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Refusenik, or otkazik, was the unofficial term given to Soviet Jewish citizens who were denied permission to emigrate out of the country. After seeking such permission, these individuals were often fired from their jobs, harassed by the KGB, and prosecuted under spurious charges, the most famous case being that of Natan Sharansky.

The Jewish men and women in the USSR and their American brethren who worked tirelessly for their right to emigrate is the subject of the documentary "Refusenik," which was screened Sunday at Congregation Ohev Emeth in Highland Park. The film, produced and directed by Laura Bialis, was followed by a question-and-answer session with Glenn Richter, one of the founders of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, an American effort on behalf of Soviet Jews.

In an interview with The Jewish State before the screening, Richter spoke about the lessons that the Soviet Jewry movement learned, or didn't learn, from the American Jewish response to the plight of European Jews during the Holocaust.

In 1942, when a group of rabbinic students from across the denominational spectrum approached Rabbi Stephen Wise, who was widely acknowledged as one of the leaders of American Jewry, to conduct a public campaign for European Jews, Wise declined to do so, according to Richter.

In response, these young rabbis-in-training allied themselves with Christian theological students to organize Shoah related programs throughout the country.

According to Richter, "their bravery of standing up to this guy was all but forgotten" when it came to the next generation advocating on behalf of Soviet Jews.

"The lesson was not fully learned, because the issue of inadequate American Jewish response happened again in the case of the plight of Soviet Jews," he said.

The consciousness of young American Jews, like Richter himself, was awakened by a combination of publications such as Elie Wiesel's 1966 "The Jews of Silence" and Arthur Morse's 1967 "While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy" as well as the recent successes of the American civil rights movement.

"We decided that if we we're going to fight for the rights of others, we can fight for those of our own," Richter said about how his own involvement in the civil rights movement galvanized him and others to champion the rights of Soviet Jews.

The film documents the stories of some of the leaders of the struggle on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the Soviet Union, amongst the most fervent advocates of Soviet Jews' right to emigrate was Natan Sharansky, who in 1977 was arrested and a year later convicted of spying for the United States. Sharansky spent the next 12 years in a forced labor camp before becoming reunited with his wife in Israel. Sharansky has gone on to become a major force in Israeli politics and was recently elected as chairman of the executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel.

On the American side, young Jewish activists like Richter helped establish a movement that reached to the highest echelons of power in the American government.

While the Jewish establishment organizations largely ignored the cause of Soviet Jews initially, a grassroots initative sprang up throughout the country, led by a diverse coalition ranging from young Jews in Manhattan to housewives in Middle America to African Americans.

A significant milestone highlighted in the film was the 1974 passage of the Jackson-Vanik amendment, co-sponsored by Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson and Rep. Charles Vanik, which denied normal trade relations to countries with non-market economies that restricted the freedom of emigration, a move directly intended to target the Soviet Union's policy toward Jewish emigration.

For Richter, the film and other recent accounts of the movement such as Philip Spiegel's book "Triumph Over Tyranny: The Heroic Campaigns That Saved 2,000,000 Soviet Jews" are imperative to communicate the lessons learned in the struggle to save Soviet Jews.

The importance of these accounts, Richter said, is "to keep a recollection of what happened and try to convey the feeling that when fellow Jews are in danger, you have to help. That you just can't leave it to the 'leaders'."

Richter explained that he sees some of the recent grassroots initiatives on behalf of Israel such as CAMERA or FLAME (Facts and Logic About the Middle East) as evidence that people have absorbed the lessons of the Soviet Jewry movement.

"It's wonderful to know that people have learned the lessons of the Soviet Jewry movement," he said. "That doesn't mean you don't need organizations like the ADL or the (Jewish) federation, but America is a land of competition. The response from these organizations shouldn't be: How can we squash these smaller groups? That's not the right response. The response has to be: You're doing a great job, how can we help you?"