2000 Soviet Jewish Emigres Expected in U.S. in Next Few Months

Herbert Bernstein, executive director of the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) has reported that more than 2000 Russian Jewish immigrants now at a transit center in Ostia, a suburb of Rome, will soon begin arriving in the United States. He said that at least 350 per month are expected in New York alone over the next few months, more than double the average monthly migration rate of Russians to this city in the past. About half the emigres coming to the U.S. settle in New York Bernstein said.

He said the anticipated increase is the result of the recent clearance of a processing bottleneck at Ostia. The bottleneck developed because of the sudden rise in the number of Soviet Jews deciding to settle in the U.S. or other Western countries instead of Israel, Bernstein said. He put the number of Jews opting to settle in the West at an average of 50 percent of those leaving the USSR. Ostia serves as the transit center for these Jews and for other Russian Jews who lived in Israel for a short time but decided to settle elsewhere.

Bernstein said his report was based on studies made by the Jewish Agency and HIAS, the worldwide Jewish migration agency. He noted that one of the conclusions of the Jewish Agency’s report linked the departure of Russian Jews from Israel to their places of origin in the USSR and, consequently, their Jewish identification. Jews from central Russian republics where more assimilated, more professional Jews resided, have the highest drop-out rate as do newcomers from Odessa. On the other hand, Jews from the Baltic states and Moldavia, especially non-Ashkenazic Jews, who tend to have a greater sense of Jewish identification and less opportunity outside Israel, remain there.