Russian Immigration Research Paper
Russian Immigration to the U.S Post Soviet Union
Research as we have seen it tends to classify post-Soviet immigrants as being primarily Jewish immigrants. Most of these Jewish immigrants came to the United States in the late 1960’s. However, this paper will not focus on that aspect of Russian immigration. Instead, I will demonstrate that Russian speaking immigrants who arrived in the United States after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 were the most diverse group, in terms of religion and circumstances for immigration what was previously understood.
The United States has a history of taking in immigrants, though the circumstances for their immigrations have changed significantly over time. The history of Russian immigration …show more content…
This was due in part by the Soviet Union allowing a small stream of immigrants to leave, so long as they renounce their Soviet citizenship upon departure. Jews specifically, waiting for an opportunity to leave, quickly took this opportunity. Until 1973, as many as 34,000 Jews each year left the Soviet Union. Before this, only about 2,000 a year immigrated. After 1973, the numbers of immigrants leaving the Soviet Union dropped again, but peaked in 1979 when 67,000 people moved abroad. All in all, in the 1970s about 300,000 people immigrated, mostly Jews, Germans, and …show more content…
It hummed with the sounds of Yiddish for many decades, until the mid 1960’s when many of the neighborhood’s residents had moved to other areas and Brighton Beach fell into a decline. It was quickly uplifted in the 1980’s with the arrival of new Russian immigrants. This immigration was due in part by relaxed emigration policies for Russian Jews, and many Ukrainians that came from the city of Odessa. As the story goes, they settled in Brighton Beach because it reminded them of their hometown, near the Black Sea. The United States was a cultural shock for them, as well as for the older Americans who lived there. Language was the largest barrier of these new arrivals. One senior Russian woman explained through a translator, “in Russia I was an educated woman, but now I speak like a kindergarten child.” A Russian housewife believing that the floors were made of cement took a bucket of soapy water and spilled it over her kitchen floor, which began raining on her neighbor. A Russian Jewish man opened up a butcher store with a kosher sign and sausages hanging in the window. He thought that because he was Jewish, the store was kosher. Neighborhood Rabbis ascended on him and he received a quick course in Judaism. These are just a few, of many, comedic stories that are spread about the effects of cultural differences this new wave of immigrants had
Research as we have seen it tends to classify post-Soviet immigrants as being primarily Jewish immigrants. Most of these Jewish immigrants came to the United States in the late 1960’s. However, this paper will not focus on that aspect of Russian immigration. Instead, I will demonstrate that Russian speaking immigrants who arrived in the United States after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 were the most diverse group, in terms of religion and circumstances for immigration what was previously understood.
The United States has a history of taking in immigrants, though the circumstances for their immigrations have changed significantly over time. The history of Russian immigration …show more content…
This was due in part by the Soviet Union allowing a small stream of immigrants to leave, so long as they renounce their Soviet citizenship upon departure. Jews specifically, waiting for an opportunity to leave, quickly took this opportunity. Until 1973, as many as 34,000 Jews each year left the Soviet Union. Before this, only about 2,000 a year immigrated. After 1973, the numbers of immigrants leaving the Soviet Union dropped again, but peaked in 1979 when 67,000 people moved abroad. All in all, in the 1970s about 300,000 people immigrated, mostly Jews, Germans, and …show more content…
It hummed with the sounds of Yiddish for many decades, until the mid 1960’s when many of the neighborhood’s residents had moved to other areas and Brighton Beach fell into a decline. It was quickly uplifted in the 1980’s with the arrival of new Russian immigrants. This immigration was due in part by relaxed emigration policies for Russian Jews, and many Ukrainians that came from the city of Odessa. As the story goes, they settled in Brighton Beach because it reminded them of their hometown, near the Black Sea. The United States was a cultural shock for them, as well as for the older Americans who lived there. Language was the largest barrier of these new arrivals. One senior Russian woman explained through a translator, “in Russia I was an educated woman, but now I speak like a kindergarten child.” A Russian housewife believing that the floors were made of cement took a bucket of soapy water and spilled it over her kitchen floor, which began raining on her neighbor. A Russian Jewish man opened up a butcher store with a kosher sign and sausages hanging in the window. He thought that because he was Jewish, the store was kosher. Neighborhood Rabbis ascended on him and he received a quick course in Judaism. These are just a few, of many, comedic stories that are spread about the effects of cultural differences this new wave of immigrants had