kgb – Lea Zeltserman

Operation Wedding: A conversation with Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov

A while ago I interviewed Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov for an article about her award-winning documentary, Operation Wedding, still one of just a tiny handful of docs on the Soviet-Jewish immigration. It’s the story of her parents’ attempt to escape the USSR in 1970, by hijacking an empty plane and flying it across the border to Sweden. Also known as the Leningrad Hijacking, it sounds daring and […]

My KGB file – Yes, there was probably a file with my name on it

Immigrant Experience, Personal Essay / March 7, 2012

*Updated at bottom Excuse me while I continue to geek out on Soviet government memos… As I flip through, I’m continually amazed at the level of specificity in these memos, and to realize that “Big Brother” genuinely read all letters received from North American activists and government officials. (Paging Amnesty International.) We like to complain that the government doesn’t listen to us (even as we

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