Freedom and Jack London draw refugees to Fairbanks – Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

FAIRBANKS - My story is not at all unique, said Sveta Yamin-Pasternak. Its the same as it is for over a million people just from our wave of immigration that came over. Sheand her husband Igor Pasternaks stories are far from the standard American experience, however. Though they met in Chicago, both are Jews from the Soviet Union who came to America as political refugees.

Sveta was born in Rechitsa, a small town in Belarus, and grew up in Minsk. In 1989, her parents took advantage of an opening that allowed Jews to leave. The family traveled through Austria to Rome, where they were aided by HIAS, formerly the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which helps refugees of all backgrounds re-establish themselves in new countries. They were assisted by Fairbanks-born HIAS worker Sam Sherman, with whom Sveta reconnected in Fairbanks many years later.

Igors family lived in Odessa, Ukraine, before leaving in 1992. Thawing relations between the United States and the USSR led to an American consulate being established in Moscow, and they were able to apply directly for political asylum.

Both had limited knowledge of America. For Sveta, the country existed only in my imagination, adding, It was ideologically constructed as the enemy, and at the same time it was a very desirable place.

Igor had seen VCR tapes that circulated underground and said, We believed that Hollywood was what it is. Money grows on trees. You can do whatever you want. Sex, drugs and rock n roll. I had no idea about the conservatism.

They did know about Alaska, however, mostly from Jack London novels which they read in school because the Soviets approved of his socialist politics.

Because both their families had relativesalready in Chicago, that is where they each wound up Sveta as a high school student and Igor having completed army service and studies in mechanical engineering. For both, the most astonishing thing about America was that they suddenly didnt have to hide being Jewish.

I could not believe that young men would walk on the street wearing yarmulkes, Sveta said. I was coming from the perspective that if at all you can, you would pass for a non-Jew for your everyday safety and to not be denied opportunities. It was mind blowing.

Igor, who describes his father as a big time dissident in the USSR, immediately noticed that nobody gives a damn about you. You could walk on the street and no one is looking at you. That was completely new.

That sense of freedom required getting used to, but both said the Jewish community in Chicago was supportive and they quickly learned English and settled in.

The couple met in a coffee shop near Northwestern University in 1993. They dated throughout Svetas years at Northern Illinois University, where she earned bachelors and graduate degrees in anthropology. There she became fascinated with the cultures on both sides of the Bering Strait, leading her to Fairbanks in 1998 to pursue her Ph.D.at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

To this day, the shared indigenous culture with its nuanced differences between the Russified and Americanized everyday practices just continues to fascinate me, she said.

Igor helped her move to Fairbanks and made repeated visits during her first 11/2 years here. I did not have plans to settle here, but very quickly, within the first year, it became my home, Sveta said.

When Sveta started sending him emails about friends living in dry cabins with outhouses, Igor grew concerned. I thought, OK, time to bring her back. Even in the Soviet Union they had running water and toilets, he said, laughing.

However, after visiting her waterless cabin off Farmers Loop, I realized that privacy is such an important thing. We were able to get lost in the woods for hours and nobody would bother us. All the Jack London books came back. After two years I said, I want to be here too.

Igor came to stay in 2000. While Sveta completed her Ph.D., he earned a BFA in art. Theyve made Alaska their home ever since, except for 2007 to 2009 when Igor earned his masters degreefrom American University in Washington D.C. and Sveta did post-doc work at Johns Hopkins.

These days they collaborate on projects involving both anthropological research and art. This is what I believe success is, Igor said. We work together. We figure out how to come up with something in common between studio art and social science. In addition to the standard curriculum, Sveta and Igor team-teach original courses they developed, serving more than100 UAF students eachsemester.

Theyve also embraced the Alaska lifestyle by buying land, building their home, hunting, fishing, trapping and raising animals while conducting classes and traveling the world (theyve visited more than40countries).

Both have found Fairbanks welcoming.

I dont think Ive ever had an experience in Fairbanks connected with xenophobia, Igor said. That wasnt always the case in Chicago. Here even at the gun show, nobody told me I have an accent.

Sveta added, The big cities in the United States are perceived as very diverse and they are in their entirety, but they are actually divided into ghetto neighborhoods. People remain within their own groups.

This creates fun neighborhoods, but the cultures dont mix.

In Fairbanks, it is diverse but also a lot more integrated. Most people come from Outside, she added, so being an immigrant isnt as unique.

After living in Chicago, It feels like we have even more freedom here, Igor said.

Its a refuge from the refuge. The ultimate refuge, Sveta added.

The idea of refuge has been on her mind a lot owing to current events, making her especially sensitive to refugees fleeing far worse conditions than she knew.

I did come to the United States as a refugee, she said. I did come from a country where we faced everyday persecution. Its part of our story and it is relevant to what is happening now.

David James is a freelance writer who lives in Fairbanks.Becoming Alaskan is an ongoing series documenting the lives of immigrants in Fairbanks. Feedback and suggestions for future interviews can be emailed to nobugsinak@gmail.com.

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Freedom and Jack London draw refugees to Fairbanks - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner