International Jewish Labor Bund
Encyclopedia
The International Jewish Labor Bund is a New York
-based international Jewish socialist organization, based on the legacy of the General Jewish Labour Bund founded in the Russian empire
in 1897 and the Polish Bund that was active in the interwar years. The IJLB is composed by local Bundist
groups around the world. It is an "associated organisation" of Socialist International
, like the World Labour Zionist Movement or the International League of Religious Socialists
but it has not attended any S.I. congress since the 1999 Paris
XXIst Congress.The International Jewish Labor Bund (World Coordinating Council/Committee) was dissolved in New York in the mid-2000s.
at which the World Coordinating Committee of Bundist and Affiliated Socialist Jewish Organizations was founded (i.e. the IJLB). Emmanuel Novogrodski was the secretary of the IJLB until 1961. Novgrodski had been the secretary of the Polish Bund and participated in setting up its New York representation. Early 1948, the Polish Bund withdrew from the World Coordinating Committee.
The IJLB was admitted with an observer statute on the June 1947 Zürich Conference of the reconstituted Socialist International
and as an "associated organization" at the Frankfurt founding Congress of the new Socialist International in 1951.
In 1997 commemorative events were organized to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Bund in New York City
, London
, Warsaw
, Paris and Brussels
, where the chairwoman of the Belgian chapter, herself 100 year old, was present.
vote on the partition of Palestine and reaffirmed its support for a One-state solution, i.e. a single binational state that would guarantee equal national rights for Jews and Arabs and would be under the control of superpowers and the UN.
The 1948 New York Second world conference of the International Jewish Labor Bund condemned the proclamation of the Jewish state, because the decision exposed the Jews in Palestine to a danger. The conference was in favour of a two nations state built on the base of national equality and democratic federalism.
The 1955 Montreal Third world conference of the IJLB decided that the creation of the Jewish state was an important event in the Jewish history. The state might play a positive role in the Jewish life but a few necessary changes were needed. The participants of the conference demanded:
General secretaries
David Meier, Abraham Stolar, Emanuel Sherer, Emanuel Novogrodski, Benjamin Tabatchinski, Pinchas Schwartz, Leon Oler, Alexander Erlich, J.S. Hertz, Joseph Gutgold, Hershel Himelfarb, Baruch Shefner
Members of the World Coordinating Committee 1957:
Peretz Guterman, F. Shrager, Leon Stern (all three from France), Meyer Treibeer, Berl Fuchs (both from Brazil), Berl Rosner (England), Tschechanowski (Belgium), Shimon Yezher, Tuvie Meisel (both from Mexico), Kowalsman (Uruguay), Alexander Mints, Dr. M. Peretz (both from Argentina), S. M. Oshry, M. L. Polin, Ch. S. Kasdan (all from USA), Artur Lermer, Manie Reinhartz (both from Canada), Paul Olberg (Sweden), Bunem Wiener, Mendel Kosher, (both from Australia), Bentzl Zalwitz, Pesach Burshin, Israel Artuski (all three from Israel)
), France (Centre Medem - Arbeiter Ring), Denmark, Canada, USA, Australia (Jewish Labour Bund, Inc and S.K.I.F.), Argentina, Uruguay and Israel (Arbeter-ring in Yisroel - Brith Haavoda
).
From 1959-1978 the Bund operated a summer youth camp called Camp Hemshekh in the Catskills region of New York State. The surviving youth movement of the Bund, S.K.I.F.
, also ran summer camps in Canada
and in Melbourne
, Australia
. Today, S.K.I.F. operates in Melbourne
, Australia
, and in France since 1963 as the Secular Club of Jewish Children .
.
In 1957, for the sixtieth years of existence of the Bund, the IJLB published a commemorative book in Yiddish and English with photographs, Der Bund Un Bilder, 1897-1957.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
-based international Jewish socialist organization, based on the legacy of the General Jewish Labour Bund founded in the Russian empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
in 1897 and the Polish Bund that was active in the interwar years. The IJLB is composed by local Bundist
Bundism
Bundism is a Jewish socialist and secular movement, which originates from the General Jewish Labour Bund founded in the Russian empire in 1897. Bundism was an important component of the social democratic movement in the Russian empire until it was violently suppressed by the Communist party after...
groups around the world. It is an "associated organisation" of Socialist International
Socialist International
The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...
, like the World Labour Zionist Movement or the International League of Religious Socialists
International League of Religious Socialists
The International League of Religious Socialists is an umbrella organization of religious socialist movements in political parties throughout the world. Founded in the 1920s, it has member groups in 21 countries totalling 200,000 members...
but it has not attended any S.I. congress since the 1999 Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
XXIst Congress.The International Jewish Labor Bund (World Coordinating Council/Committee) was dissolved in New York in the mid-2000s.
History
The Polish Bund had established a representation in New York in 1941, where it began publishing Unser Tsait. In 1947, a conference was held in BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
at which the World Coordinating Committee of Bundist and Affiliated Socialist Jewish Organizations was founded (i.e. the IJLB). Emmanuel Novogrodski was the secretary of the IJLB until 1961. Novgrodski had been the secretary of the Polish Bund and participated in setting up its New York representation. Early 1948, the Polish Bund withdrew from the World Coordinating Committee.
The IJLB was admitted with an observer statute on the June 1947 Zürich Conference of the reconstituted Socialist International
Socialist International
The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...
and as an "associated organization" at the Frankfurt founding Congress of the new Socialist International in 1951.
In 1997 commemorative events were organized to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Bund in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Paris and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, where the chairwoman of the Belgian chapter, herself 100 year old, was present.
Position towards the State of Israel
The Bund was against the UNUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
vote on the partition of Palestine and reaffirmed its support for a One-state solution, i.e. a single binational state that would guarantee equal national rights for Jews and Arabs and would be under the control of superpowers and the UN.
The 1948 New York Second world conference of the International Jewish Labor Bund condemned the proclamation of the Jewish state, because the decision exposed the Jews in Palestine to a danger. The conference was in favour of a two nations state built on the base of national equality and democratic federalism.
The 1955 Montreal Third world conference of the IJLB decided that the creation of the Jewish state was an important event in the Jewish history. The state might play a positive role in the Jewish life but a few necessary changes were needed. The participants of the conference demanded:
- a) the authorities of Israel should treat the state as a property of the Jews of all the world
- b) but it would mean that the affairs of Jewish community in Israel should be subordinate to the affairs of the world Jewry.
- c) the policy of the state of Israel would be the same towards all citizens regardless their nationality.
- d) Israel should tend to peace relationships with Arabs. It required to stop a territorial expansion of Israel and bring a solution of the problem of Palestinian refugees.
- e) the Yiddish should be taught at all education institutions and would get all rights in the public life.
Leadership
Presidents- Motl ZelmanowiczMotl ZelmanowiczMotl Zelmanowicz was a Bundist activist.Zelmanowicz was born in Lodz, Poland. His father, Ephraim, was an activist in the General Jewish Labour Bund. At a very early age, he became an activist in the Bund in Poland, becoming the local chairman of S.K.I.F. . In 1940, he moved to Seattle to escape...
(died 2010)
General secretaries
- Emanuel Nowogrodzki (1947-1961)
- Emanuel Scherer (1961-1977)
- Benjamin Nade
Executives of the World Coordinating Committee
Executive of the World Coordinating Committee in 1957:David Meier, Abraham Stolar, Emanuel Sherer, Emanuel Novogrodski, Benjamin Tabatchinski, Pinchas Schwartz, Leon Oler, Alexander Erlich, J.S. Hertz, Joseph Gutgold, Hershel Himelfarb, Baruch Shefner
Members of the World Coordinating Committee 1957:
Peretz Guterman, F. Shrager, Leon Stern (all three from France), Meyer Treibeer, Berl Fuchs (both from Brazil), Berl Rosner (England), Tschechanowski (Belgium), Shimon Yezher, Tuvie Meisel (both from Mexico), Kowalsman (Uruguay), Alexander Mints, Dr. M. Peretz (both from Argentina), S. M. Oshry, M. L. Polin, Ch. S. Kasdan (all from USA), Artur Lermer, Manie Reinhartz (both from Canada), Paul Olberg (Sweden), Bunem Wiener, Mendel Kosher, (both from Australia), Bentzl Zalwitz, Pesach Burshin, Israel Artuski (all three from Israel)
Bund Congresses
- 1947 Brussels
- 1948 New York
- 1955 (April 8-15) Montreal
- 1965 New York
- 1972 New York
- 1985 New York
Affiliated groups
Bund groups continue to meet in the United Kingdom (Jewish Socialists' GroupJewish Socialists' Group
The Jewish Socialists' Group is a Jewish socialist collective in Britain, formed in the 1970s.-History:The Jewish Socialists' Group is a Jewish socialist collective in Britain, that was founded in Manchester/Liverpool in 1974-1977 as lobby group campaigning against the fascist National Front and...
), France (Centre Medem - Arbeiter Ring), Denmark, Canada, USA, Australia (Jewish Labour Bund, Inc and S.K.I.F.), Argentina, Uruguay and Israel (Arbeter-ring in Yisroel - Brith Haavoda
Arbeter-ring in Yisroel - Brith Haavoda
The Arbeter-ring in Yisroel – Brith Haavoda is the Israeli branch of the International Jewish Labor Bund, launched in 1951.-Secretaries:Its first secretary was Isachar Artuski , a former Polish Communist who had joined the Bund in 1935...
).
From 1959-1978 the Bund operated a summer youth camp called Camp Hemshekh in the Catskills region of New York State. The surviving youth movement of the Bund, S.K.I.F.
Sotsyalistishe Kinder Farband
The Sotsyalistishe Kinder Farband was founded in Eastern Europe as the youth organisation of the Jewish Labour Bund, a Jewish Socialist political party...
, also ran summer camps in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Today, S.K.I.F. operates in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and in France since 1963 as the Secular Club of Jewish Children .
Press
The IJLB published in New York a monthly journal in Yiddish, Unser Tsait. It also published the "Jewish Labor Bund Bulletin" and the "Bulletin of the Jewish Youth Movement". Its Australian and Israeli chapters have their own magazines, Unser Gedank and Lebns FragnLebns Fragn
Lebns Fragn is a Yiddish, Bundist-orientated magazine, published bimonthly in Israel. It was founded in May 1951 by Isachar Artuski, the responsible editor was Ben-Zion Tsalevitsh , who came to Palestine in 1922. Since Artuski's death in November 1971 the editor is Yitskhok Luden.-External...
.
In 1957, for the sixtieth years of existence of the Bund, the IJLB published a commemorative book in Yiddish and English with photographs, Der Bund Un Bilder, 1897-1957.