(Jewish Group) Little-known L.A. museum puts the saga of Soviet Jewry on display
In the dark days of the Cold War, photographer Bill Aron, the son of a Russian émigré to Philadelphia, traveled to the Soviet Union. In Moscow, Leningrad, and Minsk, he took portraits of refuseniks— Soviet Jews who were demanding their freedom— as well as photographs of the Jewish synagogues and those worshipping there.
Starting Nov. 14, you can see Aron’s photos at a new exhibition at the little-known Wende Museum in Culver City, Calif. “Soviet Jewish Life: Bill Aron and Yevgeniy Fiks” is a documentary photography and art exhibit that is a powerful reminder of the courage of Russian Jews and the tragedy of their life under the Soviet regime.
Aron’s photos are both artistic creations and documentary artifacts: the beauty and grandeur of the Leningrad synagogue, religious Jews worshipping in Moscow and Minsk, a celebration of Simchat Torah in Moscow with a crowd several thousand strong.
There are also a series of portraits of young Jews. They look, at first glance, very much like people we might know from Brooklyn or Silverlake or any other enclave of young Jews today.
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