Genendel Bloom
Jenny Shore
Zalkin, Mordechai. Lomza. The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Accessed April 28, 2014. http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/omza. Ellis Island Foundation. The Ellis Island Ship Database, Finland, n.d. Accessed April 28, 2014, http://www.ellisisland.org/search/ship_passengers.asp?letter=f&half=1&sname=Finland&year=1912&sdate=12/12/1912&port=Antwerp&page=2. Soyer, Daniel. Jewish Immigrant Associations and American Identity in New York. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997. Cahan, Abraham. The Russian Jew in America. Atlantic Monthly LXXXII (July 1898): 263-287. Accessed April 28, 2014, http://tenant.net/Community/LES/cahan5.html. Lowe, Heinz-Dietrich. Chapter IV - The Reign of Alexander III: From Pogroms to Counter-Reforms. Universitat Heidelburg. Online. Accessed April 28, 2014, http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/fakultaeten/philosophie/zegk/sog/loewe_artikel_the_reign.html. Ghiuzeli, Haim F., The Jewish Community of Antwerp, Belgium. Beit Hatfutsot Museum of the Jewish People. Online. Accessed April 28, 2014. http://www.bh.org.il/database-article.aspx?48207. Diner, Hasia R., Lower East Side Memories: A Jewish Place in America (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000). Rischin, Moses. The Promised City: New Yorks Jews 1870-1914 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1962). Holladay Claghorn, Kate. The Foreign Immigrant in New York City. Reports of the Industrial Commission, Volume XV (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1901): 465-492. Accessed April 28, 2014, http://tenant.net/Community/LES/clag1.html. http://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/EllisIsland/1913-01-ImmigrantsGoingThroughEllisIsland.html#axzz30CI2fiPb
1856-1932
Nureyev's Defection
In June 1961, Rudolf Nureyev, along with other members of the Kirov company, arrived at the Paris airport in order to fly to London, the next stop on their tour. Nureyev however “given a ticket to Moscow and told he was needed for a gala” (“1961—Nureyev Defects”). The KGB had been monitoring Nureyev and were disturbed by the fact that he often went out with French dancers and locals while in Paris. The Soviet government feared that they might lose Nureyev, their best and most famous ballet dancer, to the West; consequently, they attempted to use several different tactics to persuade Nureyev to return to the Soviet Union. But Nureyev was doubtful of “[Soviet] assurances that he would rejoin the company in London” and instead felt “sure he would never again be allowed out of Russia and would face relegation back home” (“1961—Nureyev Defects”). With the help of some friends in Paris, Nureyev managed to secure political asylum in France and his career continued to flourish in the West. Nureyev’s defection clearly demonstrates a sense of dedication and a sense of bittersweet sacrifice, for although Nureyev was able to escape to the West, for years after his defection “all his travelling had to be done on temporary documents” (“1961—Nureyev Defects”). Nureyev was sentenced to prison by the USSR and it was only by a special 48-hour visa that Nureyev was able to visit his ailing mother in the USSR before she died. Thus, Nureyev’s defection embodies the sense of tragedy that is part of the idea of “Russianness” presented in this exhibit.
Word Count: 265
Bild, Pressens. “Press Photo of Rudolf Nurejev [sic] at His Defection from the Soviet Union 1961.” Photograph. Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation Inc., 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
“Rudolf Nureyev—‘Aureole.’” Front Row Photos. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Smith, Dinita. “New Light on Nureyev’s Grand Leap to the West.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 6 Oct. 1998. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
“1961—Nureyev Defects to the West.” Rudolf Nureyev Foundation. Rudolf Nureyev
Foundation, 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
June 16, 1961