Veil lifted on taboo about Jews’ role in Russian Revolution

Published: 9 November 2017

Last updated: 5 March 2024

OF ALL THE MANY loaded issues tied to the bloody history of Jews in the former Soviet Union, none is as sensitive today in that part of the world as their role in the 1917 revolution that brought the communists to power.

The outsized prevalence of Jews in the ranks of the revolution that broke out a century ago on November 7 has remained a mainstay of anti-Semitic vitriol in the area.

During the Holocaust, it served as a pretext for the murder of countless Jews across Eastern Europe by self-proclaimed enemies of communism and Russia. And it’s still being used today to incite hatred against local Jews, including among devout Christians who were persecuted by the anti-religious Soviet authorities.

Photo: Jewish organisations during the May Day demonstration at Marsovo Pole in Petrograd, Russia, 1919. (Jewish Museum and Tolerance Centre)

FULL STORY What was the Jewish role in 1917 Russian Revolution? (JTA)