Investor Presentaiton
propaganda work among students, friends, workers, and neighbors, and also rededicated himself
to self-education. Kaganovich, in his own words, overcame these struggles like a Bolshevik and
increased his devotion to Communist ideology. 10 As a result, his memoirs followed.
These two tragedies, one personal and one political, form the background that colors the
tone and direction of Kaganovich's memoir. From the preface, he is clear that the goal of writing
his memoirs is not to remove himself from the obscurity that he had fallen into, but rather to
advance the Communist Party. He articulates his aim to produce a work of strong ideological
conviction that shapes facts from the past into “a sharp weapon for the modern and future
struggles of communists.”11 He also intended for the book to serve as an inspiration for the
younger generations. Furthermore, Kaganovich articulated his role not as a memoirist, but a
Bolshevik memoirist. To Kaganovich, the memoirist must follow "the main law that stands
before every historian," to view facts objectively as external observers, or "falconers of history"
as he calls them. 12 Instead, Kaganovich viewed his role as a Bolshevik memoirist differently -
someone who writes with their ideological and revolutionary Party position in mind at all times
to cover the facts and events of the past and predict the future. 13
Kaganovich's memoir is thus not an objective account of the Soviet Union and his role in
it, nor was it ever intended to be. Kaganovich is startlingly transparent with his ideological
positioning and biases, but this is not a detriment of the source but rather a strength. Kaganovich
lived his whole life as a devout Communist and Stalin-supporter, even until his death in 1991 at
age 97, mere months before his beloved Union collapsed. It would not be fitting for a man so
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid, 15.
12 Ibid, 16.
13 Ibid.View entire presentation