1st Edition

War, the Holocaust and Stalinism

By Shimon Redlich Copyright 1995
    548 Pages
    by Routledge

    546 Pages
    by Routledge

    First Published in 1995. The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee was an organization created by the Soviet authorities as a tool of Soviet war propaganda. However, the committee gradually assumed a Jewish identity and served as a focus for Jewish problems and concerns. Soviet Government, Party and Security began to view the committee with suspicion. Increasing conservatism and anti-Jewish policy rendered the existence of this Jewish organization precarious. War, Holocaust and Stalinism presents a documented history of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee in the Soviet Union during the Second World War, the Holocaust and the immediate post-war years to the end of 1948. It centers upon the tragic fate of Soviet Jewry under both Hitler and Stalin during this most significant period in Jewish history. This is the first publication of documents from the newly opening Russian archives, primarily from the Russian State Archive and the former Archive of the Communist Party. Using previously unpublished material, this volume offers a new insight into Soviet and Stalinist policies towards Jews and the JAFC and the decision-making processes involved.

    Part 1 First steps: the Stillborn committee; the August 1941 rally; a Jewish newspaper; organizing the committee; the May 1942 rally; the second JAFC plenary session. Part 2 The JAFC and Soviet Jewry: Jews turn to the committee; the JAFC intercedes; postwar Jewish resettlement; Jewish culture; the April 1944 rally. Part 3 The JAFC and the authorities: the Sovinformburo; the central committee; denunciations. Part 4 The JAFC and world Jewry: the Mikhoels-Fefer mission; contacts with the West; the world Jewish Congress; contacts with East European Jewry; an international progressive Jewish movement?. Part 5 The black book. Part 6 The JAFC, Soviet Jews, and Israel: letters and appeals; reports to the Central Committee; JAFC Presidium meetings; criticism of Ehrenburg's article. Part 7 Towards the end: growing criticism of the JAFC; the murder of Mikhoels; the end of the committee.

    Biography

    Shimon Redlich, born in Poland and a survivor of the Holocaust, is an internationally established scholar of the history of the Jews in Eastern Europe. He earned his degrees from the Hebrew University, Harvard and New York University. Prof. Redlich lectures on Modern European History at Ben-Gurion University, Israel.