Author Description

This book tells of events that transpired during the 40 years of Graenum Berger's interest in the Jews of Ethiopia. It includes the letter he sent in 1977 to Prime Minister Menachim Begin followed by a public address in Jerusalem which resulted in the first migration of 100 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. It describes how a few Ethiopian Jews were secretly airlifted to Israel from Sudan in 1979 (where they had fled to escape a revolution and dictatorship), which ultimately led to Operation Moses in 1984-85, and how, in 1991, the remaining 25,000 who had been brought to Addis Ababa from their villages by the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ), were dramatically flown to Israel in two days.The book also tells the story of the AAEJ, which Mr. Berger created in 1973 to educate the Jewish world about the Ethiopian Jews and to bring pressure on Jewish leaders to achieve a solution. AAEJ proved a group of volunteers could force resettlement of Ethiopian Jews in Israel. It also organized a caucus of U.S. Congressmen and Senators to encourage the White House and State Department to play a role in bringing the Ethiopian Jews from Sudan and Ethiopia. It is clear, however, that without Israel it would have been impossible to accomplish this objective. The book describes how Israel, the United States, and World Jewry reversed their policies and finally saved 50,000 Ethiopian Jewish lives.