Approbations

Natan Sharansky, Israeli politician and former refusenik (spent 9 years in Soviet prisons):

A very important memoir.… Pamela portrays many Jewish leaders…from different communities all over the United States, as well as Jewish refuseniks from different places all over the Soviet Union. It is this personal, intimate connection between these two groups that gave inspiration, encouragement, and strength to the people on both sides of the Iron Curtain and made our struggle…so powerful. 

Elliott Abrams, former Deputy National Security Advisor and Assistant Secretary of State: 

An irreplaceable history of the movement.… Natan Sharansky called Pamela Cohen the “five-star general of the army of students and housewives,” and this is her account of how students and housewives defeated the Soviet Union.… One woman’s story here illuminates a vast historic movement that changed Jewish and Israeli history. 

Alan Dershowitz, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University; lawyer for refuseniks and dissidents: 

Tells an important part of the unique story of brave and courageous individuals who effected immense change for human rights worldwide. As president of the grassroots activist organization Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, Pamela was there from the outset. This inspiring read gives us hope that we can continue to make this world a better place. 

Dennis Prager, New York Times bestselling author of ten books and radio talk-show host:

As the spokesman for the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, I knew of Pam Cohen’s and the UCSJ’s work on behalf of Soviet Jewry. Few people are as qualified to write about the Soviet Jewry movement as she is. This is one of those books that can with no exaggeration be called important. It is also riveting. 

Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, former UnderSec. of Commerce, Deputy Sec. of Treasury, and advisor to Pres. Carter, Clinton, and Obama:

Pamela Cohen's book Hidden Heroes, is a moving account of how she went from a stay-at-home mom to lead a remarkable grassroots group,  The Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ), which sprouted up almost spontaneously in response to the arrest and trial of Soviet Jews desperately seeking to leave the anti-Semitic prison of the Soviet Union. She grippingly describes how the Six Day War 1967 was a catalyst for Soviet Jews to rediscover their Jewish identity brutally suppressed by the USSR, and how the UCSJ tirelessly worked, sometimes in opposition to more establishment Jewish groups and the Israeli foreign ministry, to prod U.S. government and western action that produced the most successful mass rescue of Jews in history. As their outside legal adviser,  I was privileged to witness first hand and to be inspired by Pamela' tireless work and that of her colleagues, including Micah Naftalin, the head of the UCSJ's Washington office. Hidden Heroes demonstrates how dedication at the grassroots level for a just cause, can profoundly change history.

Josef I. Abramowitz, President & CEO, GigawattGlobal Coöperatief U.A.:

Hidden Heroes unlocks and humanizes, for the first time, the power of the global Soviet Jewry movement and the tenacious housewives and students who successfully took on not only the Kremlin, but also, when needed, the Jewish establishment and even the State of Israel.  The secret formula for creating a modern exodus unfolds with each engaging chapter, from suburban dining rooms, to cramped Moscow apartments; from the halls of Congress and to superpower summits.  Hidden Heroes celebrates the refuseniks in the Soviet Union and the voice of the refuseniks in the west, whose bond was stronger than the KGB.  Any opponent of totalitarianism will find hope in this historic human and Jewish drama.  It is not an accident that the Soviet Union fell on the watch of the leadership of Pam Cohen, Micah Naftalin and a whole generation of mostly volunteers. It was, in retrospect and prophetically, inevitable. Now their story is finally told.   

Jonathan Sarna, Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University; author of “American Judaism: A History”: 

Details how [Pamela Cohen] inspired others, transformed herself, and most importantly “changed the world” – sometimes over the objections of men much more famous than herself. An essential historical memoir and a great read. 

Yosef Mendelevich, former Prisoner of Zion and author of “Unbroken Spirit: A Heroic Story of Faith, Courage and Survival”: 

Pamela Cohen wrote a book. It is not only hers. It is OURS. We wrote the book together, the page in the history of Am Israel.… And that is why Pam’s book is so important. It is not about the past – it is a textbook for a Jewish fighter. Learn it and join our ranks. Am Israel CHAI!