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First, Dzerzhinsky was noted for being a polyglot early on in his youth. In line with other nobles, Dzerzhinsky spoke French, Polish, German, Yiddish (n.b. mutually intelligible with German), Latin, Greek and Russian (there are documents from his education that attest to this). <ref>[https://www.mk.ru/editions/daily/article/2002/11/21/130978-palach-korolevstva-lyubvi.html]</ref> | First, Dzerzhinsky was noted for being a polyglot early on in his youth. In line with other nobles, Dzerzhinsky spoke French, Polish, German, Yiddish (n.b. mutually intelligible with German), Latin, Greek and Russian (there are documents from his education that attest to this). <ref>[https://www.mk.ru/editions/daily/article/2002/11/21/130978-palach-korolevstva-lyubvi.html]</ref> | ||
Next, consider that in the 1914 Russian Empire census, Jews were the second most urbanised population. The largest [[urbanite]] population | Next, consider that in the 1914 Russian Empire census, Jews were the second most urbanised population. The largest [[urbanite]] population were Russian at 8.8 million, followed by a rather significant Jewish population at 2.5 million (bear in mind the total Jewish population was ~5 million, so HALF of all Jews lived in cities compared to Russians hovering around 17%), then Polish at 1.45 million, then Ukrainians at 1.25 million (the numbers then taper off significantly).<ref> [https://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97.php]</ref> So it is not particularly surprising that he happened to find a Jewish spouse and could speak her language. | ||
Lastly, on the allegation that Dzerzhinsky was not truly a noble, the fable goes like this: his father decided to falsify nobility to conceal the fact that he was Jewish. <ref>[https://www.deathofcommunism.com/felix-dzerzhinsky/]</ref> How and why his father decided to conceal his Jewishness in an area specifically set out for the Jews to live in the Russian Empire (the so-called 'Pales of Settlement') nobody knows. Notwithstanding the illogical nature of the story, it can be easily debunked by consulting the contemporary government documents themselves that show him and his father as Catholic nobles. <ref>[http://uni-persona.srcc.msu.ru/students/stud_1840-1901/cards33.html]</ref> | Lastly, on the allegation that Dzerzhinsky was not truly a noble, the fable goes like this: his father decided to falsify nobility to conceal the fact that he was Jewish. <ref>[https://www.deathofcommunism.com/felix-dzerzhinsky/]</ref> How and why his father decided to conceal his Jewishness in an area specifically set out for the Jews to live in the Russian Empire (the so-called 'Pales of Settlement') nobody knows. Notwithstanding the illogical nature of the story, it can be easily debunked by consulting the contemporary government documents themselves that show him and his father as Catholic nobles. <ref>[http://uni-persona.srcc.msu.ru/students/stud_1840-1901/cards33.html]</ref> | ||
====Myth: The 'Jewish' Soviet Ruling Elite==== | ====Myth: The 'Jewish' Soviet Ruling Elite==== |