Antisemitism and the Russian revolution
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Anti-Semitism and the Russian Revolution
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Anti-Semitism is an evil that dogged the Russian Revolution from its beginning.
It was deeply entrenched by the Tsarist autocracy, deliberately fostered over centuries by 140 anti-Jewish laws and buttressed by the teachings of the church. Like the Untouchable caste in Hindu society, Jews were forced to perform tasks that were taboo in feudal society, while branded as pariahs and ghettoised.
They were the commercial intermediaries between the lords of the manors and their serfs. Jews were the resented traders who kept the wheels of agriculture turning, essential while being accused of crafty bargaining and usury.
Victor Serge spoke of anti-Semitism as an evil spirit that “was the enemy, the counter-revolution.”