Efry Spectre Papers
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of materials that reflect Rabbi Efry Spectre's and the Detroit Soviet Jewry Committee's (DSJC) work on behalf of Soviet Jews during the decades of the 1970s and 1980s. It includes brochures, programs and other documents of the Soviet Jewry related events organized by the DSJC. Materials from other American Soviet Jewry organizations, such as newsletters, memos and updates on Refuseniks, news clippings on Soviet policies towards Jews and the Soviet-Israel relations are also included. The collection also features Rabbi Spectre's notes from the World Conference on Soviet Jewry in Brussels that he attended in 1976. The materials include news clippings, correspondence, photographs, pamphlets, memos and notes.
The collection consists of one half manuscript box.
Dates
- undated, 1964, 1970-1973, 1975, 1977-1983, 1987-1989
Creator
- Spectre, Efry (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 Efry Spectre 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.
Rabbi Efry Spectre was active in the American Soviet Jewry movement during the 1970s and 1980s when he served at the Adat Shalom Synagogue in Detroit and chaired the Committee on International Concerns and the Soviet Jewry Committee of the Detroit Jewish Community Relations Council. The stated purpose of the Detroit Soviet Jewry Committee (DSJC) was to advocate Jewish emigration from the U.S.S.R. and free expression of Jewish religious and cultural rights within the Soviet Union. The DSJC worked to raise the consciousness of the local community to the plight of Soviet Jews. Rabbi Spectre was involved in projects and events designed to increase awareness of the Soviet Jewry movement and to link the Detroit Jewish community with the Jews in the U.S.S.R. such as Bar and Bat Mitzvah twinnings, meetings with former Soviet Jewish Refuseniks, rallies, concerts, lectures, and solidarity days. In 1976 Rabbi Spectre participated in the American delegation to the World Conference on Soviet Jewry in Brussels.
Extent
1 Manuscript Boxes (1/4 linear foot)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The papers of Rabbi Efry Spectre reflect his involvement in the American Soviet Jewry movement. Rabbi Spectre chaired the Detroit Jewish Community Relations Council's Committee on International Concerns and the Detroit Soviet Jewry Committee, that advocated Jewish emigration from the USSR and free expression of Jewish religious and cultural rights within the Soviet Union. The materials include news clippings, correspondence, photographs, pamphlets, memos and notes.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into a single series.
Physical Location
Located in AJHS New York, NY
Acquisition Information
Donated by Efry Spectre in 2008.
Digitization Note
This collection was digitized in its entirety with the exception of duplicates.
- Title
- Guide to the Efry Spectre (1934-2010) Papers, undated, 1964, 1970-1973, 1975, 1977-1983, 1987-1989 *P-954
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Andrey Filimonov
- Date
- © 2013
- 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 Efry Spectre (P-954) 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