Investor Presentaiton
placed him in the middle of the larger decline of the Russian Empire and resulting Bolshevik
Revolution as well as amidst the Jewish revolution that was so deeply intertwined with the larger
movements occurring at the time. Kaganovich thus emerges as an individual who both interacted
with and to a certain extent participated in the Jewish revolution in the first half of the twentieth
century. However, while Kaganovich's life shows many similarities to the lives of other Jewish
revolutionaries, his particular dedication to Bolshevism, which in part resulted from his specific
childhood conditions, is what largely separates him from other participants in the Jewish
revolution.
Kaganovich experienced and participated in many facets of the Jewish revolution of the
1905-1917 era, but unlike many other Jewish revolutionaries, his unwavering faith in
Bolshevism drove him further than his Jewish contemporaries and would eventually place him in
an extremely powerful position as Stalin's primary deputy for many years.
Additionally, while many Jewish revolutionaries fought for change within the Jewish
community, Kaganovich separated himself from this community as a result of his Bolshevik
faith. He almost never discusses solidarity with the Jewish community, but regularly cites
examples of his camaraderie with fellow workers, regardless of their ethnicities. Kaganovich
is therefore a unique example of the Jewish revolution because of the common experiences in his
youth that he shared with other young Jewish revolutionaries but also because of the ways he
diverged from the common path.
The decades following his formative years, namely the 1920s and 1930s, are where
Kaganovich was the most influential in Soviet policy formation and enforcement. They are also
the years when his turn away from the Jewish community becomes the most apparent.
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