The Bund (political faction)
The Bund, formally known as the Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund in Lit, Poyln, un Rusland, was a Jewish socialist party founded in 1897 in Russia, aimed at uniting Jewish workers across the Russian Empire, particularly in areas like Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. It emerged as part of the broader social democratic movement, advocating for community ownership and democratic control of production. With most Jews living in the Russian Empire at that time, the Bund became a significant force in the Jewish labor movement, emphasizing Marxist beliefs and the promotion of Yiddish culture.
The organization played a pivotal role during the 1905 Russian Revolution and continued to operate until the Bolshevik takeover in 1917, which led to its eventual dissolution by the Communist regime in 1921. However, the Polish branch of the Bund persisted until World War II, actively participating in anti-Nazi resistance movements, particularly in ghettos like Warsaw. The Holocaust had a devastating impact on the Jewish population and the Bund's influence. While the organization survived in a diminished capacity into the twenty-first century, its historical significance as a pioneer of Jewish socialist thought and activism remains noteworthy.
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The Bund (political faction)
The Bund was a Jewish socialist party founded in Russia in 1897. The left-wing political organization, also known as Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund in Lit, Poyln, un Rusland ("General Jewish Workers' Union in Lithuania, Poland, and Russia"), wanted to unite all Jewish workers in Russian territories while aligning with the social democratic movement. Socialism advocates community ownership and democratic control of production.
The movement was significant because the majority of the world's Jews at that time lived in the Russian Empire areas of Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, modern-day Poland, and Ukraine. These were the only areas of the Russian Empire where they were legally able to live, primarily because when the territories came under Russian rule, Jews were permitted to live there to colonize newly controlled areas. Merchants, however, were restricted from trading in inner Russia to protect the economic interests of established merchants.
The Bund was influential into the twentieth century. It was active during the 1905 Russian Revolution. Although the Russian branch was eliminated following the 1917 revolution, the Polish Bund continued to function until World War II. The organization influenced socialist movements around the world.
Brief History
The territories of Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, modern Poland, and Ukraine were often in conflict with one another. Members of the Jewish population remained largely unassimilated, often did not learn the local languages, and kept mostly to themselves.
The Jewish labor movement originated in six northwestern Lithuanian-Belorussian provinces known as Jewish Lithuania. A higher-than-usual percentage of Jews worked in the crafts and industry—a class known as the proletariat and valued for its labor power. Three divisions of Jewish society initiated the labor movement: hired-class workers, radical intelligentsia, and semi-intelligentsia. The hired-class workers had experienced labor strikes in the textile and tobacco industries during the 1870s and a realignment of workers as the craft associations broke apart. The intelligentsia primarily promoted Marxist beliefs, which supported social change through class struggle. The semi-intelligentsia supported Jewish culture.
Aaron Samuel Liebermann and his supporters began promoting socialist beliefs in the Jewish Russian language during the 1870s. By the 1880s, they worked to form a Jewish labor movement, often through study circles formed by the intelligentsia. From an emphasis on socialism, the groups gradually shifted their focus to Marxism by the 1890s. The study circles grew and began advocating for workers, particularly those forced to work long hours in dreadful conditions.
Anti-Semitism and poor treatment by the government heightened dissatisfaction. The leaders of the study circles were concerned by high emigration and decided to focus on forming a socialist labor movement to advocate for their own people. They chose to take their activities beyond the limits of the circles and foster rallies. They stopped using the Russian language for their movement and replaced it with Yiddish, which revived the language and aspects of Yiddish culture. The effort was communicated to all levels of Jewish society as a way to boost all Jews by helping the working class.
Leaders of this Marxist movement chose to work in equal partnership with the Gentile proletariat and Russian labor movement. Groups that had set up funds to help one another transitioned these to trade union funds. These resources provided some economic security and enabled workers to strike. Jewish labor groups participated in the Socialist International Congress in London in 1896. The newly formed Group of Jewish Social Democrats published several periodicals that soon influenced the Bund.
Overview
Thirteen delegates held a secret convention in Vilna, Lithuania, from October 7 to 9, 1897. These leaders, including eight working men, formed the Bund. Vilna, an important cultural center, was called the Jerusalem of Lithuania. It had a thriving publishing industry—including newspapers, periodicals, science journals, and books—which helped in spreading the labor movement's message.
Three of the nine Jewish delegates to the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party in 1898 were members of the Bund. The Bund remained an independent organization within the Russian party and continued to hold secret annual conventions in various cities. It was headed by an elected central committee and counted up to thirty-five thousand members between 1903 and 1905. In addition to its Russian membership, the Bund relied on many emigrants known as the Committee Abroad, a group founded in 1898. These students and workers assisted the Bund by raising funds and printing materials and serving as liaisons with the international socialist movement. Thousands of supporters in the United States also aided the Bund. This connection led to the independent development of the Jewish Socialist Federation of America in 1912.
By 1901, the Bund had soured on labor strikes, having seen little progress for workers. The group instead focused on political activities, such as May Day demonstrations and making political demands. One such May Day demonstration in 1902 brought repercussions when the governor of Vilna ordered Jewish workers flogged. The governor was shot in retaliation.
Other violent encounters resulted in more conflict, and the Bund again changed focus. Jews in many communities were the targets of organized massacres known as pogroms. The Bund advocated for a self-defense movement. This new direction attracted the interest of many Jews who had previously been uninterested in the labor union, including the middle class and Jews in Poland and other regions. In addition to holding demonstrations and strikes, the Bund began publishing pamphlets about the pogroms and self-defense.
Authorities responded by arresting more Bundists. By 1904, about 4,500 were in prison. The Bund and the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party had a falling out as the Bund promoted Jewish nationalism.
During the Russian Revolution of 1905, the Bund largely supported the Bolshevik Party. The failure of the uprising left the Bund greatly reduced in size. The organization supported the Mensheviks during the February 1917 revolution, but the Bolsheviks seized power in October of that year. Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin put pressure on the Bund, which ultimately voted to join the Communist Party. In 1921, the Bolsheviks formally dissolved the Bund. Many Bundists fled, while others were executed during Communist leader Joseph Stalin's purges.
The Polish Bund remained active through World War I. During World War II, the Bund joined Zionists and other Jewish groups in the anti-Nazi resistance in many ghettos, including Warsaw. However, the Holocaust wiped out millions of Jews and ended the Jewish labor movement's influence. The resulting Communist leadership prevented the Bund from gaining any political traction. The Bund continued to survive in a greatly reduced form into the twenty-first century.
Bibliography
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Goldstein, Bernard. Twenty Years with the Jewish Labor Bund: A Memoir of Interwar Poland. Purdue UP, 2016.
Jacobs, Jack. "Bund." Jewish Women's Archive, jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bund. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
Kuhn, Fritz, et al. Free America!: Six Speeches by the Leaders of the German American Bund, Madison Square Garden, February 20, 1938. Ostara Publications, 2019.
Mendes, Philip. "The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Labor Bund." Jewish Currents, 2013, jewishcurrents.org/rise-fall-jewish-labor-bund. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
Mostov, Raphie. "What Happened to the Bund?" Columbia Spectator, 14 Nov. 2024, www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2024/11/13/what-happened-to-the-bund. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
"The Pale of Settlement." Jewish Virtual Library, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-pale-of-settlement. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
Shepherd, Naomi. A Price below Rubies: Jewish Women as Rebels and Radicals. Harvard UP, 1994.