Silk Road Adventures: Among the Jews of the Caucasus and Central Asia

Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan - the Central Asian and Caucasus republics that rose from the ashes of the former Soviet Union. - - At the time when there were restrictions on travel by foreign diplomats to these regions, Helene Kenvin was witness to the growing ultra-nationalism and rebirth of Islam among the native populations. She met people who were being beaten, kidnapped, robbed, and murdered solely because they were Jewish. She negotiated with high foreign officials to ensure the safety of Jewish communities in these countries plagued by anti-Semitism and wracked by war, rioting, and pogroms. On her missions to these beleaguered nations, Kenvin was stopped by the MVD, questioned by the KGB, and mobbed by frantic people begging for her help in emigrating. Her sometimes clandestine activities resulted in a warning not to return to these dangerous areas because "we no longer can guarantee your safety." A long-time student of Islam, Kenvin recognized signs of the rise of the Muslim militants who still threaten these struggling democracies. Although she told Western government officials what she had seen, Kenvin was branded "an alarmist." Through her efforts, emergency programs subsequently were instituted to expedite the emigration of Jews and other historically persecuted people from the Caucasus and Central Asian republics. Silk Road Adventures is the exciting story of one woman's experiences in an area of the world that still is veiled in impenetrable mystery.