Russians in Cold War Australia by SheilaFitzpatrick and PhillipDeery, eds. The Harvard Cold War Studies Book Series. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2024. 338 pp. $130.00. ISBN 978‐1‐66694‐499‐0

In the history of the Cold War in Australia, little consideration been given to the Russian community who felt the impact of Cold War politics. The aim of this volume of essays is to explore the wider canvas of how the Cold War played a significant role in the representation of Russians in Australia; how it reveals the intense focus by Australia’s security agencies; and to explore the role of migrant anti-communism in shaping a particular narrative of the Cold War. The contribution to Cold War scholarship in Australia of these essays is significant. It profoundly deepens our understanding of the complexity of the Cold War at the higher political level, but it also addresses how this was experienced at the everyday level of society. In their excellent introduction, Philip Deery and Sheil Fitzpatrick provide a detailed and thorough context of the presence of Russians in Australia throughout the twentieth century. They argue that prior to the Second World War, there were a small number of Russian in Australia; the outbreak of the Russian Revolution drew attention to the small community. The Second World War was a major turning point with displaced persons arriving after the war from camps in Europe, and Russians coming from China. The arrival of these Russian communities coincided with the height of the Cold War. The Petrov Affair—when Vladimir Petrov, a consul and third secretary of the Soviet Consul, defected in 1954—came to define the image of the Soviet Union and of Russians in Australia. In their telling of this event, Deery and Fitzpatrick provide a compelling new narrative of Petrov, his activities, and of his wife, Evdokia. Moving beyond the stereotypes and myths, Deery and Fitzpatrick provide a deeply complex context of the Russians in Cold War Australia. Divided into five parts, the first begins with the background chapter on Russians in Australia. Elena Govor asks the question: Was Australia Russophobic? She provides a valuable longitudinal historical overview of Australian attitudes to Russians and examines the outburst of Russophobia in the Red Flag riots of the early 1920s. This assessment provides an invaluable insight into an anti-Russian sentiment that had arisen in Australia prior to the Second World War. Part Two opens up a highly engaging and innovative aspect to immigration history: the bureaucracy that was established to manage it. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) became a key player in how the Cold War was lived out. Mara Moustafine charts the security concerns of Australian immigration over Russian migrants from Manchuria. The family connection makes this especially pertinent. This is a very welcome addition to broadening our understanding of Russian migrants from this region. Justine Greenwood takes us into a new and innovative direction by examining the process of naturalization for the Petrovs, which was particularly attractive to those who arrived as “stateless” or who were former Soviet citizens. This aspect to the naturalization process provides a highly insightful and incisive analysis of this process. During the Cold War period, ASIO intensified its activities, especially in its scrutiny of migrants and in particular of Russian migrants. In an eloquently argued and meticulously researched chapter Ebony Nilsson exposes with great insight the Cold War concerns of ASIO in their surveillance of Russian migrants. This chapter contributes significantly to the key role of ASIO in creating and perpetrating the Cold War. Part Three explores several aspects to Russians and the Cold War in Australia in terms of both impact and perception. Petrov’s defection had deep repercussions for Soviet-Australian diplomacy. Ellen Gray opens a new perspective on the Petrov affair in her sharp and highly original reading and analysis of diplomacy and the impact on embassies. Philip Mendes moves the spotlight onto ASIO’s interest in the left-wing Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism, of which there were many Russian leaders. This discussion opens further a valuable contribution to understanding ASIO’s focus on migrant and Russian activities. The heightened interest of Australians in Soviet women during the Cold War is the focus of Ruth Balint’s perceptive analysis of the position-of-women question. The constant focus of whether Soviet women were liberated or oppressed under the Soviet system is an excellent and highly illuminating contribution. Part Four examines Russian right-wing politics and anti-Communism. In a compelling chapter, Sheila Fitzpatrick discusses with great acuity the National Alliance of Solidarists, an international Russian anti-communist organization dedicated to the overthrow of the Soviet government. Jayne Persian develops this theme further through her preceptive consideration of the deeply right-wing groups focusing on the anti-Soviet Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations. This work considerably extends our understanding of the complexity and presence of right-wing groups, especially against the Soviet Union. On a personal note, Nicholas Pitt discusses community journalism as anti-communist action. His grandmother, Evgeniia Nikolaevna Kamenskaia, is the focus of this chapter, taking us into a unique consideration of the personal everyday life of Cold War politics touching on issues of language, gender, and the intersection between the cultural and political. Part Five is titled “Persons of Interest” and discusses three different individuals who came under the close scrutiny of ASIO. Ebony Nilsson examines Lidia Janovska (Mokras), a left-wing Russian and pro-Soviet who caught the close attention of ASIO. The powerful story of Abraham Frankel, written by his son Boris Frankel, highlights how the scrutiny of ASIO had damaging and devastating consequences. The enigmatic, elusive, and under-researched Evdokia Petrov is the subject of the meticulously researched and thoughtfully argued chapter by Phillip Deery. The thesis the editors advance is a historiographical one. They argue that “The Cold War” and “Immigration” histories are separated in Australian history. The volume amply and successfully demonstrates that the history of postwar migration and that of the Cold War are, in fact, inextricably intertwined. The intersection of these two processes interacted, and how this was reflected both in the Russian migrant experience and in the attitudes and practices of Australian security services and government, are brilliantly captured in this highly invaluable and indispensable volume.