Antisemitism and the Russian Revolution

by Brendan McGeever

When the Bolsheviks came to power in 1917, they announced the overthrow of a world scarred by exploitation and domination. In the very moment of revolution, these sentiments were put to the test as antisemitic pogroms swept the former Pale of Settlement. The pogroms posed fundamental questions of the Bolshevik project, revealing the depth of antisemitism within sections of the working class, peasantry and Red Army. Antisemitism and the Russian Revolution offers the first book-length analysis of the Bolshevik response to antisemitism. Contrary to existing understandings, it reveals this campaign to have been led not by the Party leadership, as is often assumed, but by a loosely connected group of radicals who mobilized around a Jewish political subjectivity. By examining pogroms committed by the Red Army, Brendan McGeever also uncovers the explosive overlap between revolutionary politics and antisemitism, and the capacity for class to become racialized in a moment of crisis.

Genres: History, Judaism, Russia, Race, Nonfiction

258 pages, Hardcover

First published November 8, 2016

Reviews

[Inna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant take on a major question pertaining to any revolution. How does a revolutionary movement deal with common prejudice against certain groups of the population? How it deals with its prejudiced supporters? And who, in fact, introduces relevant policies? The author, looking at the Red Army anti-Jewish pogroms during the 1917 - 1920 period, pointed out that particularly in Ukraine antisemitism was a common part of anti-bourgeois sentiment among the local peasantry, that is the group from which the majority of the Red Army soldiers came. He also pointed out that antisemitism was a convenient way for the peasantry to move back and forth between various sides of the civil war, since it provided them with an option to be anti-bourgeois with the Reds and anti-Jewish with the Whites. While the Bolsheviks were anti-racist in principle, the author described their reactions to the Red Army pogroms as sporadic and pointed out that such reactions got serious only when the Bolshevik authorities felt that antisemitism was effectively utilized by their enemies. On the other hand, he pointed out to various Jewish socialist bodies, largely non-Bolshevik though with Bolshevik members and supporting of the government, as consistently pushing towards anti-antisemitic policies, in particular towards anti-racist education in general, and within the army in particular. The main point of this book is that even during a revolution headed by an anti-racist organization, the main brunt of the struggle against racism is still on the activists belonging to a discriminated group and committed towards it, as their first priority. Just to point out that a similar point is commonly made by feminists-socialists while discussing the status of women in revolutionary organization.

[Dimitrii Ivanov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-organised study of response to antisemitism in the early years of the Soviet regime (mainly 1918-19), with a particular focus on state and party apparatuses' response to 'red' antisemitism. Argued in such a way that you see why archival sources were needed and how they were used (e.g. what changes there were between drafts of important documents and their published versions). There are a few annoying typos in the footnotes, mostly concerning periodicals' publication dates (which can be important for the argument).

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quality study of the happenings of antisemitism during the Russian Revolution. Cuts through the mythology of the past 100 years, wherein the Bolsheviks, red army, and the revolutionary forces have been raised to a point where they represent something which is tantamount to being holy and beyond criticism. Demonstrates the presence of reactionary forces on both sides, Red and White, of the Russian Civil War.

[Alyx Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

essential reading