Jewish radicals : a documentary history

362 Pages·2014·2.84 MB·English

by  Goldenbaum

Jewish Radicals
THE GOLDSTEIN-GOREN SERIES IN AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY
General Editor: Hasia R. Diner
We Remember with Reverence and Love: American Jews
and the Myth of Silence after the Holocaust, 1945–1962
Hasia R. Diner
Is Diss a System? A Milt Gross Comic Reader
Edited by Ari Y. Kelman
All Together Different: Yiddish Socialists, Garment Workers,
and the Labor Roots of Multiculturalism
Daniel Katz
Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition
Marni Davis
Jewish Radicals: A Documentary History
Tony Michels
Jewish Radicals
A Documentary History
Edited by Tony Michels
a
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2012 by New York University
All rights reserved
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that
may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jewish radicals : a documentary history / edited by Tony Michels.
p. cm. --  (The Goldstein-Goren series in American Jewish history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8147-5743-7 (cl : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-0-8147-5744-4 (pb : alk. paper) -- ISBN
978-0-8147-6345-2 (ebook) -- ISBN 978-0-8147-6346-9 (ebook)
1. Jewish socialists--New York (State)--New York--History--Sources. 2. Immigrants--Polit-
ical activity--New York (State)--New York--History--Sources. 3. Jews, East European--New
York (State)--New York--History--Sources. 4. Working class Jews--New York (State)--New
York--History--Sources. 5. Labor movement--New York (State)--New York--History--
Sources. 6. New York (N.Y.)--Ethnic relations--History--Sources. I. Michels, Tony.
HX550.J4J49 2012
331.88’608992407471--dc23
2011052290
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials
to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: The Jewish-Socialist Nexus 1
Tony Michels
Part I: Awakenings 25
1. “When I Went Home I Was Aflame” (memoir; c. 1925) 27
Abraham Bisno
2. “I Saw a New World Opening Before Me” (memoir; 1931) 41
Emma Goldman
3. The World of Socialism and Revolution (memoir; 1963) 49
Alexander Bittelman
4. “Rebellion Raged within Me” (memoir; 1948) 59
Lucy Robins Lang
5. “It Wasn’t Difficult for Me to Reject Judaism” (memoir; 1965) 70
Paul Jacobs
Part II: In Struggle 81
6. “Strong, Firm, and Correct Propaganda” (1886) 83
Di nyu-yorker yidishe folkstsaytung
7. “Socialism Is Not a Dream” (1888) 86
Dovid Edelshtat
8. The Birth of the Knee-Pants Makers’ Union (memoir; 1924) 88
Bernard Vaynshteyn
9. “The Whole City Seethed” (1892) 91
Di arbeter tsaytung
10. Working Women Unite (1893–1894) 93
Women’s Societies
11. The Attempted Assassination of Henry Clay Frick (memoir; 1912) 95
Alexander Berkman
Contents | v
12. The Prophet Karl Marx (c. 1910s) 97
Abraham Shiplacoff
13. “Our Mecca” (memoir; n.d.) 99
Isadore Wisotsky
14. “The Right to Control Birth” (1916) 104
Rose Pastor Stokes
15. A Personal and Confidential Letter to Louis Marshall (1917) 109
Abraham Cahan
16 Gangsters and Socialists on Election Day (memoir; 1944) 111
Louis Waldman
17. “If I Were a Colored Man What Would I Do?” (1919) 120
Louis Michel
18. The Meaning of Labor Day (1921) 124
Justice
19. An Encounter with a Klansman (memoir; n.d.) 126
Sam Darcy
20. Communist “Criminals” in Los Angeles (1929) 129
Upton Sinclair
21. “Unions with Brains” (1930) 133
The Nation
22. In Defense of the Kentucky Miners (1932) 135
Workmen’s Circle, Branch 417
23. “The Obligations of Youth Today” (1932) 137
Isadore Bernick
24 .“Some Vital Problems of Negro Labor” (1935) 140
Frank Crosswaith
25. “Charlatans and Gangsters and Pompous Racketeers” (1938) 144
Jennie Cohen
26. “With Nazism We All Are at War” (1942) 146
J. B. S. Hardman
vi | Contents
Part III: Life of the Mind 151
27. “Their Intense Desire to Study” (1893) 153
Ida Van Etten
28. The Power of Speech and Education (1893) 157
Education Societies
29. “For That, We Found Time” (interview; 1965) 159
Pauline Newman
30. A Lower East Side Vacation (1903) 162
Bernard G. Richards
31. “Jewish Working People . . . Have Lost All Interest
in the Synagogue” (1905) 168
Phillip Davis
32. “Peripatetic Philosophers” (1910) 174
New York Times
33. Yiddish Lectures in Philadelphia (1916) 179
A. Faynman
34. “A Language That He Wants to and Must Forget” (1918) 183
B. Sheyfer
35. “America’s Most Interesting Daily” (1922) 185
Oswald Garrison Villard
36. “The Strongest Weapons in the Hands of Jewish Workers” (1924) 191
United Jewish Workers’ Cultural Society
37. The Aims of Workers’ Education (1926) 194
International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union
38. Sexual Relations from a Communist Standpoint (1928) 198
N. Glass
39. “Sow the Field of Yiddish Cultural Tradition” (1939) 199
United Council of Yiddish Women’s Reading Circles of Detroit
40. “The Responsibility of English-Speaking Jewish
Intellectuals” (1946) 204
Nathan Ausubel
Contents | vii
Part IV: The Russian Revolution 209
41. In Honor of Red Sunday (1906) 211
New York Times
42. Leon Trotsky on Second Avenue (memoir; 1944) 214
Louis Waldman
43. “These Glad Days of Russian Freedom” (1917) 219
Katherina Maryson
44. New York Socialists Contribute to Chaos in Russia (1917) 221
New York Times
45 “The New Man” (1921) 224
Moissaye J. Olgin
46. Communism and Freedom of Speech (1925) 228
Workers’ (Communist) Party; Roger Baldwin and Earl Browder
47. A Revolutionary Returns (1929) 239
Nokhum Khanin
48. Building Communism in the Ukraine (interview; 1981–1982) 249
Max Granich
49. “G.P.U. Intrigues in America” (1938) 254
Vanguard
50. Fighting Stalinists and Chasing Girls (memoir; 1965) 258
Paul Jacobs
51. The Murder of Ehrlich and Alter (1943) 264
The New International
52. The Soviet Union Reappraised (1956) 268
Jewish Life
Part V: The Question of Zionism 277
53. “The Whole Thing Is Ridiculous” (1906) 279
Jacob Milch
54. “The Jewish Militant” (1906) 286
Der yidisher kemfer
viii | Contents
55. Zionism and Transnationalism (1916) 288
Randolph Bourne
56. “Should We Change Our Stance toward Zionism?” (1918) 294
Herts Burgin
57. “The Pogroms in Palestine” (1929) 298
The Forverts
58. A Revolt of the Oppressed Arab Masses (1929) 301
Di morgn frayhayt
59. “Jew and Arab” (1934) 304
Hayim Greenberg
60. “Give Up the Illusion of Building a Jewish Homeland” (1936) 308
Samuel Weiss
61. Jewish Upbuilding Is Revolutionizing Palestine (1939) 312
Bezalel Sherman
62. “The Jewish Problem Will Be Solved as Soon as
the Jews Again Become a Normal Nation” (1943) 316
Arthur Rosenberg
63. The Final Emancipation of the Jews Is the Struggle
for Socialism (1946) 319
Ernest Mandel
64. Jewish National Aspirations Are Not a Violation
of Marxist Principles (1947) 322
Albert Glotzer
65. Israel and the World Struggle for Peace and Democracy (1948) 327
Alexander Bittelman
Recommended Reading 333
Index 335
About the Editor 349
Contents | ix