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The accusation that Joseph Stalin was antisemitic is much discussed by historians. Although part of a movement that included Jews and rejected antisemitism, he privately displayed a contemptuous attitude toward Jews on various occasions that were witnessed by his contemporaries, and are documented by historical sources.[1] Stalin argued that the Jews possessed a "national character" but were not a "nation" and were thus unassimilable. He argued that Jewish nationalism, particularly Zionism, was hostile to socialism.[2] In 1939, he reversed Communist policy and began a cooperation with Nazi Germany that included the removal of high-profile Jews from the Kremlin. As dictator of the Soviet Union, he promoted repressive policies that conspicuously impacted Jews shortly after World War II, especially during the anti-cosmopolitan campaign. At the time of his death, Stalin was planning an even larger campaign against Jews.[3][4][5] According to his successor Nikita Khrushchev, Stalin was fomenting the doctors' plot as a pretext for further anti-Jewish repressions.[6]
Stalin publicly condemned anti-Semitism,[7] although he was repeatedly accused of it.[8] People who knew him, such as Khrushchev, suggested he long harboured negative sentiments toward Jews,[9] and it has been argued that anti-Semitic trends in his policies were fuelled by Stalin's struggle against Trotsky.[10] After Stalin's death, Khrushchev claimed Stalin encouraged him to incite anti-Semitism in Ukraine, allegedly telling him that "the good workers at the factory should be given clubs so they can beat the hell out of those Jews."[11] In 1946, Stalin allegedly said privately that "every Jew is a potential spy".[12] Conquest stated that although Stalin had Jewish associates, he promoted anti-Semitism.[13] Service cautioned that there was "no irrefutable evidence" of anti-Semitism in Stalin's published work, although his private statements and public actions were "undeniably reminiscent of crude antagonism towards Jews";[14] he added that throughout Stalin's life, the Georgian "would be the friend, associate or leader of countless individual Jews".[15] According to Beria, Stalin had affairs with Jewish women.[16]