I read an article saying he was "a giant in the Soviet Jewry movement." I don't know if it's bull but this is what some of the article said:
"Kennedy 'was one of the earliest, strongest champions on behalf of Soviet Jewry,' said Mark Levin, executive director of NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia. 'He was always proactive and didn't wait for NCSJ and other organizations to come to him -- he was always looking to see where he could make a difference.'
In his 2006 book, 'The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror,' Natan Sharansky specifically mentions Kennedy as the first Western politician to meet with refuseniks 'in a midnight meeting that was kept secret from the KGB until the very last moment.'
And Levin noted that whenever Kennedy met with Soviet officials, in Washington or in the Soviet Union, he would bring lists of those he wanted to see released.
'He never forgot we were talking about individuals and families,' Levin said."