A Specter Haunting Europe

The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism

Authors

  • Paul Hanebrink Rutgers University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23777/SN.0121/SWL_PHAN01

Keywords:

conspiratorial antisemitism, myth of Judeo-Bolshevism, Russian Revolution

Abstract

Today, fantasies of Jewish conspiracy cast Jews as cosmopolitan agents of globalisation and as enemies of national values. But conspiratorial antisemitism has taken many different forms. In the twentieth century, none was more potent or more destructive than the myth of Judeo-Bolshevism – the paranoid fear that Jews incited and directed Communist revolutions in order to advance their own interests. This text will discuss the history of the Judeo-Bolshevik myth, analyse its shifting functions from the Russian Revolution to the end of Communism in 1989, and explore the legacy that this myth has for today.

Author Biography

  • Paul Hanebrink, Rutgers University

    Paul Hanebrink is Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Rutgers University. His books include In Defense of Christian Hungary. Religion, Nationalism, and Antisemitism, 1890-1944 (2006) and A Specter Haunting Europe.The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism (2018). His teaching and research interests include the transnational history of Europe, the history of modern East-Central Europe, with a specialization in modern Hungarian history, and the history of nationalism, antisemitism, and religion in modern Europe.

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Published

2021-06-07

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2021): S:I.M.O.N. SHOAH: INTERVENTION. METHODS. DOCUMENTATION.

Section

SWL READERS

License

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How to Cite

“A Specter Haunting Europe: The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism”. 2021. S: I.M.O.N. Shoah: Intervention. Methods. Documentation. 8 (1): 104-13. https://doi.org/10.23777/SN.0121/SWL_PHAN01.