The Wolf of the Kremlin: The First Biography of L.M. Kaganovich, the Soviet Union's Architect of Fear [Hardcover]

Stuart Kahan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The reader wonders at the gimmick of the "affidavit" included here signed by Kahan's father, which asserts that the primary sources for this book about Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich are the wolf himselfwhom the author implicates in murdering Stalin and describes as a "self-hating Jew" and the "ultimate Jew-hater"and the author's paternal grandfather, Lazar's first cousin. He also apparently accepts as received truth family legend about the cousin from whom his Ukrainian grandfather parted as a teenager, Morris going to the U.S., Lazar to Kiev to agitate for the Bolsheviks. And Kahan (The Expectant Father's Survival Kit, etc.) fails to make clear the specific information he gleaned from an interview with his 93-year-old "Uncle Lazar" in Moscow in 1981, causing one to read with skepticism reconstructed conversations of Russian Revolution contemporaries about the purges, WW II and Kremlin politics and quotes attributed to Stalin, Khrushchev, Malenkov, Mikoyan et al. as we watch Lazar rise to power as Stalin's "apparatus of terror." A meaningful biography of the sinister Kaganovich is still to be written. Photos.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The Wolf of the Kremlin is Lazar M. Kaganovich, a Ukrainian Jew who rose through party ranks under Stalin to become a prominent member of the Central Committee. Kahan, a relative, has based much of this biography upon a lengthy conversation with the subject. While Kahan aims to shed light upon an important but neglected figure, he also seeks a personal understanding of a Jew's betrayal of his own people. Kaganovich is seen as a man driven first by ambition and allegiance to his own heritage, who, when faced with a conflict between these commitments, chose ambition and survival. Appropriate for larger and specialized collections.Rena Fowler, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 331 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (October 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688075290
• ISBN-13: 978-0688075293
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #502,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth Reading, April 20, 2004

By 

bill runyon (Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wolf of the Kremlin: The First Biography of L.M. Kaganovich, the Soviet Union's Architect of Fear (Hardcover)

Although the stories in this book cannot be accepted as "gospel," because they are from an old man who was a
participant in some of the worst atrocities in modern history,
it needs to be read by anyone interested in the history of
the USSR.
The subject, Lazar Kaganovich, was, indeed, the "wolf of the
Kremlin," as he was the one man Stalin could count on to "solve"
problems being caused anywhere in the USSR. Kaganovich could
be counted on by Stalin to take any and all steps necessary
to get rid of problems, because he always knew what Stalin wanted, and he had carte blanche to effect those wishes. He was
truly one of the most bloodthirsty henchmen Stalin had, at a
time and place when many men were competing with each other to
be be just that, and who were apparently willing to do anything
to further their own careers. Kaganovich would be counted on
to arrest anyone, execute anyone, bury anyone, or ship off to
the Gulug anyone who stood in Stalin's way.

The book is based on the author's family history, and he did
visit his aged relative in Moscow, but the results of that interview are sketchy and, as said, must be read with skepticism. Even when the old Stalinist was elderly and living
on his pension in a large apartment bldg in Moscow, he was
still afraid of the truth, and he didn't even want to visit with, and talk to, his relative from the U.S.
Any study of Stalin and his crimes have to include reference
to Kaganovich, and that the man survived to even tell his story, even in a very sanitized form, is a testament to his strength and cunning.
One explanation of Kaganovich's bloodthirstiness, and willingness to do the worst, is that he was always afraid for his own life. His fear was especially strong because he was
Jewish, and Stalin was famously paranoid, and his hatred of Jews
was well-known and documented. The theory is that Kaganovich
was therefore, in his strong desire to show he was not Jewish
first and foremost, willing to to to any lengths necessary to
impress Stalin that he was truthworthy. No job was too dirty,
too low, or too vicious for Kaganovich, and he performed them
all throughout his life.
Even his relative's viewpoint can't hide that fact.
But the man was at the side of Stalin during his entire reign,
and he deserves to be studied.
Even allowing for this book to be less than 100% accurate, because of the limited and self-serving sources, it is still fascinating to students of terror specifically, and the USSR
in general.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pure Evil, April 16, 2002

By 

Jane Hall (Fort Mill, SC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wolf of the Kremlin: The First Biography of L.M. Kaganovich, the Soviet Union's Architect of Fear (Hardcover)

Kaganovich was an utterly evil man without redeeming characterists. He was responsible for far more deaths than Hitler.

He was selfish, cared only about his career. He purged the Ukraine, the railroads, heavy industry - sent millions to their death.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reading; and as accurate as you'll get, June 6, 2005

By 

L. Francos (Valley Stream, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wolf of the Kremlin: The First Biography of L.M. Kaganovich, the Soviet Union's Architect of Fear (Hardcover)

The chief attraction of Wolf of the Kremlin is the author's writing style. You can almost imagine you're sitting in a bar, hearing this story over drinks. But is it history?
The Publishers' Weekly reviewer complained that "A meaningful biography of Kaganovich is still to be written". But the same could be said about Attila the Hun. The point is that they didn't leave behind many witnesses to what they did. And the fact that Kaganovich was really just a cog (albeit an important one) in Stalin's machine makes the fog of history even more difficult to penetrate.
So your choices are either to take Wolf of the Kremlin as exactly what it says it is, a biography based on family history and one interview, and enjoy a vastly readable journey into one of the darkest eras of human history; or to leave it, and be the poorer for it.