Dov Schperling (, or Boris Shperling); (17 December 1937 – 5 Mar 2014) was a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in J ...

activist and leader who was amongst the first Jews to immigrate from the Soviet Union to Israel. He began his Zionist advocacy during the reign of the communists in the Soviet Union, when such activity was illegal, and as a consequence was imprisoned in a Russian

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...

for two years. After his released, he emigrated to Israel, there he continued his struggle for the freedom of

Soviet Jews The history of the Jews in the Soviet Union is inextricably linked to much earlier expansionist policies of the Russian Empire conquering and ruling the eastern half of the European continent already before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. "For ...

. He was a member of the

Herut Herut ( he, חֵרוּת, ''Freedom'') was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. History Herut was founded by Menachem Be ...

right wing party and was a delegate of the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

to Austria.

Early life

Dov Schperling was born in 1937 in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the B ...

, Latvia. His father Samuel (Sasha) was a soldier in the

Latvian army The Latvian Land Forces ( lv, Sauszemes spēki, SzS) together with the Latvian National Guard form the land warfare branch of the Latvian National Armed Forces. Since 2007, land forces are organized as a fully professional standing army. Mission ...

and his mother was a housewife. In 1941, his mother fled with Dov from the advancing Nazi forces, to East USSR and his father joined the ranks of the Latvian division of the Red Army to fight against the Nazis. In 1945, after the liberation of Riga they returned and reunited with his father. His mother and his father, who worked in commerce, and Dov lived with three families of relatives in a two-room apartment. In 1950 his father died of a heart attack.

Politics in the Soviet Union

In 1955 he first heard the sounds of Israeli anthem ("The Hope") during a football match between the Israeli and Soviet Union teams, and although he did not know the anthem, hearing it for the first time gave him a strong sense of identity. In 1956, when he was a student at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics in Riga, he heard about the Israeli military operation "

Operation Kadesh The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

" during the

Suez crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

. The description of the operation and events in Israel brought to his attention the power and capabilities of the State of Israel. This affected him greatly; he began to be an active Zionist and the Land of Israel became the center of his world. Dov began to distribute material about the land of Israel and the Jewish people to Jews of his age. Schperling was imprisoned for two years in the camp, where he met other dissidents, including Joseph Schneider, David Chavkin, Alec (Elhanan) Feldman, maintaining contact with them throughout his life. In the camp, his connection with Judaism and the Zionist ideal grew and he began studying Hebrew. When he returned to Riga in 1959, he became a prominent figure in the Zionist underground in the city. Along with other idealists like him, he copied Zionist writings, including "Exodus" and distributed the material to many areas of the USSR.

Emigration to Israel

After the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

, Soviet authorities wanted to get rid of "problematic" Zionist activists and as a consequence, Dov immigrated to Israel in 1968. After he immigrated to Israel, Dov continued to fight for the right of Soviet Jewish immigration, even when the methods of this struggle were not accepted by the Israeli establishment. Dov rallied the Israeli University Students Association to his struggle, organized rallies, met with key figures across the country and used the media and other means to enable the immigration of Russian Jews to Israel.

Political activism

During the late 1960s and early 1970s he traveled to different cities in the world to hold demonstrations, often unconventional, and campaigns for freedom of emigration-

Aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally descri ...

to Israel. In 1970, he flew to New York, along with the fellow immigration activist Jacob Kedmi (Yasha Kazakov), who went on to become the head of the Nativ organization. There they had a nine-day hunger strike in front of the United Nations. The strike made waves in Israel and around the world, during which Kedmi devised the slogan "Let my people go", that became a symbol of the struggle for Jewish immigration. In 1971, Schperling was one of eight former Soviet Jews who cabled American Jewish leaders protesting their denunciations of the

Jewish Defense League The Jewish Defense League (JDL) is a Jewish far-right religious-political organization in the United States and Canada, whose stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary". It has been classified as "a right wi ...

and calling the League's activities "most effective." He claimed that a recent cancellation of the Bolshoi Ballet's scheduled American tour was forced by the

and hailed it as the first public surrender by Soviet authorities to Jewish pressure. Over the years, Dov was active in the

sraeli right wingCentral Committee. In 1979 he joined the Department of Soviet Union Immigration of the

. Later on, Dov was the head of the

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

delegation in Vienna, and the head of the Jewish agency travel department.

Family and heritage

In 1973 Dov Schperling married Ella Clear and had their daughter Rachel and their sons Schmuel and Yair. After retiring from the Jewish Agency, he received an award from the

Keren Hayesod Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal ( he, קרן היסוד, literally "The Foundation Fund") is an official fundraising organization for Israel with branches in 45 countries. Its work is carried out in accordance with the Keren haYesod Law-5 ...

foundation for his struggle for Soviet Jewry, was interviewed by the Israeli Kneset channel, and appeared in a television event in honor of

Geulah Cohen Geulah Cohen (; 25 December 1925 – 18 December 2019) was an Israeli politician and activist who founded the Tehiya party. She won the Israel Prize in 2003. Between 1974 and 1992, she served as a member of Knesset, initially for Likud. She ch ...

. Dov Schperling died from cancer in 2014. A memorial event was held in the

Jabotinsky Institute Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...

, hosted by the head of the institute, Yossi Achimeir. Schperling was mourned by Silva Zalmanson, Jacov Kedmi,

(who due to her medical condition sent a letter that was read in the event), friends and his sons Schmuel and Yair. In 2019 the "Dov Schperling Plaza" was inaugurated i
Hatsvi 10 street
outside the central station in Jerusalem.

References

Sources

Article about Schperling from the Israeli national newspaper archive

Article form the Israeli national newspaper archive about Dov Schperling and Yasha Kazakov

Article from the Haaretz newspaper stating Dov's involvement in the Zionist struggle relating to President Golda Meir

Article about Dov Schperling in the Haaretz newspaper
*

External links

Exert from Yuli Shcharansky's book about soviet jewish zionist struggle

Memorial evening in the Jabotinsky institute.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schperling, Dov 1937 births 2014 deaths Aliyah Israeli activists Israeli Jews Israel–Soviet Union relations Jewish Agency for Israel Jewish Russian and Soviet history Latvian emigrants to Israel Latvian Jews Latvian Zionists People from Riga Political repression in the Soviet Union Refuseniks Soviet emigrants to Israel Soviet Jews Soviet prisoners and detainees