In the summer of 1970, Soviet Jewish dissidents Eduard Kuznetsov and Mark Dymshits organized a group of 16 refuseniks to take over a small, 12-seater airplane and escape from the USSR. Dubbed “Operation Wedding,” the group booked their tickets on the small civilian aircraft under the guise of attending a wedding. Their plan: to board the flight, forcibly remove the pilots during a stop, and continue on to Israel. But on the morning of June 15, as they arrived to board their flight, KGB agents intercepted the group. The accused were charged with high treason, and the trial drew international attention - and shined a light on the human rights violations the Soviet government was committing, igniting the Soviet Jewry movement as we know it. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov.

Image: Prisoner of the Soviet Secret Police Eduard Kuznetsov poster produced by the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, from the Records of Action for Soviet Jewry at the American Jewish Historical Society, I-487.

The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation.

Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program, generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.