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Dissertation Information for Robert Mark Levy

NAME:
- Robert Mark Levy

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- History

SCHOOL:
- University of California, Los Angeles (USA) (1998)

ADVISORS:
- Ivan T. Berend

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Barisa Krekic
- Gail Kligman
- Steven J. Zipperstein

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Ana Pauker: A case study of Jewish Communists in east-central Europe

Abstract: This political biography of Ana Pauker, Communist leader (1944-52) and Foreign Minister (1947-52) of Romania, is based on both archival documents and oral histories of participants and witnesses. It examines the conventional wisdom of Romanian Communist history, which consistently depicted Pauker as the leading proponent of Soviet-imposed Stalinism within the Romanian Communist leadership during her years in power. Specifically, it reviews Pauker's record during the early postwar period, when she was the unofficial head of the Romanian Communist Party, as well as her actions on the following issues: agricultural policy (including collectivization, crop collections and the fight against the kulaks), for which she was responsible in the Party leadership between 1949 and 1952; the initiation of Party purges as part of the Soviet-imposed anti-Tito campaign beginning in 1948; and the mass emigration of Romanian Jewry to Israel. It also analyzes the circumstances surrounding the purge of Ana Pauker and her allies in the leadership (Vasile Luca and Teohari Georgescu) in 1952, and her arrest and brief imprisonment in 1953.

The study's findings challenge the conventional wisdom on Pauker personally and Romanian Communist history generally. It concludes that Pauker persistently opposed the forced collectivization of Romanian agriculture, blocked Soviet-inspired efforts to stage an anti-Tito show trial in Bucharest, and supported unrestricted emigration of Romanian Jews to Israel. It also finds that previous notions on Pauker's purge, that it was largely unrelated to policy differences between Pauker and General Secretary Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, and generally lacked the antisemitic motif found in other Soviet Bloc purges of that period, are in need of revision.

Finally, the study examines the attempt of Jewish Communists to integrate themselves into Romanian society and overcome nationalist and antisemitic persecution by embracing the apparent revolutionary internationalism of the Communist Party--an attempt, the study concludes, that ultimately proved a failure.

MPACT Scores for Robert Mark Levy

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-10-08 10:13:42

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Students under Robert Mark Levy

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None