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5TH PARAGRAPH - INVALIDS

By Boris MAFTSIR

RUTH FILMS - as SALES All rights, World

True Story - Completed 2023

In the Soviet Union in 1990/1991, the 5th Paragraph referred to a long-standing discrimination faced by Soviet Jews, who were denied access to higher education and certain jobs due to suspicions of dual loyalty.

- Year of production
- 2023
- Genres
- True Story, Documentary
- Countries
- ISRAEL
- Director(s)
- Boris MAFTSIR
- Producer(s)
- Zvi SHEFFY (Zvi Sheffy Productions)
- Synopsis
- In March 2020, filmmaker Boris Maftsir conducted Zoom interviews with 20 Israeli immigrants who left the Soviet Union in 1990/1991 from Moscow, Leningrad, and Kyiv. The purpose of the interviews was to uncover the meaning behind the term "5th Paragraph invalids". The 5th Paragraph referred to a long-standing discrimination faced by Soviet Jews, who were denied access to higher education and certain jobs due to suspicions of dual loyalty. The film reveals the stark contrast between the Soviet propaganda and the reality faced by Soviet Jews and the severe impact this had on their lives and ambitions. One participant, Professor Zeev Hanin, summarizes the situation: "Soviet Jews in the 1970s and 1980s were people who were denied the right to see their country as their own." This film provides a unique perspective on the lives of Soviet Jews before they immigrated to Israel.