DRAWING ON THEIR JEWISH HERITAGE: DR. MAYA KATZ EXPLORES THE ROOTS OF SOVIET ANIMATION
Larry Yudelson of the New Jersey Jewish Standard interviews Maya Balakirsky Katz about her new book Drawing the Iron Curtain: Jews and the Golden Age of Soviet Animation.
When we think about Soviet Jews — or any citizens of greater Russia under the Communist regime — our imaginings tend to be in black and white. Grey photos of refuseniks; black and white photos of Moscow under gray skies.
Dr. Maya Balakirsky Katz of Teaneck tells a different story. She left Russia when she was 5, in 1979. She took her favorite books with her when her family moved to Italy and then to America, brightly colored books with pictures of cartoon animals she had watched on Soviet television.