True Believer

Israel Epstein died this month in Beijing. His death, at the age of 90, was announced by the official New China News Agency. If that sounds like an unusual name for a Chinese communist, that’s because Epstein’s background was a bit different from most of his neighbors. His political beliefs were as well. As many Chinese – especially younger ones – moved away from the hard-line views of Chairman Mao, Israel Epstein stayed true – in spite of the disasters visited upon China by the communist leadership over the decades. He was a committed socialist to the very end.I met Epstein at a private lunch in December 1985, when I lived in China. I had been curious about this legend who was born in Poland in 1915, escaped Tsarist Russia with his parents for Japan and China, and made his way back to China in 1951, after the revolution. In spite of his non-Chinese background, he was eventually made a citizen of the People’s Republic, and a high ranking one at that. He joined the Communist Party and had yearly visits with Chairman Mao, knew Zhou Enlai, and served as a “journalist” for several English-language Chinese papers. If one is a “journalist” in China, one is, in truth, a mouthpiece for the government – nothing more.There were several things that struck me about this little old Jewish man. First, he was pretty small – one of the only people I’ve ever seen in pictures with Deng Xiaoping where Deng is actually taller. He was smart and extremely well-read. And he was one of those true believers from the old era who saw socialism more as a religion that would eventually win the hearts of all people and bring deliverance to humanity. Sort of like other fanatics today who believe their God is the only true God – and will happily roll over anyone who doesn’t quite see things their way.We were pleasant to each other, in spite of the fact that we disagreed on just about everything. One of those many differences centered around Israel (not him, the country). I asked if he thought China would ever recognize the Jewish state. Twenty years ago, his response was definite: “It will never happen, at least not until there is peace.” His version of peace (and China’s) was the disappearance of the state of Israel in favor of an Arab state of Palestine. He told the story that the fledgling Jewish state (only one year old itself) was one of the first countries to offer recognition of Communist China in 1949. It was rejected out of hand. Epstein’s reason was pure dogma: China saw Israel as “a neo-colonialist state and a foothold in the region for the superpowers.” That last part was fascinating. There were two superpowers back in 1985, but you can bet he wasn’t talking about the other one. China never seemed to be upset with communist footholds in Africa, Central America, or Asia. But the only democracy in the Middle East with a vibrant capitalist economy clearly wasn’t what China or the Soviet Union wanted to see in that part of the world or anywhere else.I knew that story, because, by coincidence, I had the chance to meet another elderly man (a real Chinese person) who actually worked for Zhou Enlai back in the early days and clearly remembered the letter of recognition coming from Israel. He assumed he would have to respond. However, when he asked Zhou what he should do about it, he was told to simply ignore it. He even showed me the sweeping gesture Zhou made with his arm to reinforce it. But this man, unlike Epstein, had the insight and ability of hindsight after almost 40 years to admit “That was a mistake.”That’s because true believers rarely, if ever, alter their views. What is especially ironic in Epstein’s case is that his belief in communism never diminished even after his good friends, Mao and Zhou, looked the other way when he was imprisoned for five years during the Cultural Revolution – probably for the crime of speaking English or reading too many books. It was in their interest to look the other way a lot during those years, when millions of people suffered for ridiculous, trumped up reasons. Epstein was one of the lucky ones: His prison confinement was awful, but at least he survived. Zhou Enlai eventually apologized to Epstein. And in Epstein’s mind, perhaps that made it all better. He was back in their good graces again. He certainly never altered his views.I’ve often wondered about supporters of Joseph Stalin – especially the Jewish ones, who continued their reverence for the Soviet dictator years after some of his most outrageous homicidal and anti-Semitic projects were made public. “What were these people missing?” I wondered. When I left the lunch with Epstein on that freezing December day in Beijing, I had a better idea of the answer.There was, in the end, another great irony. I wondered what Mr. Epstein must have thought about his China over the last 20 years – as cars replaced bicycles, American franchises opened up everywhere, including Tiananmen Square, brilliant skyscrapers replaced the older buildings, and Chinese millionaires became the new heroes of society. It’s almost as if that other world he ran away from in 1951 just hunted him down and caught up with him in the end.Mr. Kozak lived in China from 1985 to 1986 and is the author of “The Rabbi of 84th Street” (HarperCollins).

True Believer

True Believer

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