The Vienna Jewish Museum is currently holding a special exhibition highlighting the Jewish role in the creation of the Soviet Union and Communism, titled "Comrade Jew: We Only Wanted Paradise on Earth" (
Genosse. Jude. Wir wollten nur das Paradies auf Erden) using a Soviet era cartoon of Karl Marx in a Moses pose holding tablets inscribed with "Das Kapital" and the "Communist Manifesto."
According to the Museum's official website, the exhibition marks the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, and runs until May 1, 2018.
According to the write up which accompanies the official leaflet, the exhibition focusses on the fact that the Communists "attracted many Jews seeking a radical break after centuries of anti-Semitism in the Czarist empire," and that
the "utopian idea of an egalitarian society prompted them to support the new state."In Austria, the museum adds in its write up, "antisemitism in the bourgeois parties in particular made the workers' movement into a political option for Jews, and there were close links between Russian and Austrian Marxists.
"The exhibition focuses on the failed dream of a better world. We look at the idea of an egalitarian society from an Austrian Jewish perspective and trace diplomatic, political, social, and cultural connections," the exhibition introduction states.
Comment: See also: Solzhenitsyn breaks last taboo of the Russian revolution: New book exposes the role of Jews in Soviet-era repression and genocide