MyStory

At the end of the twentieth century, HIAS helped hundreds of thousands of Jews from the former Soviet Union find their way to freedom.

There were two main waves, with the first beginning in the 1970s and growing through the decade until it came to an abrupt halt when the USSR once again closed its doors. The second wave, which began in the late 1980s, continued until the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

In 2008, HIAS developed MyStory, an interactive online project to allow hundreds of those helped by HIAS to tell and share their stories. In the following years, many people — including those who had become celebrated artists, writers, musicians, and even a boxer — provided compelling testimony about their journeys to North America.

Over time, the 2008 infrastructure that originally hosted MyStory became obsolete and the project is currently not compatible with the recently redeveloped HIAS website. We plan to explore options for modernizing this project in the future.

While MyStory is offline for now, the entire archive is preserved and safeguarded. If you have questions, please contact HIAS Customer Care

MyStory Videos

Author Gary Shteyngart, Singer Regina Spektor, and others share their stories.