The Jewish Revolution in Belorussia : Economy, Race, and Bolshevik Power

Jewish life was changed fundamentally as Jews joined the Bolshevik movement and populated the front lines of the revolutionary struggle. Andrew Sloin's story follows the arc of Bolshevik history but shows how the broader movement was enacted in factories and workshops, workers' clubs and union meetings, and on the Jewish streets of White Russia. The protagonists here are shoemakers, speculators, glassmakers, peddlers, leatherworkers, needleworkers, soldiers, students, and local party operatives who were swept up, willingly or otherwise, into the Bolshevik project. Sloin stresses the fundamental relationship between economy and identity formation as party officials grappled with the Jewish Question in the wake of the revolution.

"Readable, well-researched, firmly grounded on existing literature and on primary sources. A welcome addition to recent works on Jewish history in Belarus." - Anna Shternshis, author of Soviet and Kosher

"A remarkable social history that investigates the process of Sovietization among Jews in Belorussia through the perspective of labor and the economy. Andrew Sloin s mastery of the relevant literature and his own rigorous analysis provide firm grounding for this book." - Jeffrey Veidlinger, author of In the Shadow of the Shtetl

"Much has been written about the promises and pitfalls of Soviet nationality policies and the ways in which the Soviet state managed its multi-ethnic empire. Drawing on a wealth of previously untapped archival materials from Belorussian archives, Sloin’s excellent study nonetheless fills a major lacuna. It will stand alongside some of the best scholarship in Soviet Jewish history that has been published in recent years." - Slavonic and East European Review