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LET MY PEOPLE GO
Lesson plans and activities for educators
about the struggle to free Soviet Jewry 1948-1991
A variety of lesson plans and activities available below. You can teach one lesson or teach a learning unit using our recommendations.
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There are different lessons in Hebrew and in English, due to different material available (books, videos etc). The Hebrew lessons are available HERE
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Introduction to The Soviet Jewry Struggle for Freedom
Before starting to teach about the Soviet Jewry Struggle, we recommend you give this short introduction:
History learning unit - Soviet Jewry Struggle
Introduction to The Soviet Jewry Struggle for Freedom / 10 minutes
1948 (Golda Meir's visit in Moscow)
Watch & Discuss: The death of Stali
Civic learning unit - Soviet Jewry Struggle
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1948 (Golda Meir's visit in Moscow)
when Golda Meir arrived to Moscow in 1948, a groundbreaking unexpected event occurred...
The longing for Zion - songs, videos and discussions
Talk about the role, influence and importance of the young State of Israel to Jews around the world.
Sing in Hebrew, Songs Sung by Captive Soviet Jews & by Free Jews In Israel
One was sung by Soviet Jews: “Blue and White are the colors of my land”.
The other was sung by Jews in Israel: “Won’t you ask after, O Zion,
Film screening & discussion – Operation Wedding documentary
Leningrad, 1970. A group of young Soviet Jews who were denied exit visas, plots to “hijack” an empty plane and escape the USSR.
Interpretation of paintings and posters on a Jewish struggle in the USSR
Paintings and illustrations of prisoners of Zion and those who refused to immigrate to the USSR communicate with artists in the free world w
How to identify fake news of today from fake news of past Soviet media - Slideshow & Discussion
A lesson that encourages critical and independent thinking for students. In this lesson you can use a ready-made presentation that includes
Activity: Present & Protest: get inspired by creative and non-violent 70's protests
In the activity lesson plan, the students will imagine that they are activists in the free world, advocating for Soviet Jews.
Read & discuss: 13 year old against the KGB (short story)
For nearly two decades The Jewish Press publicized the cause of Marina Tiemkin of Moscow who had been kidnapped as a teenager by the KGB.
Calculated Discussion: Permission To Leave Paradise
With a rare combination of basic mathematics and history, we will explain the USSR’s line of thought regarding the exit of citizens.
Women of the Refuseniks- video & discussion
The role of the women who stood up in defense of Soviet Jews and those women denied the right to leave the USSR.
Crash Course- Refuseniks: Let My People Go!
The lesson is part lecture, part discussion, with students being asked what they would do living under the hardships faced by Soviet Jews.
The Refuseniks and Operation Wedding
We had a lively discussion about whether or not my students would have done the same, knowing they would be arrested?
Protesting in the time of Soviet Jewry
Within a unit on poetry and protest music, it came to light that my 9th grade English students were unfamiliar with the Free Soviet Jewry
"Children's Tale" - slideshow on Jewish children in the USSR - American Soviet Jewry
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Hanukkah story discussions comparing to Soviet Jewry
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"Refuseniks: Heroes of History" Slideshow -- Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement
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The secrets of Nativ
The secrets of Nativ
Sharansky's matzah in Soviet Solitary confinement
The Haggadah's words were felt as KGB agents surrounded them. Later he would "celebrate" Passover in the Gulag.
Next Year In... Moscow ? - The Red Haggadah
A special Haggadah was written and distributed in the USSR in which the cry for revolution, not Jerusalem, was was brought to the table.
Watch & Discuss: The death of Stalin in Purim 1953, compared to Haman
What similarities can you draw between the Purim story from of the Book of Esther and Stalin’s Jews persecution, which ended with his death
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