Antisemitism in the Soviet Union

Antisemitism was employed as a tool by Stalin and Leonid Brezhnev while it was opposed by Lenin and the founders of the Soviet Union.

The 1917 Russian Revolution overthrew a centuries-old regime of official antisemitism in the Russian Empire . The success of the Soviet Union in dealing with this previous legacy of antisemitism, as well as the extent that the Soviet government fought against this prejudice, is a topic of some debate. Although officially forbidden as a form of ethnic and racial chauvinism , antisemitism was commonly used as an instrument for personal conflicts in the Soviet Union , starting from conflict between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky and continuing through numerous conspiracy theories spread by official propaganda. Antisemitism in the Soviet Union reached new heights after 1948 during the campaign against the " rootless cosmopolitan ", in which numerous Yiddish -writing poets, writers, painters and sculptors were killed or arrested. This culminated in the so-called Doctors' plot , in which a group of doctors (some of whom were Jewish) had allegedly conspired to murder Stalin. The Myth of the Jewish Race .

The 1917 Russian Revolution overthrew a centuries-old regime of official antisemitism in the Russian Empire , including its Pale of Settlement . However, the previous legacy of antisemitism was continued by the Soviet state, especially under Stalin , who spread anti-Jewish conspiracy theories through his propaganda network . Antisemitism in the Soviet Union reached new heights after 1948 during the campaign against the " rootless cosmopolitan ", in which numerous Yiddish -writing poets, writers, painters and sculptors were killed or arrested. This culminated in the so-called Doctors' plot , in which a group of doctors (almost all of whom were Jewish) were subjected to a show trial for supposedly having plotted to assassinate Stalin. " "Soviet Union": The Doctors' plot 1953 - Stalin's last purge plan" .

Overview of antisemitism in the Soviet Union The February Revolution in Russia officially ended a centuries-old regime of antisemitism in the Russian Empire , legally abolishing the Pale of Settlement . However, the previous legacy of antisemitism was continued and furthered by the Soviet state , especially under Joseph Stalin . After 1948, antisemitism reached new heights in the Soviet Union , especially during the anti-cosmopolitan campaign , in which numerous Yiddish -writing poets, writers, painters and sculptors were arrested or killed. This campaign culminated in the so-called doctors' plot , in which a group of doctors (almost all of whom were Jewish) were subjected to a show trial for supposedly having plotted to assassinate Stalin. Although repression eased after Stalin's death, persecution of Jews would continue until the late 1980s (see: refuseniks ). " "Soviet Union": The Doctors' plot 1953 - Stalin's last purge plan" . (See column 144) Государственный антисемитизм в СССР (цикл статей)