Myrtle Sitowitz Papers

The Papers of Myrtle Sitowitz 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 collection reflects Myrtle Sitowitz' work on behalf of Jews in the U.S.S.R. Based in Los Angeles, CA, Mrs. Sitowitz was active in The 35's—The Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry, an international organization with members throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and New Zealand. The 35's maintained direct contact with the Jews of the Soviet Union and documented and publicized the human rights violations they were subjected to by the Soviet government and also encouraged public protest. The 35's sponsored rallies, demonstrations and marathons to promote their cause. The group kept in touch with United States elected officials to inform them about the plight of Soviet Jews, and facilitated political action on their behalf. The Campaign's activists wrote and telephoned Soviet officials to demand that the U.S.S.R. complied with international human rights laws.