For Lexington resident Yanina Kisler, leaving the Soviet Union wasn’t just a journey across borders — it was an act of defiance. In 1977, at just fourteen years old, Kisler left the USSR with her parents, joining an exodus of more than three hundred thousand Jewish immigrants during the 70s and 80s. But the path out was anything but simple.
“Leaving the Soviet Union was viewed as the ultimate treason by the government because it was placing your own interest ahead of the collective, and so you immediately become the enemy of the people. You lost your job, were expelled from college, had your phone bugged, and burned all your bridges,” Kisler said.
Like many of her fellow Jewish immigrants leaving the communist state, Kisler and her family left to pursue a better life that was free of antisemitism.
“We were not looking for McMansions or fancy cars. Our material life in the Soviet Union was not bad. We wanted to escape the constant official and street antisemitism,” Kisler explained.
Kisler emphasized that discrimination against Jewish people was deeply entrenched and widespread throughout society.
“If you were Jewish, it was tremendously hard. The concept of ‘dirty air of antisemitism’ represents how it had gotten into and coated everything. It was normalized to such a degree that you might not even be aware you’re breathing it, but it gets into you, and it affects you,” Kisler told LexObserver. She described some of the stories from her interviews with the immigrants: bus passengers complaining that there were too many Jews around, people stating that Hitler should have been allowed to finish the job of getting rid of them, or obstacles Jews faced in getting into universities or getting jobs.
During her brief time living in Austria and Italy before arriving in the United States — finally on the other side of the Iron Curtain — Kisler felt as though she had entered a new world full of possibilities.
“I was shocked at how amazing everything in the West was. That happened in Vienna when we walked into a little food store and saw the beautiful chocolate we could buy and a smiling salesperson,” Kisler said.
After a long career as an engineer, Kisler retired four years ago. It was then that she realized how little she knew about her background and family past.
“I started with a family tree—and realized I didn’t know my own parents at all,” Kisler said.
Kisler realized that many Soviet Jewish immigration stories were at risk of being lost: adults often did not share their experiences with their children or grandchildren, and little had been formally documented. This silence concerned her and compelled her to act.
The result is her recently published book, They Were Fighters: Oral Histories of Jews Leaving the Soviet Union. Drawing on extensive research and personal interviews, Kisler weaves together the voices of Jewish immigrants who, like her, left behind a life under Soviet rule.
“I realized that all those stories of how [immigrants] lived and why they left; they were going away because that generation is getting old. I believed they deserved to be preserved,” Kisler explained.
For They Were Fighters, Kisler interviewed nearly 120 immigrants, reaching out through various methods to connect with the right individuals.
“First it was with parents of friends. Then, I advertised on Facebook and in Russian Jewish newspapers throughout the country, which reached a worldwide audience. I was able to talk to people who lived in Canada, Australia, Israel, and Germany,” Kisler told LexObserver.
Given the wide range of experiences she encountered, a significant part of Kisler’s work involved weaving the stories into a clear, cohesive narrative.
“What I decided to do was go through the stages of life: school years, college, job, and life in general. For those born in the 1930s, their stories involved living through World War II,” Kisler explained.
Kisler hopes that her book will not only contribute to the historical record but also offer a sense of connection for immigrants of all backgrounds.
“It resonates with a large number of immigrant communities. You have Armenians and Chinese. They have their own stories with troubles of their own, and so it resonates with a large crowd,” Kisler said.
Beyond personal stories, Kisler believes the themes in her book reflect broader social and political dynamics unfolding today.
“I find my book to be relevant to what is happening today in the country and the West. I hope when people read this book and have this information, it will give them some courage to … stand up against antisemitism.” Kisler said.