Lecture subjects
History of Jews is Russia and USSR, as approached from the perspective of my personal family history. My focus is the political situation that allowed for the emigration of Jews from the USSR beginning in the early 1970s, why it ceased abruptly in the early 1980s and resumed again in 1987. I also focus on the application process - the huge hurdles that applicants had to overcome just to submit an application and to improve their chances of getting permission to leave. Next, I discuss what happened when applicants were granted permission to leave, how the harassment and danger continued until the minute of departure, and the decisions people made about choosing to go to Israel or the west. I see this as a compliment to the subject of refuseniks, as it focuses on the struggles of people who successfully applied to leave, but who still had major challenges to overcome, and most of whom were only able to successfully leave because of invaluable information they had gathered from those who were refused.
Contact arielg85@gmail.com
Languages English, Russian
Based in: Los Angeles, CA
(available for the Bay Area and New York with notice)
Lecture options
Lecture
Lecture with presentation
Discussion / Q&A
Available on Skype video
Biography
MAriel Goldberg is a Production Executive at Skydance Media (Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Terminator: Dark Fate, Jack Ryan, Gemini Man, Jack Reacher, Altered Carbon, as well as multiple upcoming animated features), residing in Los Angeles, CA. Ariel was born in San Francisco, CA, five years after his parents' arrival from Leningrad, USSR. Ariel's parents and grandparents were among the last Jews to leave, just as the Iron Curtain once again closed at the end of "the first wave" of emigration in the 1970s. Ariel grew up in the Soviet refugee community, speaking only Russian until he went to school. He grew up on the stories of his grandparents, who explained to him what it was like to be a Jew in Leningrad and what it had taken for them to get out - not only what it had taken logistically, but what it had taken to mentally and emotionally make the decision to apply. Always an avid student of history, Ariel pursued his family's Soviet story in an academic setting, through the History, Jewish, and Slavic departments at UCLA, while formally majoring in Film studies. These courses, as well as independent study, provided Ariel with a holistic understanding of the activist movements and secret diplomatic efforts transpiring in the world in the years preceding and following the Six-Day War that created the conditions which ultimately allowed his family to leave. Although Ariel's family - thankfully! - was not refused permission to depart the USSR, their success largely goes to those whose struggle paved the way, and those refuseniks that his grandparents personally knew, who offered expertise and guidance as they submitted their applications. As an entertainment professional, Ariel is currently developing a series about Soviet Jews.