"We were in a very difficult situation": Antisemitism in Soviet school education during the 1950s

Abstract

The antisemitic campaign of the late 1940s and early 1950s in the Soviet Union has been widely studied both in Russia and abroad. However, its manifestations in school-level education remain largely unresearched. This article, based on materials from the St Petersburg Archive of Historical-Political Documents, aims to contribute to such research. At its core is a description and analysis of materials from school Communist Party meetings, which allow us to see the everyday life of the school, including its usually unpublicised sides. The evidence shows that antisemitism in schools was both censured, as any infringement of discipline in Stalin-era schools had to be, as well as encouraged in one way or another. The study of these materials is also useful for a broader analysis of the mechanisms and distinctive characteristics of the interaction between Soviet government and society during these years. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.