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Soviet Union

The Great Synagogue of Brody, Ukraine, pictured on a 1908 postcard. (Public domain)
'How could so many have lived here and now there's nothing?'
War-weary Ukrainian students learn Yiddish to reclaim a Jewish past nearly erased at home
By Luke Tress
Non-Jews learn about region's history through language study with New York's YIVO Institute, while connecting with US Jews over national heritage decimated with help of some local collaborators
Former CIA agent Aldrich Ames leaves federal court after pleading guilty to espionage and tax evasion conspiracy charges on April 28, 1994, in Alexandria, Virginia. (AP/Wilfredo Lee)
January 7, 2026, 12:55 pm
Aldrich Ames, CIA agent who sold US secrets to Soviet Union, dies in prison at 84
Ames, aided by wife Rosario, compromised agents and relayed bogus intel from Moscow, earning $2.5 million until he was exposed in 1994; says he was motivated by financial troubles
By Agencies
Avner Landes, author of 'The Delegation.' (Courtesy)
July 26, 2025, 7:40 am
The semi-true story of two Soviet Jews sent abroad by Stalin to fundraise during WWII
Avner Landes discusses his new book ‘The Delegation,’ an account of the adventures – and dark fates – of an actor and poet sent to raise money from coreligionists in the West
By Janice Weizman
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, separated by heavy wire screen as they leave US Court House after being found guilty of by jury of spying for the Soviet Union, 1951. (Roger Higgins for the New York World-Telegram and the Sun/Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
September 10, 2024, 9:03 pm
Unsealed memo from 1950 says Ethel Rosenberg ‘did not engage’ in atomic espionage
While historians have long agreed husband Julius was Soviet spy, they have been divided over whether Ethel took part in activities; both were executed by US in 1953
By Eric Tucker
The decorated floor of the Great Synagogue of Vilna, discovered in an archaeological dig in Lithuania, in a photo released on July 25, 2024. (Israel Antiquities Authority)
July 25, 2024, 2:52 pm
Uncovered floor of Vilnius’s Great Synagogue bears witness to Nazi, Soviet devastation
Researchers find one of synagogue’s columns collapsed on its side; 17th-century prayer house, at center of Jewish metropolis, was looted by Germans, razed by Russians
By ToI Staff
Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza is escorted to a hearing in a court in Moscow, Russia, February 8, 2023. (AP Photo)
April 17, 2023, 3:20 pm
Russian-Jewish dissident handed 25-year sentence for treason, denigrating army
Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., twice a survivor of poisoning attempts he blames on Kremlin, convicted by court following speech in Arizona denouncing Ukraine invasion
By AP
'How the Soviet Jew Was Made' by Sasha Senderovich. (Courtesy)
February 11, 2023, 8:56 am
‘How the Soviet Jew Was Made’: A tale of wandering, oppression, language and lore
In his award-winning book, Prof. Sasha Senderovich mixes a rich, centuries-old body of Yiddish folklore with early 20th-century events to define a notoriously nebulous Jewish group
By JP O’ Malley
Grigory Kanovich wrote dozens of works about the Lithuanian Jewish experience. (Courtesy of Sergey Kanovich/ via JTA)
January 24, 2023, 10:13 am
Grigory Kanovich, award-winning author who chronicled Lithuanian Jewry, dies at 93
Born in 1929 in the shtetl of Janova, an almost entirely Jewish village just north of Kaunas, the writer and his family escaped the Holocaust in Soviet-controlled Central Asia
By David I. Klein
Hungary President Viktor Orban arrives at the NATO Heads of State summit in Madrid, June 30, 2022. Hungary's controversial prime minister is coming to the United States to address a gathering of conservative activists (Bertrand Guay, Pool via AP, File)
October 23, 2022, 4:21 pm
Hungary’s Orban seems to compare EU to Soviet troops who crushed 1956 revolution
‘Let’s not bother with those who shoot at Hungary from the shadows or from the heights of Brussels,’ PM says at event to mark anti-communist uprising
By Justin Spike
People stand by the coffin of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev inside the Pillar Hall of the House of the Unions during a farewell ceremony in Moscow, Russia, September 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
September 3, 2022, 1:06 pm
Russians pay last respects to Gorbachev at funeral snubbed by Putin
Hundreds say farewell to the Soviet Union’s last leader at Moscow ceremony that the Kremlin refused to declare a state funeral
By Jim Heintz and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives at the German-Russian Petersburg Dialogue conference in Dresden on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2006. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
September 1, 2022, 2:59 pm
Putin won’t attend Gorbachev funeral, says he’ll pay private tribute instead
Decision to skip official event reflects Kremlin’s ambivalence about legacy of leader who ended Cold War but led to 1991 Soviet collapse, plunging millions into poverty
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
A peace dove sits on the head of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev on Monday, June 15, 1992 as he sets another bird free during a leisure trip on the Sea of Gallilee, Israel. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
August 31, 2022, 3:25 pm
Israeli leaders eulogize ‘brave’ and ‘visionary’ Gorbachev
Leaders across West remember Soviet Union’s last head as pioneer who ended the Cold War; Putin offers ‘condolences’ but limited praise
By Ash Obel and Agencies
Mikhail Gorbachev, eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, closes his resignation speech on the table after delivering it on Soviet television in the Kremlin, Moscow, Wednesday, December 25, 1991. (AP Photo/Liu Heung Shing, File)
August 30, 2022, 11:46 pm
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, dies at 91
Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was in power between 1985 and 1991, helped bring US-Soviet relations out of a deep freeze, remembered fondly in the West
By Jim Heintz
Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk addresses supporters of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko during a campaign rally in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. (AP/Efrem Lukatsky)
May 11, 2022, 6:16 am
Leonid Kravchuk, first president of an independent Ukraine, dies at 88
Former leader credited as driving force behind dismantling of Soviet Union; Zelensky hails ability to reach out to ordinary Ukrainians during troubling times
By AP
Teenage Masha in her Youth Army uniform. She is obsessed with WWII Russian history and patriotism in Dmitry Bogolyubov's documentary film, 'Town of Glory.' (Courtesy of First Hand Films)
April 9, 2022, 12:48 am
Russian filmmaker flees Moscow to Israel due to documentary critical of Putin regime
Dmitry Bogolyubov’s ‘Town of Glory’ depicts town of Yelnya as representative of fanatical militarism fueling Russians’ strong support for brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine
By Renee Ghert-Zand
Jewish refugees in 'Displaced Persons' camp in Germany after World War II. (Public domain)
March 26, 2022, 9:01 am
Amid today’s refugee crisis, author reflects on post-WWII abhorrence for Jewish DPs
Unlike the ‘outpouring of aid and invitations to resettle’ Ukrainian refugees, historian David Nasaw’s new book charts duel-loyalty paranoia, use of Jews as pawns in the Cold War
By Matt Lebovic
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