The purges and The Doctor's Plot

A particularly notable part of the post-war terror was anti-Semitism

• There was a broadly anti-Semitic culture, particularly within the army, where Jews found promotion difficult
• Despite anti-Semitism being offically banned, the growth of Russian nationalism during the war allowed for the return of traditional insults against the Jews
• This became most prominent in 1948, when Solomon Mikhoels, a playwright and spokesman for the Jewish Art-Fascist Committee, which had formed during the war, was murdered in Minsk by the local Party boss; the official version was that he had been murdered by the US Secret Service
• Following the murder, a number of Jews were sacked or arrested; Stalin…