Paul Hollander, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Associate at Harvard’s Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, died on April 19, 2019. His passing is a tragic loss for America. Although a professor of political sociology, this Hungarian born scholar might best be styled one of our country’s most important unofficial psychiatrists. Professor Hollander devoted his long and distinguished career to exploring the central delusion of so many intellectuals on the left, their unassailable belief in the superiority of Communist dictatorships over democratic capitalist nations, and in particular over the United States.
His own life history had prepared him for a study of extremism. Born in 1932 into an assimilated Hungarian Jewish family, he was twelve years old when the Horthy regime, in enthusiastic collaboration with the Nazis, deported more than 600,000 Jews to Auschwitz. Having
Get access to this article, plus the entire archive, by subscribing.