Investor Presentaiton
CHAPTER I
The first chapter of this thesis will cover the era between the last decades of the Russian
Empire through the Bolshevik Revolution and Civil War, concluding with the formation of the
Soviet Union in 1922. This period in Russian history is filled with military action and political
and social changes. Additionally, it represents a period of immense change within the Jewish
communities in Russia and the territories of the Russian Empire. Before placing Kaganovich and
his experiences into the broader Jewish experiences of the time, I will first provide a brief section
of historical background.
Background
In Jews and Revolution in Nineteenth-Century Russia, Erich Haberer traces the roots of
Jewish revolutionary activity back to the mid-1800s, under the reign of Nicholas I. He argues
that the 1844 reform law, “On Establishing Special Schools for the Education of Jewish Youths,"
played the largest role in the ideological changes within the Jewish communities in the Pale. He
argues that the law resulted in large numbers of Jews eventually becoming involved in
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revolutionary work. The law, which was implemented in 1847, most importantly gave Jews
"their own modern public system of primary and secondary education."18 This new education
system for Jews was impactful in part because of its emphasis on the teachings of the Jewish
Enlightenment, the Haskalah, which originated in eighteenth century Berlin. As Haberer shows,
17 Erich Haberer, Jews and Revolution in Nineteenth-Century Russia, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1995), 9.
18 Haberer, Jews and Revolution in Nineteenth-Century Russia, 9.
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