Software and system reusability

Feeling Communists: Communism, emotions, and gender in interwar Polish Jewry

“…In spite of this all, I will try to assemble the pieces of my memories in order to depict the events of my long life as I remember them. 30 As noted, both Kadary and Schneiderman displayed a high level of self-criticism and were aware of the emotions involved in their writing. On the surface, the two autobiographies are very similar: both were written by Eastern European Communist women who shared similar life stories and published their memoirs in Israel.…”

“…To improve her living conditions, her older brother (who moved to Łódź when she was young and was well established) asked her to move in with him and his family and to work as a nanny for his son. 18 However, she soon resumed her work as a seamstress in various workshops and factories.…”

“…My first thought was that I too would soon look like ashes. 44 Quantitatively, the emotion that recurs most frequently in the two autobiographies is fear, stemming primarily from the movement's illegal status and the fact that its members, and young Jews in particular, were under close government supervision. This reflects the central role played by this emotion in the lives of these two women, leading to an awareness of the dramatic transformation that the lives of the activists were about to undergo as a result of their political activity.…”

“…Kadary effectively portrays this dynamic when she describes Communism as a religion, like any other religion, and maintains that she replaced her Jewish Orthodox faith with belief in secular leftist ideas, and later with Communism. 52 Both Kadary and Schneiderman depict their transition from a great hope for the new world promised by left wing ideas into the extreme ideology of Communism. Both also note that this shift ushered them into the "state of mind of sacrifice" reflected in the assertion that Communist activists should be prepared to give up their lives for movement ideals.…”

“…For her, the hours after 8 pm, when the prisoners would start to talk and sing, constituted a precious time in which they could dream of freedom and inspire themselves. 66 Unlike Kadary, Schneiderman expresses her happiness and joy in a more explicit manner. The common thread running through her descriptions of happiness is that they reflected success in her political activity.…”