains Hebrew and French)

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