They did not dwell alone

Petrus Buwalda was ambassador of the Netherlands to the USSR from 1986 to 1990. He has since discussed emigration with many Jewish emigrants, and examined archives and interviewed officials in his own country, the United States, Israel, and Russia in order to tell the full story.

He raises many complex issues, including the troubling question of whether anonymity or publicity best served the interests of those wanting to leave and the effects of U.S. and other Western pressures on Soviet authorities to ease restrictions.