|
Bund
[Yiddish, Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund in
Lite, Poyln un Rusland, General Jewish Workers' Union of
Lithuania,
Poland, and Russia] - A party founded in 1897 in Wilno
(Vilna, Vilnius).
At first, it took part in underground activities in the
Russian
partition. In 1906, it became an autonomous section of the
Social
Democratic Workers' Party of Russia, from which it split off
during the
First World War. In 1919, it was banned in Poland,
Lithuania, Latvia and
Estonia.
In 1930, it joined the Socialist Workers' International.
The Bund's
program supported a Jewish form of social democracy. The
Bund saw the
Jews as a diaspora-deprived of their own territory, but
having their own
culture. It opposed the domination of both the Orthodox Jews
and the
Zionist program of emigration and the creation of a national
homeland
outside of Europe. It proposed the introduction of cultural
autonomy in
areas inhabited by Jews, advocated secular schools and saw
Yiddish as
the Jews' national language.
|
In Poland, there was mass support for the Bund,
particularly in the areas of the former Russian partition
(during the
1930's, its membership was estimated at 50,000). During the
entire
interwar period, the party had strong representation in
municipal
governments, and, during the 1930's, in the Jewish religious
Communities
as well, although it never sent any representatives to
parliament. The
trade unions associated with the Bund belonged to the Class
Trade
Unions. The Bund had its own press: Folkstsaytung [Yiddish,
People's
Gazette], Yugnt-Veker [Yiddish, Awakener of Youth], Walka
[Polish,
Struggle] and Biuletyn Informacyjny [Polish, Information
Bulletin].
The Bund devoted a great deal of attention to working
with youth,
and sponsored the following organizations: "Tsukunft"
(Yiddish,
"Future"), for working-class youth, and "Skif" (Yiddish,
Sotsyalistisher
Kinder Farband, Socialist Children's Union, founded in 1926)
- for
school-age children. In addition, there was also a Bund
woman's
organization, YAF [Yiddish, "Yidishe Arbeter-Froy", "The
Jewish Working
Woman"] and the "Morgenshtern" sports club [Yiddish,
"Morning Star"].
Leading Bund members included W. Alter, A. Blum, H. Erlich,
J.
Leszczynski and S. Zygelbojm.
During the German occupation, the party operated
underground,
organizing civil and armed resistance in the ghettos, as
well as
self-help and charity programs. It helped establish the
Jewish
Coordinating Commission, and participated in the
preparations for the
Warsaw ghetto uprising. M. Edelman, who was involved with
the Bund,
assumed leadership of the uprising after the death of M.
Anielewicz.
Zygelbojm was a member of the National Council with the
Polish
government-in-exile in London.
|
After the war, the party's headquarters moved
to the United States; in Europe, it remained strong in Paris
and
Switzerland. In Poland, the Bund backed the policies of the
Polish
Committee for National Liberation and the Polish National
Council. It
was a member of the Central Committee of Jews in Poland, and
cooperated
with the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), from whose list it
sent one
representative to the Sejm in 1947; the Bund also had
several
representatives in city councils. In 1949, despite the
protests of many
of the party's members, the Bund dissolved itself during its
congress on
January 16, 1949. Most Bundists emigrated.
Although the party's political activities had come to an
end, its
members continued to engage in cultural undertakings in its
centers
abroad, creating Yiddish cultural centers, such as the Medem
Library in
Paris, still in existence today, and the Bund Archives in
New York.
(A.C., G.Z./CM)
|
MAIN PAGE