When my father immigrated to the United States when he was fourteen, his older sister was not allowed passage as part of the family visa, since in the year in that took to issue, she had gotten married. Anna and her husband Efraim were in a quandary. The year was 1921. The family were refugees from the Ukraine, which had been part of the old Russian empire. Efraim had been a conscript in the Czar’s army, from which he deserted, and now was wanted by the White Russians. He was then in the Red Army and in the Ukraine in 1921, he did not think there was any hope for the Red Army, so he also deserted.

Anna and Efraim boarded a ship in London for Buenos Aires, Argentina. My father would not see his sister for 54 years. During the period of Argentina’s Dirty War in the 1970s, when Argentina suffered under a murderous fascist dictatorship, my father and uncle convinced Anna to come to the United States. The first time they saw each other in 54 years. (Efraim had died a few years before.) They had written one another, about the weather, about their work, their families, nothing else, all in Yiddish. My father living under McCarthyism, fearing deportation because he was a naturalized citizen; Anna living under Peron and Peronism. They never expressed their views of the government.

Surprise, surprise, when they met after 54 years, they found that they were both members of the Communist Party in their respective countries. Anna was here two years, then she decided she was going back. She was confident that she would be OK. She lived another few years – the junta never came for her.

Years later Judith and I were in Buenos Aires. We went to Memorial Park, the monument dedicated to the 30,000 who were perished by the junta during the Dirty War. There were seven panels, for each of the seven years, organized alphabetically, with people’s ages. Nearly everyone was in their 20s, early 30s or a teenager. Anna was right, they left people her age alone.

My message – Those of us boomers – We have a vital role to play in organizing and fighting the MAGites march to fascism.

---

April 5, 2025 – Hands Off! – Remove, Reverse, Reclaim!

Remove Corrupt Politicians from Office

Reverse the Damage

Reclaim Our Democracy

One thousand local actions in every state, in every state capital, in large cities, in small cities and towns, organized by hundreds of local organizations and private citizens. Called to action by Indivisible, 50501 Movement and the Women’s March, and endorsed by more than 150 national and regional organizations.

Organizations as diverse as the AFT, NEA, PSC CUNY, SEIU, CWA, UAW, Greenpeace, Roots Action, Color of Change, Stand Up for Science, Consumer Federation of America, League of Women Voters answered the call; as did MoveOn, Working Families Party, Our Revolution, and Third Act.

For more information and to register for a local event, click here.  

…