Investor Presentaiton
most important role, forms the basis of my thesis. Together they represent both Kaganovich's
thoughts on his life in the moment and his recollections after the events occurred.
Project Components
By examining Kaganovich through these sources, I aim to place the life of one of Stalin's
top deputies in the larger context of Jewish identity, nationality, and politics in the Soviet Union.
Specifically, I look at Kaganovich's Jewish experience in the Soviet Union and in the top levels
of the Soviet government and attempt to understand how he viewed his Jewishness and how his
life fits into the larger narrative of the Soviet-Jewish experience. While keeping the overall
context of the broader Jewish experience in mind, I ask two separate but connected questions
about Kaganovich's life. First, how does Kaganovich's youth compare to the concept of the
Jewish revolution as described by Yuri Slezkine, as well as Andrew Sloin, Inna Shtakser, and
Scott Ury? By contrasting Kaganovich's experience as a Jewish youth against this concept of
the Jewish revolution, which is explained in more detail below, I argue that Kaganovich was, in
many ways, a strong example, but his dedication to Bolshevism ultimately separated him from
the movement and contributed to his rise in power.
Next, I ask a different, but highly related question of what became of Kaganovich's
Jewishness during his rise and dominance in Soviet politics. Here I argue that Kaganovich left
the Jewish revolution behind through his political success and also left behind his Jewishness
entirely. Kaganovich's Jewish background affected him very little during his years in power,
despite the eventual rise of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union and different eras of tense Jewish-
Soviet relations. Additionally, I show that Kaganovich was allowed to succeed in such a way
because of his unwavering faith in Stalin and Bolshevism, and his erasure of his Jewish past.
To correspond with these questions, I have divided this thesis and Kaganovich's life into
the two time periods. The first is defined by transformation and the second by integration. The
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