The policy towards the Jews, Zionism, and Israel of the Hungarian Communist Party, 1945-1953

Garai, George (1979) The policy towards the Jews, Zionism, and Israel of the Hungarian Communist Party, 1945-1953. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

The thesis examines the relationship between the Communists and Jews, and Zionists in particular, in the peculiar conditions of Hungary. After their emancipation in the late 19th century, Jews were given two important roles to play: to develop certain capitalist functions and to boost the proportions of Hungarians against the various nationalities inhabiting the country. This helped them to gain materially and intensified their assimilation. The latter significantly reduced the attraction of Zionism, which identifies Jews as a nationality. The strong Jewish participation in the short-lived Soviet Republic in Hungary enabled the subsequent antisemitic and anti-Communist regime to equate Jewish and Communist interests. The persecution of Jews during the Second World War decimated the community and to many proved the futility of assimilation, thus increasing willingness to embrace Zionism. The Communists, coming to power on the heels of the occupying Soviet army, were under predominantly Jewish leadership thus proving the claims of the previous regime. To distract attention from their leaders made the party pretend the non-existence of any particular Jewish problem, or even the existence of Jews in Hungary. This characterised the Communist attitude to Jews in the subject period, while attitude to Zionism and Israel followed the policy of the Soviet Union. When, in the early 1950s, Stalin identified his main enemies as the Zionists and the Jews (see Slansky trial and the Moscow doctor's plot) the Hungarian Communist leader, Rakov, played down embarrassing aspects like that Slasnky's case challenged the reliability of Jewish Communists. Stalin's death in 1953 cut short the increasing anti-Jewish campaign and the subsequent changes in Soviet policy lead to some liberalisation in Hungary too, including rehabilitation of victims of injustice, with the exception of Zionists. The thesis concludes that because of the weak Zionist influence and the Communists' opposition to racial discrimination as a matter of principle, most Hungarian Jews found integration into the Communist system relatively easy.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 1979 George Garai
Library of Congress subject classification:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D839 Post-war History, 1945 on D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D901 Europe (General) J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Supervisor:	Schapiro, Leonard
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4814

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