Investor Presentaiton
It was this commitment, paired with his access to power, that placed Kaganovich above the rest
of the Soviet Jewish community, in terms of power and status, despite sharing a similar
upbringing with much of the Jewish population. Kaganovich's life began in Kabany, Ukraine,
where he was born into a poor Jewish family with multiple siblings. His pursuit of a secular
education and Russian language skills placed him on a very similar path to the Jewish youths
participating in the Jewish revolution that brought so many young Jewish individuals into the
ranks of revolution. Kaganovich followed the common path of joining the workforce in the city,
engaging in self-education, and participating in revolutionary circles, but during the years
between 1914-1917, Kaganovich's life diverted from the typical path of the Jewish revolution.
His dedication to Bolshevism projected him farther than his peers, and his additional lack of
concern for Jewish issues separated him further.
Kaganovich was not the only Jewish individual to pursue Bolshevism and leave behind
his Jewishness, but he did achieve the highest level of standing compared to any other Jew in the
Soviet Union by becoming Stalin's deputy and trusted ally for so long. Kaganovich's path
ultimately diverged from the more common Soviet Jewish experience in the 1920s, and his
Jewish background played little role in his politics. Overall, Kaganovich's career was that of
someone who, despite participating in the Jewish revolution, rose above the rest of the Jewish
community, fully separated himself from it, and achieved one of the most powerful careers in the
Soviet Union.
Kaganovich's overwhelming success at becoming Soviet can be linked to his unyielding
devotion to Marxism-Leninism, the Bolshevik movement, and Stalin. Rees describes this aspect
of Kaganovich's character as important in the fact that it is the best representation of the closed-
system nature of the Stalinist system. While likely accurate, reducing Kaganovich's life and
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