An Uneasy Alliance

What is most striking to me in the first 100 pages Walter Bernstein’s A Memoir of the Blacklist is the striking contradiction of Bernstein’s Communist sentiment while serving within the American military. Quite honestly, I have not studied history in quite some time, and completely forgot of the uneasy alliance that the United States and the Soviet Union shared during World War II.

When the novel moves from Bernstein’s initial experience with being blacklisted to his experiences after being drafted, it seems rather odd to me that his Communist sentiments did not present more of a problem in the military for him than they have thus far. Although Hitler’s Germany was the eminent concern at the time, it seems strange to me that a member of the United States Army, with known Communist sentiments would be allowed to move so freely, even as a reporter. I suppose, however, that my views of the time are rather skewed by my upbringing.

Throughout my childhood, I was raised in large part by my grandfather, a hardened and patriotic (except in his desire that I not follow in his footsteps by enlisting in any armed service) World War II veteran with a bitter disdain for Communism in any form. Gaining most of my knowledge of World War II from his stories, the presence of Communist Party members in the United States military is something new and extremely interesting to me.

Given the era in which my classmates and myself have grown up in, it is hard to believe that one with Communist viewpoints could not feel completely torn by being drafted into the United States military. Bernstein’s reasoning, however, seems to make sense, as at least he was able rationalize that he was on Stalin’s side.

Another less obvious observation I find intriguing is Bernstein’s literary treatment of his wife throughout this memoir. His treatment of her is minimalist, and I was quite surprised that the “woman from New York” whose home he slept in to avoid the barracks became his wife several pages later, and pregnant not long thereafter. I can’t help but wonder if we will find that this marriage ended quite negatively later in the memoir, or possibly Bernstein simply feels delving too deeply into his love life would detract from the primary message of this work.