Cheka

The Cheka: An Instrument of Revolution and Terror

The Cheka, officially known as the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission, was established in December 1917 and quickly became a formidable force that instilled mortal fear across Russia by early 1918.

This body, which swiftly gained strength, initiated the Red Terror long before its official declaration on 5 September 1918. From its very inception, the Cheka practised a brutal form of terror that persisted well beyond the Civil War.

Methods of Repression and Victims

The Cheka operated with extreme ruthlessness, enforcing the death penalty on the spot without investigation or trial from as early as January 1918. Its methods included the seizure of hundreds, and later thousands, of absolutely innocent hostages, who were then subjected to mass executions at night or mass drownings on crowded barges.

In its grim work, the Cheka specifically targeted the Russian people, who were the primary victims of its atrocities. Investigations in Kiev revealed that "almost all names were Slavic… it was the 'chosen Russians' who were shot".

Officers, nobles, priests, and members of the Zemstvos—all Russians—faced execution. Peasants fleeing conscription into the Red Army were hunted down and killed. Even the Russian intelligentsia, known for its high moral standards and opposition to anti-Semitism, perished in the Cheka's bloody basements. There was, unequivocally an anti-Slavic character to Cheka.

The barbarity of the Cheka's actions was horrific. Victims were often escorted naked into sheds, forced to fall facedown, and then executed with a shot to the back of the head, typically with revolvers, causing the skull to explode due to the short range. If the number of victims exceeded the shed's capacity, new bodies were laid upon the dead, or individuals were shot at the entrance. Most victims went to their deaths without resistance.

The genocide on the River Don saw hundreds of thousands of Don Cossacks murdered. One particularly tragic case involved Sukovkin, a former Kiev Governor who had testified in favour of Beilis' innocence. Despite a petition signed by thousands of Jews in Kiev for his release, the Cheka executed him. During the dekulakisation, millions of Russian peasants lost their right to live, and between five to six million perished from hunger in Russia and Ukraine in 1932-33. The horrors of this period were met with silence from many, especially by Jewish publicists.

The philosophical underpinnings of this terror were stark. One Chekist, M. Latsis, echoing Robespierre, declared that "to execute the enemies of the Fatherland, it is sufficient to establish their identities. Not punishment but elimination is required".

Lev Krainy, writing in Red Sword, asserted that "old foundations of morality and humanity invented by the bourgeoisie do not and cannot exist for us". Another, Schwartz, stated that if "physical extermination of all servants of Tsarism and capitalism is the prerequisite for the establishment of the worldwide dictatorship of proletariat, then it wouldn’t stop us".

The Jewish Elephant in the Room

A significant and concerning aspect of the Cheka was the disproportionately great part played by Jews in Bolshevism, a fact that should be acknowledged and deeply reflected upon by the Jewish people. While those Jews working in the Cheka were often described as young and "committed" revolutionaries, the command personnel of the Kiev Cheka were "almost exclusively JEWS," with fourteen out of twenty top leaders being Jewish. An American historian even claimed that the "entire Ukrainian Cheka was composed of almost 80% by Jews".

Many of these individuals held crucial positions within the Cheka and the broader Soviet apparatus:

• Veniamin Gerson was in the Cheka from 1918, becoming a personal referent to Dzerzhinsky from 1920.
• Israel Leplevsky, a former Bund member, joined the Bolsheviks in 1917 and worked in the Cheka from 1918.
• Yakov Agranov was responsible for all important political trials, orchestrating infamous events such as the Zinoviev, Kamenev, and "Industrial Party Trial".
• Zinovy Katznelson, Matvey Berman, and Lev Belsky are also noted among the Chekist ranks.
• Lev Feldbin, known by his pseudonym 'Aleksandr Orlov', was a prominent Chekist who headed the economic section of the foreign department of the GPU, overseeing all foreign trade of the USSR. He was tasked with extracting false confessions from victims.

Beyond direct involvement in executions, many Jewish individuals enthusiastically embraced and championed the collectivisation process, leaving behind a persistent evil memory among the Russian peasantry.

Zealous Jewish "commissioners" of militant Atheism were also noted as particularly active in the persecution of Christians. Patriarch Tikhon himself had to request the dismissal of the investigating magistrate Chpitsberg, a Jew, from Church "affairs" due to his public mockery of religious beliefs and blasphemous insults against Jesus Christ.

The very act of placing Goubelman–Iaroslavski at the head of the Union of the Godless was a direct affront to the Russian Orthodox people.

While the Jewish people should not be held responsible for the actions of a few individuals, it is imperative for a nation to acknowledge and account for the actions of its members, just as the German people have done for the Nazi period. Denying this responsibility would undermine the very notion of a nation. The question of the mass participation of Jews in the Bolshevik administration and the atrocities committed by them demands a forthright and far-sighted historical analysis.

It is worth noting that while many Jewish individuals were deeply embedded in the Communist regime, a significant portion did not adhere to Bolshevism. Rabbis, scholars, doctors, and a vast number of good people did not embrace the Bolshevik cause. Russian Jews who considered Russia their Motherland and shared the life of the Russian intelligentsia were despairing of the predominance of Jews among Soviet leaders and refused to collaborate with the Bolsheviks. Unfortunately, their voices were often silenced.

Post-Revolutionary Reflections and Avoidance of Truth

In the years following the revolution, calls for the Jewish community to acknowledge its role emerged. A 1923 proclamation, "To the Jews of all countries!", firmly stated that the "overly zealous participation of Jewish Bolsheviks in the oppression and destruction of Russia … is blamed upon all of us," leading to the identification of "Soviet rule with Jewish rule" and the transformation of hatred for Bolsheviks into fierce hatred for Jews.

This proclamation urged a fight against Bolshevism as a sacred duty before humanity, culture, Motherland, and the Jewish people. However, these honest declarations were met with "great indignation" from within the Jewish community.

The unwillingness to openly discuss this painful history persisted. When individuals like Mikhail Kheifets, a former Gulag prisoner, courageously called for Jewish repentance for the evil committed in the name of communism, he was met with bitter ridicule.

Attempts to analyse Jewish characters in literature, even when depicting their involvement in the regime's brutality, were met with strong objections, often demanding that such roles be assigned to Russians instead. It became clear that while it was always acceptable to blame Russians en masse, the notion of collective guilt was fiercely rejected when applied to Jews.

Despite the clear historical record, many intellectuals, particularly in the West, conveniently ignored the Russian grievances of the 1920s and 1930s, recognising Jewish suffering only when it suited their narrative. This led to a stark double standard: while the Soviet regime's atrocities against millions of Russians and Ukrainians were often overlooked or excused, the West's outrage and action were primarily triggered when the target became specifically Jews.

This selective outrage allowed them to ignore the broader context of Soviet tyranny and the suffering of the Russian people.

Ultimately, the failure to openly confront and acknowledge the full truth of all historical involvement in the revolutionary period, including the roles played by individuals of all nationalities, hinders true understanding and reconciliation between Russians and Jews. As one wise commentator noted, if one is absolved of all responsibility for the actions of one's compatriots, the very notion of a nation loses all true meaning.