Idealism and Ideology

While I have trouble considering Walter Bernstein experiences in World War II as representational of the overall war effort, his beliefs on the justness of the war was praiseworthy in my opinion. His idealistic vision concerning the various instances of cooperation during the war seemed to consistently be his uplifting thought, even after witnessing various atrocities. The only thing that could equate with his marvel of the present and his hopes for the future was how far reality really was from these thoughts. His description of the Peekskill incident is when I believe his idealism truly faded. The violence he witnessed was sadly indicative of the hypocrisy that permeated the “American” ideology at that time. Bernstein painfully iterated this fact when he questions his war wondering how “They had fought and won a war against hatred and bigotry—to become this” (147) It seems that Bernstein’s war was just that; his war. The general public’s goal of preserving America during World War II in no way translated to preserving the humanistic cooperation that Bernstein valued. Politics of this time were shaping an America in the image of international superiority. A superiority that it seems they were terrified of losing. Although, this fear was in all probability a ruse to further the careers of various politicians of the time under the guise that America was “being threatened from the outside and subverted from within” (145). For example McCarthy was an unknown senator (and a drunk) prior to his “list” coming to light.

These thoughts of blind devotion to an ideology can also be applied to Bernstein’s own Communist beliefs. What is strange is that Bernstein was not ignorant to his unreasonable attachment to the Party. He says himself that he “knew little about the gulag and wanted to know less” (180). He explains that he was a “hostage to ideology” (182) which in many ways was indicative of the American mind throughout the Red Scare. Bernstein it seems cannot hide behind ignorance or leadership that skewed the facts. While his story thus far does attempt to induce sympathy, for me it lacks a necessary innocence.