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How did Soviet policies affect Jews after World War II?
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antisemitism
Demonstrators protesting antisemitism during a silent march in Paris. The march commemorated Mireille Knoll, a Jewish woman who had survived the Holocaust and was murdered in her home on March 23, 2018, in what authorities called a hate crime.
Following World War II, Soviet policies under Joseph Stalin became increasingly antisemitic, reversing the wartime period of relative tolerance. This state-sponsored hostility manifested in several destructive ways:12
- Institutional Purges: The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee was dissolved, and its leader, Solomon Mikhoels, was murdered by the MGB (Ministry of State Security).1
- Propaganda and Arrests: A campaign against so-called "rootless cosmopolitans" targeted Jewish intellectuals, playwrights, and critics, leading to widespread arrests.1
- The Doctors’ Plot: In 1953, the regime fabricated the Doctors’ Plot, an alleged conspiracy of medical specialists—many of whom were Jewish—accused of poisoning Soviet leaders on behalf of Western and Zionist intelligence. This campaign was used to incite public hostility and signaled the preparation for a massive new purge, which was only halted by Stalin’s death in March 1953.31
- Executions: In the secret "Crimean Case" of 1952, leading Yiddish writers and other prominent Jews were executed.1
These actions reflected a broader, hostile policy toward national aspirations and a shift toward virulent state-sanctioned antisemitism that persisted until Stalin's death.14