When I saw Moscow Jews defying the KGB on Simchat Torah to proclaim: We are still here
The street to the Great Choral Synagogue sloped gently downhill, but I stood transfixed at the top. I couldn’t move. I began to sob. The street in front was filled with masses of people
Assessment
This is a first-person account of witnessing Soviet Jewish defiance under KGB surveillance during Simchat Torah in Moscow. The emotional weight of the scene the street filled with people refusing to hide their identity captures a moment when state repression met communal resilience. The reader should watch for how this personal testimony fits into the broader history of refusenik activism and what it reveals about the limits of Soviet control over religious expression.