Podcast Summary

Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Jenna Pittman
Guest: Elissa Bemporad, historian and author
Episode: "Jews in the Soviet Union: A History: Revolution, Civil War, and New Ways of Life, 1917–1930, Vol. 1"
Date: October 29, 2025

Overview

This episode features historian Elissa Bemporad discussing the first volume of her ambitious six-volume series, "Jews in the Soviet Union: A History," published by NYU Press. The book examines the transformation of Jewish life in the Soviet Union from the upheavals of the 1917 Revolution through the end of the 1920s, using new archival sources and presenting a nuanced perspective that moves beyond traditional narratives of victimhood. The conversation explores shifting identities, state structures and policies, the experience of everyday Jews, gender, the tension between Jewish institutions and the Soviet regime, and broader European contexts.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Project Background and Author's Motivation

• Bemporad is an Italian-born New Yorker with a long history of scholarship in Eastern European and Jewish history.
• Motivation: To synthesize a vast period of Jewish experience in the Soviet context, integrating new archival material and moving beyond narrow narratives.
  (02:09)

2. Periodization: Why 1917–1930?

• Three Main Turning Points:
  • February Revolution, 1917: Jews are emancipated and gain full citizenship, marking a major social shift.
  • Civil War (1919-1921): Unprecedented anti-Jewish violence forces Jews to navigate survival, often aligning with the Bolsheviks more from necessity than ideology.
  • Establishment (and liquidation) of the Jewish Section (Yevsektsiia) of the Communist Party: Launches a project to create "the new Soviet Jew," which ends in 1930, demarcating the close of this era and the start of Stalinism.
• Memorable quote: "Violence makes Jews Soviet." (03:56–08:08)

3. Archival Revolution and Historiographical Interventions

• Spanning Ukrainian, Belarusian, Russian, Israeli, US, and digitized archives, Bemporad leverages the post-1991 "archival revolution."
• Contribution: Challenges the lachrymose, black-and-white narrative of Soviet Jewish suffering and instead presents a multilayered, nuanced history accommodating both adaptation and destruction.
• On the archival turn:

  “Without archives, we almost have ... an echo chamber of brutality employed by the Bolsheviks to uproot everything that is Jewish.”
  (08:32)

4. Diversity & Homogenization of Jewish Identities

• Under the Russian Empire, Jewish communities were diverse in language, culture, politics (Zionist, socialist, assimilationist), and geography.
• Soviet policies both reinforced regional identities (Ukrainian, Belarusian, etc.) and forged a new overarching "Soviet Jewry."
• Space matters: Whether Jews lived in Moscow, Crimea, Belarusian shtetls, or Central Asia radically shaped their experience of Sovietization.
  (13:34–18:01)

5. Institutional Transformations under the Soviet State

• Soviet policy recast Jewish identity in secular, socialist terms, using instruments like the Yevsektsiia and state-sponsored cultural/educational programs.
• Paradox: State educational initiatives, intended to secularize, ironically reinforced certain ethnic bonds through Yiddish culture.
• Economic reforms forced Jews into new professions, further integrating them into Soviet society.
• Quote:

  “The Soviet Jewish experience cannot be understood apart from these mechanisms of governance and apart from the institutional and state structures ... which really tried to mold Jews into ideal Soviet citizens.”
  (18:46–23:27)

6. 1920s: The Best and Worst of Times

• Inspired by Ezra Mendelssohn’s essay comparing conditions in Poland and the Soviet Union;
  • Best: Jews benefitted from social mobility, affirmative policies, and state campaigns against antisemitism.
  • Worst: Jewish religious/cultural expression suffered under state atheism and repression.
• Quote:

  “Poland was indeed bad for Jews but good for Judaism ... the Soviet Union was good for Jews but bad for Judaism.”
  (24:45)

7. Antisemitism and the “Judeo-Bolshevik” Myth

• In Europe, antisemitism was rooted in nationalist anxieties and exclusion from the nation-state.
• In the USSR, antisemitism persisted but was reconceptualized; the Bolsheviks' goal was to create productive, secular Soviet citizens rather than exclude Jews.
• "Judeo-Bolshevism," the myth that Jews masterminded communism, gained traction during the Civil War, weaponized by anti-Bolshevik forces, with Trotsky a particular target.
• Quote:

  “This myth is weaponized ... by the White movement that is fighting on behalf of the Tsar and uses this as an instrument of propaganda.“
  (29:20–34:09)

8. State vs. Religious and Organizational Structures

• The Soviet Union was equally repressive toward all religions; rabbis and other religious leaders faced persecution.
• Emergence of "folk religion": with rabbis sidelined, women became central in keeping rituals alive (e.g., circumcision and kosher meat practices shifting to the home).
• Quote:

  “Bolshevik rule, in a way, made ritual observance much more connected to the private sphere ... with Jewish women becoming really key in these folk practices.”
  (34:33–40:01)

9. Gender, Family, and the Self

• Understudied role of Jewish women; Bemporad’s chapter integrates their perspective.
• The 1918 Family Code transformed marriage and divorce practices, emphasizing civil over religious unions—a change often favored by youth and resisted by families.
• Quote from a contemporary observer:

  "Changing a wife is easier than changing a name"—the “room of tears” at the Soviet divorce office.
  (41:22)

• The revised 1926 Family Code recognized de facto marriages, benefiting women's rights.

10. Continuity into the 1930s (Next Volume Preview)

• Success and visibility of Jews persisted, but by late 1930s, state commitment to combating antisemitism wanes.
• Yiddish culture's decline (school closures, fewer publications) marks assimilation and loss of Jewish particularity.
• The groundwork of the 1920s shapes the harsher realities under Stalin.

11. Current and Future Work

• Bemporad is now writing a biography of Esther Frumkin, a prominent but understudied Jewish socialist-turned-Communist woman, tracing her journey and ultimate fate during Stalin’s terror.
  (51:12)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On moving beyond the Cold War narrative:

  “Thanks to the archival revolution, we have been able to craft a narrative that is much more nuanced ... one that allows us to appreciate the existence of gray categories.” (08:32)

• On the transformation of religious practice:

  “Circumcision becomes, for the first time, a woman’s domain and women’s liability—something that is certainly not the case if we think about Jewish tradition and Jewish law.” (34:33)

• On the fate of Yiddish:

  “Despite the support from the Soviet state, Yiddish lost substantial ground... In 1938, the state liquidated Soviet Yiddish schools.” (47:18)

• On gender and biography:

  “I am currently writing a biography ... about a Jewish woman who was a socialist but became a Communist. Her name is Esther Frumkin ... a biography of a woman, but also a biography of an era.” (51:12)

Key Timestamps

• Author’s background: 02:09
• Periodization and key turning points: 03:56
• Archival revolution and historiography: 08:32
• Russian Jewish diversity and Soviet homogenization: 13:34
• Impact of Soviet institutional and organizational structures: 18:46
• The best and worst of times: 24:45
• Antisemitism and the Judeo-Bolshevik myth: 29:20
• Tension between state and Jewish religious leadership: 34:33
• Jewish family, gender, and the 1918/1926 Family Codes: 41:22
• Transition to 1930s and Yiddish decline: 47:18
• Current biography project: 51:12

Tone & Style

The discussion balances rigorous academic analysis with narrative storytelling, and Bemporad’s responses are detailed, thoughtful, and nuanced, avoiding simplistic victim/perpetrator binaries. The host, Jenna Pittman, is informed, enthusiastic, and draws parallels to broader historiographical debates, creating an engaging yet intellectually rich atmosphere.

For listeners and readers interested in Soviet, Jewish, and gender history, this conversation offers fresh insights and promises a series that will reshape scholarship in the field.