Introduction: Jews, Communism, and Post- Communism: Short- and Long- term Aftereffects

Eli Lederhendler*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the aftermath of the Jewish encounter with communism. This is viewed through the prism of the fall of state socialism in Russia and Eastern Europe just over three decades ago. One salient subject in the study of the ramifications of post-communist life for Jewish history is the large-scale Jewish emigration from the former Soviet Union (FSU) and other former Eastern-bloc countries. Apart from treating the post-communist realm as a habitat for Jews and a space in which Jewish heritage can be explored, this book also highlights the ubiquitous attention that is paid to the image and figure of “the Jew(s),” as this is manifested in popular and political discourse, particularly within the larger sphere of the politics of memory. Jews and their relation to communism in the past, as well as Jewish victimhood during the Holocaust, have become staple items in the process of reconstruction and realignment of new national civic ideologies, summoned to redefine and defend the restored boundaries of collective identity.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationBecoming Post- Communist
Subtitle of host publicationJews And The New Political Cultures Of Russia And Eastern Europe: Studies In Contemporary Jewry An Annual XXXIII
PublisherOxford University Press
Pages3-7
Number of pages5
ISBN (Electronic)9780197687215
ISBN (Print)9780197687215
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Oxford University Press 2023. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Collective identity
  • Communism
  • Jewish emigration
  • Jewish heritage
  • Jewish history
  • Jews
  • Politics of memory
  • Post-communist life
  • Russia
  • Soviet Union

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