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The Slansky Affair and the Reconstitution of Jewish Identities After the Holocaust

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The Slansky Affair and the Reconstitution of Jewish Identities After the Holocaust Fourteen Convicted, Three Million Condemned: The Slansky Affair and the Reconstitution of Jewish Identities After the Holocaust By Helaine Debra Blumenthal A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor John Connelly, Chair Professor John Efron Professor Yuri Slezkine Professor David Frick Spring 2012 Fourteen Convicted, Three Million Condemned: The Slansky Affair and the Reconstitution of Jewish Identities After the Holocaust Copyright © 2012 By Helaine Debra Blumenthal Abstract Fourteen Convicted, Three Million Condemned: The Slansky Affair and the Reconstitution of Jewish Identities After the Holocaust by Helaine Debra Blumenthal Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Berkeley Professor John Connelly, Chair In this study, I examine how Jews in the United States, Western Europe, and Israel reacted to the Slansky Affair, the Doctors’ Plot, and the general wave of overt Soviet antisemitism which took shape in late 1952 until Stalin’s death in early March 1953. I explore how the Holocaust, the creation of a Jewish state, and the Cold War affected Jewish conceptions of antisemitism as well as the nature and character of Jewish collective action on both the global and the domestic stage. After investigating the ways in which Jews understood and reacted to the trial culturally, religiously, organizationally, nationally, and politically, I assert that in the early 1950s, Jews were in a process of redefinition. The role of Israel in diasporic Jewish affairs, the relationship between Jews and the Left, the position of Jews in the Cold War, and the nature and character of Jewish central leadership figured prominently in the lives of individual Jews and Jewish communities in the years immediately following the end of the Second World War. This is not an investigation of the Slansky Trial itself. Rather, through examining how Jews understood and made sense of the Trial, I construct a narrative of Jewish identity politics in the early 1950s. 1 Dedication To the memory of my father, Norman C. Blumenthal. Your love and support continue to sustain me as much in death as they did in life. i Contents Dedication ...................................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................ iv Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. v Chapter One: Framing the Debate .......................................................................................................... 1 The Holocaust and the Realities of Genocide ........................................................................................... 1 The Nature of Soviet Antisemitism ........................................................................................................... 4 Halt the Hysteria ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Missing the Target .................................................................................................................................. 16 Historicizing the Trial .............................................................................................................................. 18 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 27 Chapter Two: The Race Against Time .................................................................................................... 28 The Zionists ............................................................................................................................................. 29 Labor ....................................................................................................................................................... 34 The American Jewish Committee and The Liberal Agenda ..................................................................... 39 Western Europe ...................................................................................................................................... 51 The Zurich Controversy ........................................................................................................................... 53 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 68 Chapter Three: Communism on Trial ................................................................................................... 70 Recruitment and Vigilance ...................................................................................................................... 71 Retreats from Communism ..................................................................................................................... 76 From the Communist Point of View ........................................................................................................ 94 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 105 Chapter Four: The “State” of the Trial ................................................................................................. 108 Reaction to Prague ................................................................................................................................ 110 The Doctors’ Plot ................................................................................................................................... 116 The Bombing at the Soviet Legation ..................................................................................................... 124 The Rupture .......................................................................................................................................... 127 Jews, Israel, and the Cold War .............................................................................................................. 132 The United Nations and the Reversal of the Doctors’ Plot ................................................................... 141 Resumption of Diplomatic Relations .................................................................................................... 147 ii The Crisis Within ................................................................................................................................... 148 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 162 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 164 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................. 170 iii Acknowledgments First and foremost, I must thank Professor John Connelly whose guidance, advice, and critical eye over the last seven years have continually challenged me and made me into a better historian. I would also like to thank Professors John Efron, Yuri Slezkine, and David Frick for their careful review of the following work and their indispensible advice regarding its content. I would be remiss if I did not express my sincere thanks to Professor Peggy Anderson. Your mentorship, friendship, and caring attitude have helped me through some rough times, and your TV recommendations have always proved to be a much welcomed distraction. I am grateful for the institutional support of the History Department and Graduate Division of UC Berkeley, the Cahnman Foundation, and the Center for Jewish History. I am especially thankful to the staff of the Center for Jewish History for their patient help in navigating the archives. I owe special thanks to my research assistants, Scott Young, Claire Payton, Julia Lieken, and Hilary Kaplan. You made those long hours in the archives a little more lively, and I would not have been able to carry out my research without you. Many have helped me along this path, but I would not have begun the journey without the mentorship of my undergraduate advisor, Pieter Judson. I continue to value your friendship, both personally and professionally. I cannot begin to show my appreciation for the love and support my friends and family have shown me unconditionally throughout this experience. I think I owe my relative sanity to the almost daily conversations I had with Rebecca Eckstein Gerber and Ramie Gold. I owe special gratitude to my mother, Marcia Blumenthal, and brother, Saul Blumenthal. Your encouragement has sustained me and pushed me forward even when the end seemed out of reach. And finally, I can never thank my husband, Dan Schonberg, enough for his love, his patience, and his gifted computer skills. I could not have asked for a more supportive and sympathetic partner and editor. iv Introduction On November 20, 1952, a trial opened in Prague. Communist Czechoslovakia charged fourteen men with crimes of espionage, sabotage, and high
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