Soviet Emigres Making Own News

Soviet emigres came out in force Sunday night to celebrate the 10th anniversary and 500th issue of Panorama, a Los Angeles-based, Russian-language weekly. More than honoring a newspaper, however, the ebullient crowd of 1,100 who packed Temple Beth El in West Hollywood seemed to be celebrating their own coming of age in America.

It was a moment between the old and new countries and cultures. The buffet tables were so numerous and groaned with such an abundance of Russian salads and snacks that, in spite of the crowd, there was nothing remotely resembling a Soviet queue.

The women wore everything from gold lame to casual pants and tops; the men ranged from tuxes or double breasted suits to unmatched jackets and trousers.

Virtually everyone spoke Russian as they stood under clusters of colorful balloons and accepted sweet wine or Champagne from bartenders wearing berets, scarves, and T-shirts bearing the Panorama logo printed in Russian.

Editor and publisher Alexander Polovets took to the stage with some of the paper’s contributors and supporters, such as actor Ilya Baskin, columnist Si Frumkin and lawyer Boris Gorbis, to read greetings from President Bush, Vice President Quayle, Mayor Bradley, Governor-elect Pete Wilson and Gov. Deukmejian.

Testimonials and plaques were read and presented from the county, the city and the Jewish Federation Council of Los Angeles.

And then, on to a Russian language multimedia performance, most of it comedy or satire, relying heavily on reminders of the hardships of life in the old country.

“Panorama is the one thing we can all be proud of,” Gorbis said.

Describing himself as Panorama’s “first paid subscriber,” Gorbis, who immigrated here in 1975, said: “There are things in the community that divide us. These are people who never wanted to be a community. They were suspicious of community. It meant connection to the authorities.

“That Panorama has become such a unifying force and voice in the Russian community is an incredible feat.”