Jack Stachel
Encyclopedia
Jacob Abraham "Jack" Stachel (19001965) was an American
Communist functionary who was a top official in the Communist Party
from the middle 1920s until his death in the middle 1960s. Stachel is best remembered as one of 11 Communist leaders convicted under the Smith Act
in 1949, for which he served a sentence of five years in prison.
and making a home there. His father was a naturalized citizen of the United States, on which basis Jack Stachel claimed American citizenship for himself.
Stachel attended public school in New York City, selling newspapers and working in restaurants to help support the family. He later studied at the Rand School of Social Science
, an educational institute affiliated with the Socialist Party of America
.
Stachel was a hatmaker by trade and was a member of the Cap and Millinery Workers Union for several years dating from 1918.
to join the Communist Party — then known as the Workers Party of America
— in the fall of 1923.
During the second half of the 1920s, Stachel was a loyalist to the faction headed by C.E. Ruthenberg
and Jay Lovestone
.
In 1924, Stachel served as the District Organizer of the Young Workers League (YWL) for New York. He was also elected a member of the governing National Executive Committee of the YWL by that organizations 3rd Convention, held in October 1925.
During 1926 and 1927, Stachel acted as the Organizational Secretary of the Communist Party's important New York District, working there with District Organizer William Weinstone
. Stachel was a close political ally of Weinstone in this period and he was won over to his mentor's idea of following a non-factional policy, cooperating with a third group headed by James P Cannon in an attempt to end the war between the Ruthenberg-Lovestone and the Foster-Bittelman factional groups. Factional leader Jim Cannon later lamented that "after several months of persistent effort Lovestone finally got Stachel back into line. But there was one brief period in the life of this man, which seemed to be otherwise devoted exclusively to vicious factionalism, when he responded to higher considerations of party interests."
Stachel was elected to the 37 member Central Executive Committee of the Workers (Communist) Party of America in 1927.
Stachel was a top assistant to party leader Jay Lovestone in 1928, serving as Organizational Secretary of the CPUSA. Historians Irving Howe
and Lewis Coser have characterized Stachel in this period as the "chief assistant in Lovestone's less savory projects" and charge that he "planned and led a raid upon the private apartments of the Trotskyist leaders, rifled their files, and stole whatever was likely to burn well in the factional fires." The primary source of this information, former factional associate Benjamin Gitlow
, notes that the burglary of James P. Cannon's
residence was conducted by Stachel and a party comrade named Ravitch, business manager of the Daily Worker. The records stolen were then examined by Lovestone, John Pepper
, and Stachel at Stachel's residence, with documents deemed damning subsequently published in the party press.
In 1929, when Lovestone went to Moscow
as part of a 10 member committee to appeal the decision of the Comintern
to end American factionalism
by reassigning Lovestone and factional opponent Alexander Bittelman
to Comintern work abroad, Lovestone entrusted Stachel and Robert Minor
with a code that would enable them to seize the party's assets from any new party leadership should trouble develop during the trip to Russia
. The pair had betrayed Lovestone, however, revealing the plot to others in the party — a decision which put the two back in good graces with the Communist International when the Lovestone group was purged from the party organization later in 1929.
Stachel was employed during 1930 as the CPUSA's District Organizer in Detroit
before returning to New York City
in 1931 to become the top assistant of William Z. Foster
in running the party's trade union section, the Trade Union Unity League
(TUUL). Foster found himself on the mend after a serious heart attack and stepped back from political life during the middle 1930s. Stachel filled the void as head of TUUL from 1932 through 1935. Stachel's tenure as the acting head of TUUL coincided with a burst of activity of that organization in strike actions. According to the Communist Party's own reckoning, some 900,000 American workers went on strike in 1933, three times the total of the previous year. Of these, approximately 200,000 strikers were represented by unions linked to TUUL, compared to 250,000 represented by independent unions, and 450,000 represented by unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor
.
In 1933, with Earl Browder's ascension to the top position in the CPUSA, Stachel was taken into the top leadership of the party, along with Charles Krumbein (New York District Organizer), Bob Minor, Gil Green
, and Herbert Benjamin.
In 1942, Stachel went to work for the Communist Party's newspaper, The Daily Worker.
In the summer of 1948, "stocky Jack Stachel" was one of 12 "kingpin Commies" (to borrow colorful contemporary terminology from Time magazine) indicted under the Smith Act
for being "dedicated to the Marxist-Leninist principles of the overthrow and destruction of the Government...by force and violence." Although the Smith Act had been implemented eight years earlier for the altogether different purpose of fighting potential infiltration of America by secret Nazi saboteurs
, in the fearful atmosphere of the Second Red Scare the existing law was used as a tool against national officials of the Communist Party. Prosecution of the ailing 67-year old William Z. Foster was eventually dropped, but the 11 others, Jack Stachel among them, were convicted in 1949 and sentenced to five years in prison. Stachel was additionally slated for deportation
proceedings upon his release — an action which proved unenforceable for geographic reasons.
Stachel was imprisoned at Danbury Federal Penitentiary in Danbury, Connecticut
, where he suffered from a heart
ailment.
Following his death, Jack Stachel's life work was effusively extolled by CPUSA General Secretary Gus Hall
in a five page memorial in the party's monthly magazine, Political Affairs. Hall called Stachel "a model of a patriot" who "not only disapproved of evil, he fought it." Although he did not provide any concrete detail about either the social origins, personal life, written ideas, practical achievements, or political career of the little-known functionary, Hall lauded Stachel as "one of the finest Marxist thinkers":
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Communist functionary who was a top official in the Communist Party
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
from the middle 1920s until his death in the middle 1960s. Stachel is best remembered as one of 11 Communist leaders convicted under the Smith Act
Smith Act
The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act of 1940 is a United States federal statute that set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S...
in 1949, for which he served a sentence of five years in prison.
Early years
Jacob Stachel, known to all his contemporaries by his nickname "Jack," was born January 18, 1900, of ethnic Jewish parents. The family emigrated to America in January 1911, arriving in New York CityNew 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...
and making a home there. His father was a naturalized citizen of the United States, on which basis Jack Stachel claimed American citizenship for himself.
Stachel attended public school in New York City, selling newspapers and working in restaurants to help support the family. He later studied at the Rand School of Social Science
Rand School of Social Science
The Rand School of Social Science was formed in New York City by adherents of the Socialist Party of America in 1906. The school aimed to provide a broad education to workers, imparting a politicizing class-consciousness, and additionally served as a research bureau, a publisher, and the operator...
, an educational institute affiliated with the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
.
Stachel was a hatmaker by trade and was a member of the Cap and Millinery Workers Union for several years dating from 1918.
Political career
Stachel left the Socialist Party of AmericaSocialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
to join the Communist Party — then known as the Workers Party of America
Workers Party of America
The Workers Party of America was the name of the legal party organization used by the Communist Party USA from the last days of 1921 until the middle of 1929. As a legal political party the Workers Party accepted affiliation from independent socialist groups such as the African Blood Brotherhood,...
— in the fall of 1923.
During the second half of the 1920s, Stachel was a loyalist to the faction headed by C.E. Ruthenberg
Charles Ruthenberg
Charles Emil Ruthenberg was an American Marxist politician and a founder and long-time head of the Communist Party USA .-Biography:Charles Emil Ruthenberg was born July 9, 1882 in Cleveland, Ohio...
and Jay Lovestone
Jay Lovestone
Jay Lovestone was at various times a member of the Socialist Party of America, a leader of the Communist Party USA, leader of a small oppositionist party, an anti-Communist and Central Intelligence Agency helper, and foreign policy advisor to the leadership of the AFL-CIO and various unions...
.
In 1924, Stachel served as the District Organizer of the Young Workers League (YWL) for New York. He was also elected a member of the governing National Executive Committee of the YWL by that organizations 3rd Convention, held in October 1925.
During 1926 and 1927, Stachel acted as the Organizational Secretary of the Communist Party's important New York District, working there with District Organizer William Weinstone
William Weinstone
William Wolf "Will" Weinstone was an American Communist politician and labor leader. Weinstone served as Executive Secretary of the unified Communist Party of America, the forerunner of today's Communist Party USA, from October 15, 1921 to February 22, 1922 and was an important figure in the...
. Stachel was a close political ally of Weinstone in this period and he was won over to his mentor's idea of following a non-factional policy, cooperating with a third group headed by James P Cannon in an attempt to end the war between the Ruthenberg-Lovestone and the Foster-Bittelman factional groups. Factional leader Jim Cannon later lamented that "after several months of persistent effort Lovestone finally got Stachel back into line. But there was one brief period in the life of this man, which seemed to be otherwise devoted exclusively to vicious factionalism, when he responded to higher considerations of party interests."
Stachel was elected to the 37 member Central Executive Committee of the Workers (Communist) Party of America in 1927.
Stachel was a top assistant to party leader Jay Lovestone in 1928, serving as Organizational Secretary of the CPUSA. Historians Irving Howe
Irving Howe
Irving Howe was an American literary and social critic and a prominent figure of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Life and career:...
and Lewis Coser have characterized Stachel in this period as the "chief assistant in Lovestone's less savory projects" and charge that he "planned and led a raid upon the private apartments of the Trotskyist leaders, rifled their files, and stole whatever was likely to burn well in the factional fires." The primary source of this information, former factional associate Benjamin Gitlow
Benjamin Gitlow
Benjamin "Ben" Gitlow was a prominent American socialist politician of the early twentieth century and a founding member of the Communist Party USA. From the end of the 1930s, Gitlow turned to conservatism and wrote two sensational exposés of American Communism, books which were very influential...
, notes that the burglary of James P. Cannon's
James P. Cannon
James Patrick "Jim" Cannon was an American Trotskyist and a leader of the Socialist Workers Party.Born on February 11, 1890 in Rosedale, Kansas, he joined the Socialist Party of America in 1908 and the Industrial Workers of the World in 1911...
residence was conducted by Stachel and a party comrade named Ravitch, business manager of the Daily Worker. The records stolen were then examined by Lovestone, John Pepper
John Pepper
John Pepper, also known as József Pogány, born József Schwartz was a Hungarian-Jewish Communist politician, active in the radical movements of both Hungary and the United States. He later served as a functionary in the Communist International in Moscow, before being cashiered in 1929...
, and Stachel at Stachel's residence, with documents deemed damning subsequently published in the party press.
In 1929, when Lovestone went to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
as part of a 10 member committee to appeal the decision of the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
to end American factionalism
Political faction
A political faction is a grouping of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. The individuals...
by reassigning Lovestone and factional opponent Alexander Bittelman
Alexander Bittelman
Alexander "Alex" Bittelman was a Russian-born Jewish-American communist political activist, Marxist theorist , contributed a more complex analysis , and writer. A founding member of the Communist Party of America, Bittelman is best remembered as the chief factional lieutenant of William Z...
to Comintern work abroad, Lovestone entrusted Stachel and Robert Minor
Robert Minor
Robert Berkeley "Bob" Minor was political cartoonist, a radical journalist, and a leading member of the American Communist Party.-Early life:...
with a code that would enable them to seize the party's assets from any new party leadership should trouble develop during the trip to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. The pair had betrayed Lovestone, however, revealing the plot to others in the party — a decision which put the two back in good graces with the Communist International when the Lovestone group was purged from the party organization later in 1929.
Stachel was employed during 1930 as the CPUSA's District Organizer in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
before returning to 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...
in 1931 to become the top assistant of William Z. Foster
William Z. Foster
William Foster was a radical American labor organizer and Marxist politician, whose career included a lengthy stint as General Secretary of the Communist Party USA...
in running the party's trade union section, the Trade Union Unity League
Trade Union Unity League
The Trade Union Unity League was an industrial union umbrella organization of the Communist Party of the United States between 1929 and 1935...
(TUUL). Foster found himself on the mend after a serious heart attack and stepped back from political life during the middle 1930s. Stachel filled the void as head of TUUL from 1932 through 1935. Stachel's tenure as the acting head of TUUL coincided with a burst of activity of that organization in strike actions. According to the Communist Party's own reckoning, some 900,000 American workers went on strike in 1933, three times the total of the previous year. Of these, approximately 200,000 strikers were represented by unions linked to TUUL, compared to 250,000 represented by independent unions, and 450,000 represented by unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
.
In 1933, with Earl Browder's ascension to the top position in the CPUSA, Stachel was taken into the top leadership of the party, along with Charles Krumbein (New York District Organizer), Bob Minor, Gil Green
Gil Green (politician)
Gil Green was a leading figure in the Communist Party of the United States of America until 1991. He is best remembered as the leader of the party's youth section, the Young Communist League, during the tumultuous decade of the 1930s....
, and Herbert Benjamin.
In 1942, Stachel went to work for the Communist Party's newspaper, The Daily Worker.
In the summer of 1948, "stocky Jack Stachel" was one of 12 "kingpin Commies" (to borrow colorful contemporary terminology from Time magazine) indicted under the Smith Act
Smith Act
The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act of 1940 is a United States federal statute that set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S...
for being "dedicated to the Marxist-Leninist principles of the overthrow and destruction of the Government...by force and violence." Although the Smith Act had been implemented eight years earlier for the altogether different purpose of fighting potential infiltration of America by secret Nazi saboteurs
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
, in the fearful atmosphere of the Second Red Scare the existing law was used as a tool against national officials of the Communist Party. Prosecution of the ailing 67-year old William Z. Foster was eventually dropped, but the 11 others, Jack Stachel among them, were convicted in 1949 and sentenced to five years in prison. Stachel was additionally slated for deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
proceedings upon his release — an action which proved unenforceable for geographic reasons.
Stachel was imprisoned at Danbury Federal Penitentiary in Danbury, Connecticut
Danbury, Connecticut
Danbury is a city in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It had population at the 2010 census of 80,893. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut....
, where he suffered from a heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
ailment.
Death and legacy
Jack Stachel died on December 31, 1965, of a heart and kidney ailment. He was less than three weeks short of his 66th birthday at the time of his death.Following his death, Jack Stachel's life work was effusively extolled by CPUSA General Secretary Gus Hall
Gus Hall
Gus Hall, born Arvo Kustaa Hallberg , was a leader and Chairman of the Communist Party USA and its four-time U.S. presidential candidate. As a labor leader, Hall was closely associated with the so-called "Little Steel" Strike of 1937, an effort to unionize the nation's smaller, regional steel...
in a five page memorial in the party's monthly magazine, Political Affairs. Hall called Stachel "a model of a patriot" who "not only disapproved of evil, he fought it." Although he did not provide any concrete detail about either the social origins, personal life, written ideas, practical achievements, or political career of the little-known functionary, Hall lauded Stachel as "one of the finest Marxist thinkers":
"The name, Jack Stachel, shines brilliantly on the roll of honor of the heroes of the working class struggle. He will be remembered and honored the world over as one of the architects and builders of the new social order — socialism.
"Jack Stachel's monument is the people and the better world he helped to build. His HermitageHermitage MuseumThe State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
is the thousands of young rebels who will try to match his greatness, who will emulate him because they saw in his life's work — a model."
Books and pamphlets
- How Do We Raise the Question of a Labor Party? With Earl BrowderEarl BrowderEarl Russell Browder was an American communist and General Secretary of the Communist Party USA from 1934 to 1945. He was expelled from the party in 1946.- Early years :...
. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1935.
Articles
- "Organization Report to the Sixth Convention of the Communist Party of the USA," Part 1: The Communist, vol. 8, no. 4 (April 1929), pp. 179–189. Part 2: The Communist, vol. 8, no. 5 (May 1929), pp. 234–249.
- "Some Problems in the Building of District Leadership," The Communist, vol. 9, no. 6 (June 1930), pp. 530–537.
- "Coming Struggles and Lessons in Strike Strategy," The Communist, vol. 10, no. 3 (March 1931), pp. 204–213.
- "Some Lessons of the Lawrence Strike," The Communist, vol. 10, no. 5 (May 1931), pp. 433–443.
- "Lessons of Two Recent Strikes," The Communist, vol. 11, no. 6 (June 1932), pp. 527–542.
- "The Warren Steel Strike," The Communist, vol. 11, no. 10 (October 1932), pp. 889–901.
- "Struggle for Elementary Needs — The Main Link in Winning the Masses," The Communist, vol. 12, no. 1 (January 1933), pp. 18–32.
- "Some Lessons of Recent Strike Struggles," The Communist, vol. 12, no. 8 (August 1933), pp. 784–792.
- "Recent Developments in the Trade Union Movement," The Communist, vol. 12, no. 12 (December 1933), pp. 1155–1168.
- "Lessons of the Economic Struggles, and the Work in the Trade Unions," The Communist, vol. 13, no. 3 (March 1934), pp. 272–301.
- "Some Problems in Our Trade Union Work," The Communist, vol. 13, no. 6 (June 1934), pp. 524–535.
- "Our Trade Union Policy: Report to the Political Bureau of the Central Committee," The Communist, vol. 13, no. 11 (November 1934), pp. 1087–1105.
- "The Fight of the Steel Workers for Their Union," The Communist, vol. 14, no. 6 (June 1935), pp. 483–499.
- "Organizational Problems of the Party: Abridged Report to the Meeting of the Central Committee of the CPUSA, May 25–27, 1935," The Communist, vol. 14, no. 7 (July 1935), pp. 625–640.
- "A New Page for American Labor," The Communist, vol 14, no. 11 (November 1935), pp. 1015–1033.
- "Problems Before the 56th Annual Convention of the AF of L," The Communist, vol. 15, no. 11 (November 1936), pp. 1046–1055.
Further reading
- Testimony of Jack Stachel to the Committee on Un-American Activities, US House of Representatives, September 27, 1945, pp. 36–40.