Haunted by the legacy of the Holocaust, Pamela Braun Cohen became an activist in the Soviet Jewry movement in the early 1970s. She served as
cochair of Chicago Action for Soviet Jewry from 1978 until 1986, when she became the national president of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews
(UCSJ). Her leadership role took her to the halls of Congress and the White House and on frequent trips to the Soviet Union. Cohen received the
Humanitarian Award from the Raoul Wallenberg Committee of Chicago; the Medal of Honor from refuseniks; and a Doctor of Humane Letters degree
from Spertus College of Judaica. She lives in Chicago with her husband Leonard. They divide their time between family in the United States and their
home in Jerusalem.