Russia and the Jews

G L O S S A R Y O F T E R M S F O R T H I S I S S U E
Bolsheviks (meaning “majority”) were
members of the faction of the Marxist
Russian Social Democratic Labor Party
(RSDLP) that split apart from the Mensheviks.
Bourgeoisie: Those in the upper or merchant
class, whose status or power
comes not from aristocratic origin; the incorrigibly
capitalistic.
Central Committee: (CC) Most commonly
refers to the central executive unit
of a Leninist (commonly also Trotskyite)
or Communist Party, whether ruling or
non-ruling.
Cheka was the first of a succession of
Soviet state security organizations. It was
created by a decree issued on Dec. 20,
1917, by Lenin.
Commissar is the English transliteration
of an official title used in Russia after the
Bolshevik revolution. It denotes a political
functionary at a military headquarters
who holds co-equal rank and authority
with his military counterpart.
Cossack: For our discussion, the Cossacks
are a fiercely independent, autonomous
culture group found in large
enclaves in and around Russia. Cossack
regions were the main centers for White
resistance against communism.
CPSU: The Communist Party of the Soviet
Union (Communisticheskaya Partiya
Sovetskogo Soyuza) was the ruling political
party in the Soviet Union. It emerged
in 1912 as the Bolshevik faction of the
Russian Social Democratic Labor Party
and then a separate party. The party led
the October Revolution, which led to the
establishment of a socialist state in Russia.
The party was dissolved in 1991, at
the time of the breakup of the USSR.
GPU: The State Political Directorate
(GPU) was the secret police of the Russian
Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
(RSFSR) and the Soviet Union until 1934.
Formed from the Cheka, the Soviet state
security organization, it was initially known
under the Russian abbreviation GPU for
“Gosudarstvennoye Politicheskoye Upravlenie
of the NKVD of the RSFSR.”
Gulag: Soviet labor/death camp system.
It spread across Russia like a chain of islands,
hence Solzhenitsyn’s use of the
term “gulag archipelago.” GULAG was in
actuality the government agency that administered
the penal labor camps of the
Soviet Union. Gulag is the Russian acronym
for The Chief Administration of Corrective
Labor Camps and Colonies.
Eventually the usage of “gulag” began to
denote the entire penal labor system in
the USSR, then any such penal system.
Izvestia: Newspaper started in 1917 espousing,
at that time, mostly Menshevik
views. During the Soviet period, Izvestia
expressed the official views of the Soviet
government as published by the Presidium
of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
KPD: The Communist Party of Germany
(German: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands)
was formed in December 1918
from the Spartacist League, which originated
as a small factional grouping within
the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and
the International Communists of Germany
(IKD). Both factions opposed WWI on the
grounds that it was an imperialist war in
which the working class had no interest.
Kulak: A Russian agriculturalist with a
small-to-medium-sized farm. Used derogatorily
by the Bolsheviks.
Mensheviks (meaning “minority”) were a
faction of the Russian revolutionary movement
that emerged in 1903 after a dispute
between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov,
both members of the Russian Social-Democratic
Labor Party. The Mensheviks
(actually the majority) did not want to topple
the czar. They were outlawed in 1921.
Muzhik denotes a Russian peasant.
Usage was especially common in pre-
1917 Imperial Russia; a reference to a
person belonging to a low social class or
status (specifically, working class or Third
Estate).
Nicholas II: Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov
(1868-1918) was the last czar of
Russia, king of Poland and grand duke of
Finland. He is currently regarded as Saint
Nicholas the Passion Bearer by the
Russian Orthodox Church. He and his
family were massacred by order of Lenin
at the Ipatiev house in Yekaterinburg.
NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal
Affairs) was the leading secret police
organization of the Soviet Union that was
responsible for political repression during
the Stalinist era.
Politburo: The executive organization for
a number of political parties, most notably
for communist parties.
Pravda: (“Truth”) Newspaper was the official
mouthpiece of the Communist Party.
Proletariat was a term used to identify a
lower social class.
Taiga: For our discussion, the inhospitable
area below the Russian Arctic tree
line containing mostly coniferous forests.
Tass: Soviet mass media outlet.
Terror Famine: The forced famine instituted
by the communists to kill as many
peasants and farmers as possible in
areas that rejected communism; 10-15
million people killed in 7 years.
Tundra: A very cold Arctic region unable
to support forests due to freezing temperatures
and short growing season.
White Russian: Supporter of the czar.
Zemstvo refers to a form of local government
instituted during the liberal reforms
of imperial Russia by Czar Alexander II.
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