Stalin's postwar terror targeted Soviet Jews - in the name of 'anti-cosmopolitanism'

"Fewer know about the repressions that began after World War II and ended with Stalin's death in 1953. Much like the repressions of the 1930s, they involved fabricated plots, arrests, coerced confessions and purges. Unlike the Terror of the 1930s, they were accompanied by a wave of state-sponsored antisemitism - including the purge of Jews from multiple occupations and unwritten quotas that limited their professional and educational opportunities."

"The abolition of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee on Nov. 20, 1948, and the arrest and execution of its members was central to this postwar assault. The committee's elimination was accompanied by an "anti-cosmopolitan" campaign emphasizing Russian nationalism, Soviet patriotism and anti-Westernism. In certain ways, the campaign served as the mirror image of anti-communist and jingoistic propaganda in the United States at the time."

""Rootless cosmopolitan" became code for "Jewish," and dismissals swept the arts, sciences and media. The Ministry of State Security arrested Jewish industrial leaders for sabotage and, in 1953, fabricated " the Doctor's Plot," which accused a group of predominately Jewish doctors who treated Kremlin officials of trying to assassinate Stalin and other party leaders. The very idea of an antisemitic campaign following the massive Soviet losses in World War II presents an enigma."

Postwar Soviet repressions until Stalin's 1953 death replicated fabricated plots, arrests, coerced confessions, and purges similar to the 1930s. Those campaigns included state-sponsored antisemitism, with purges of Jews from many occupations and unwritten quotas limiting professional and educational opportunities. The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee was abolished on Nov. 20, 1948; its members were arrested and executed. An "anti-cosmopolitan" campaign stressed Russian nationalism, Soviet patriotism, and anti-Westernism, while "rootless cosmopolitan" served as code for "Jewish," prompting dismissals across arts, sciences, and media. The Ministry of State Security arrested Jewish industrial leaders and in 1953 fabricated the "Doctor's Plot," accusing predominantly Jewish Kremlin doctors of plotting assassinations. The antisemitic campaign is striking given nearly two million Jews were murdered by Nazis on Soviet soil during the Holocaust.

Read at The Conversation