The Nazification of Russia: Antisemitism in the Post-Soviet Era

This is a cry of alarm and warning. The author, a Soviet emigre and expert on Russian ultranationalism, sees anti-Semitism in post-Soviet Russia as the inseparable ally of extreme Russian nationalism, a cause readily embraced by ex-Communists. The resulting "red-brown" alliance is, for Reznik, a deadly menace to Russia and the world. It is sustained by a national propensity to blame others, especially Jews, for Russia's troubles. Unfortunately, his book is disorganized, breathless, and not free of mistakes, and it reads as if it had been produced in a hurry. A potted history of pre-Soviet anti-Semitism is followed by some account of the Soviet years; then we are introduced to both familiar and unfamiliar figures on the contemporary neofascist fringe. Russian anti-Semitism is ever with us, it seems, but to speak of the nation's "Nazification" is, even considering the lunatic clown Zhirinovsky (perhaps now eclipsed), a desperately pessimistic evaluation. Time will tell whether it is justified. For Russian and Soviet studies collections.?Robert H. Johnston, McMaster Univ., Hamilton, OntarioCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.