George Shultz Recalls Experiences Fighting to Free Soviet Jews
Former Secretary of State George P. Shultz mesmerized an audience of more than 500 attendees with his personal account of participating in the American Soviet Jewry Movement. Secretary Shultz recounted his decision in 1987 to attend a Freedom Seder with Jewish refuseniks in the US Embassy in Moscow, and he revealed that his eyes filled with tears when he received a call from Ida Nudel in 1987 that she began by saying, "I'm in Jerusalem, I'm home."
Shultz's remarks were the highlight of an evening in which he accepted the American Jewish Historical Society's highest accolade, the Emma Lazarus Statue of Liberty Award. Elie Wiesel, a previous laureate, presented the award to Shultz. Shultz took the opportunity to laud a number of his colleagues at the State Department who worked with him on the Soviet Jewry issue, including a number who were in attendance: Max Kampelman, Richard Schifter, Rosaline Ridgeway, Elliot Abrams, Charles Hill and Abraham Sofaer.
The dinner helped raise in excess of $2 million for the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement. Shultz urged the audience to support the archive because, through viewing the historical record, "That is how generations learn from the past. That is how they understand the pain of oppression and the importance of freedom." Shultz saved his highest praise for Ronald Reagan, "who put human rights and Soviet Jewry at the top of his agenda," and insisted on negotiating for their freedom without tolerating any other Soviet human rights abuses as a quid pro quo .
The dinner was chaired by Kenneth J. Bialkin, chair of the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement. In addition to Wiesel and Shultz, the program included such notables as Malcolm Hoenlein, James Tisch, Jacob Stein, Rabbi Arthur Schneir, Cantor Joseph Malovany, Israeli Knesset member Yuli Yoel Edelstein and Sidney Lapidus.
