Dark Times Dire Decisions

Description
Volume XX of the distinguished annual Studies in Contemporary Jewry examines the extremely varied–and often controversial–ways in which Communism and Jewish history interacted during the twentieth century. While the Communist movement promoted an internationalist worldview that discounted ethnicity in favor of class solidarity, scholars in this volume show the significance of Jewish participation in the movement’s history. Some articles focus on whether–and if so, when and why–a disproportionate number of Jews (by origin, if not belief) identified with the Communist movement, as party members or as sympathizers and “fellow travellers.” Other contributors investigate how critical a role Jewish Communists played in the Communist movement and in the Jewish world. The complex and often contradictory policies pursued by the Communist movement and regimes toward the Jewish people are analyzed throughout the volume. A number of contributors also consider the impact of the association between Jews and Communism, investigating to what extent, if any, the conspicuous presence of Jews served to magnify the hostility between nationalities and to increase antisemitism. Spanning Poland, Russia, the United States, Britain, France, the Islamic world, Israel, and Germany, this book offers multifaceted views of the complex relationship between Communism and the Jewish community throughout the seventy years during which Communism was a major, and often dominant, political force.