Reviews

Masha Gessen’s new book explores the his­to­ry of the Jew­ish Autonomous Region of Biro­bidzhan through the sto­ry of David Bergel­son and Simon Dub­now, whose thought and writ­ing influ­enced its development.

Jun 26, 2017

“Jus­tice” – with all its trans­for­ma­tions and many faces – is a key notion for under­stand­ing Sovi­et his­to­ry. It was social jus­tice that the Bol­she­vik Rev­o­lu­tion was after. It was ​“the dream of social jus­tice” that attract­ed so many peo­ple, includ­ing numer­ous Jews, to join the rev­o­lu­tion or to immi­grate to Sovi­et Rus­sia. And the stronger the belief in social jus­tice the new order brought, the stronger was the shock caused by the injus­tice of the selec­tive enforce­ment of Sovi­et laws.

Apr 01, 2025