Abstract

Abstract:

The Russian Civil War saw an influx of bundists, including many party leaders, into the Russian Communist Party. This article will follow the career of one leading bundist from his first days in the Bund through his death in 1937, with particular emphasis on 1918–19, when he pivoted away from the anti-Communist faction of the Bund that he led to become a major figure in the Soviet Union. Using newspapers, memoirs, and archival documents, this article examines various motivations for his volte-face, including the German Revolution, antisemitic violence committed by the military of the Ukrainian Directorate, and the seeming success of the Communist project, to shed light on the relationship between Jews, radicalism, and the Soviet Union.

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