When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry by Gal BeckermanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
WOW WOW WOW. This was an incredibly well-researched and well-executed book. At 500+ dense pages, there were some sections where I slogged through a bit, but I am really glad I read this.
When I was a child, my dad took me to Washington DC with our synagogue to protest Soviet Jewry - I might have been 10 or so (it was the late 1980's) and I can remember being taught that Jews in Russia weren't allowed to practice Judaism and that we were going to DC to get our congressmen to change that. I can remember singing the song the title of the book came from, and I can remember having a "Russian twin" who I mentioned at my bat mitzvah. Books in my Hebrew School library abounded on this topic - Monday in Odessa is the one I remember most clearly.
So I was interested to read this book to fill in the gaps in my knowledge - little did I know it would be a sweeping history of Jews in the Soviet Union starting in 1963.
Beckerman puts forth two major factors that drove attention to the plight of Soviet Jews that were not clear to me as a 10-year-old. One was that many American Jews felt guilty that they did not pressure the government to do more to save Jews during WWII, and saw this as an extension of the Civil Rights movement in their own country. The other was that newly minted Israel needed an influx of immigrants to ensure its safety in numbers and voting. These two factors are discussed at length throughout the book.
But part of why I enjoyed this book is that Beckerman also painted characters so quickly and sharply that it was easy to get to "know" people. And there were all sorts of community organizers in the US, USSR, and Israel, there were politicians, dissidents, and many other types of people who joined in the fight. Famous ones included Heschel, Weisel, Carlebach, Reagan, and most famously Shcharansky. But the lesser-known people were also heroes fascinating to follow.
Things in the USSR were no joke. For decades, Jews were regularly harassed, arrested, imprisoned, and exiled to Siberia. They weren't allowed to practice Judaism (although many did in different degrees of secret), they couldn't learn Hebrew, or speak positively about Israel. They lost their jobs once they applied for visas out, but few visas were approved and then they were stuck in the country where it was illegal not to have a job. This was tens of thousands of people - 'refusniks' who could not leave.
There are many other dimensions to this book that I could write about - Soviet-US relations, politics in Israel, a long section appropriately dedicated to Shchransky's imprisonment, American immigration policy, examinations of the prevalence then fall of Communism within the USSR - but I'd summarize by saying that if this time in history is in any way intriguing to you, this is *the* book to read.
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and 
, here are a few other books that I really loved.
. Once you've had your baby, if you decide to go back to work and pump breastmilk, read 
, about some women at IBM who did it before it was trendy.
was amazing. My sister recommended this story about a former Olympic runner who enlists during WWII and whose plane is shot down over the Pacific. Less masterfully striking but still a good memoir is Laura and Lisa Ling's chronicle of Laura's getting imprisoned in a North Korean prison and Lisa's fight to get her released in 
.
, recommended by my mom, which is the story of a Jewish Hungarian family during WWII. I only wish I had read it last summer when I was in Hungary. Also wonderful was 
, about two Nigerians who fall in love as teenagers, one of whom stays in Nigeria while the other one emigrates to the United States. 
, recommended by Deena, was a memorable and well-written novel about several people making difficult decisions during the Chechen conflict in the late 1990's.
was a storytelling romp through Malay and the Chinese underworld. 
, on many "official" lists, was about lifelong friendships that begin at summer camp and was indeed as good as everyone said it was. Another universally well-reviewed book was 
, a mystery that I also liked as much as everyone else. Finally, awarded the "why did it sit on my shelf for so long?" prize was 
, a love story set in Hong Kong.
was about two women from very different classes who immigrate from the Philippines. In 
, a man finds a wife in Bangladesh to bring to the US. Another story of a wife brought to the United States, this time from India, was in 
. And 
was a coming-of-age story about a young Vietnamese woman and her family.
was a searing criticism of our lack of privacy on the internet with completely lackluster character development from a writer I know is better than that. 
was also lacking in some character development, but was a good fictional account of Charles Lindbergh's wife's life.
series, you should be. I read books 
and 
this year.
