Language:
English
Year of publication:
2003
Titel der Quelle:
Australian Journal of Politics and History
Angaben zur Quelle:
49,4 (2003) 501-516
Keywords:
Rosenberg, Ethel,
;
Rosenberg, Julius,
;
Communist Party of Australia
;
Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism (Melbourne, Vic.)
;
Jews
;
Jews History 1945-
;
Jews History 1945-
;
Antisemitism
Abstract:
The left-wing Melbourne Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism was founded in 1942; after World War II it was an influential and widely-supported organization. It maintained the belief that the main threat to Jews came from conservatives and the political right, and that communism and antisemitism were incompatible. During the two anti-Jewish show trials in Eastern Europe - the Slansky trial in Czechoslovakia and the Doctors' Plot in the USSR - the Council did not condemn the proceedings and denied that antisemitism was involved. On the other hand, during the Rosenberg trial in the USA, the Council stressed the antisemitic character of the trial and mounted a public campaign for clemency for the Rosenbergs. These attitudes evoked accusations by mainstream Jewish organizations that the Council was a Communist Party front group. Examination of the Council's politics in 1951-53, and of the broader Australian political context, shows that the Council was influenced by a pro-Soviet faction within it. In addition, there were purely political reasons for these attitudes, which led eventually to the marginalization of the Council.
DOI:
10.1111/j.1467-8497.2003.00311.x/full
URL:
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