Bundism

As Bundists historical and still existing socialist- Jewish associations are called. They all go back to the General Jewish Labour Bund in the former Russian Empire.

The Algemejne founded in Lithuania, Russia and Poland in 1897 Yiddish Arbeterbund in Russia un Pojln, commonly referred to as " The Bund", had the goal of democratization of Russia and a cultural- national autonomy for the Jews. He was completely smashed in Eastern Europe to 1935, its members ( Bundists ) had but in Western Europe, the United States and Israel continues.

Their political concepts that have, inter alia, fertilized the French and Austro-Marxism or the "autonomous " movements, as well as literature and songs of the Bundists who could flee from Lenin and Stalin are alive in Poland, Western Europe and the USA today and are, inter alia, in the German " Bund evenings " and the Jewish culture days on the program. Such was, for example, at the 17th Festival in Berlin, the " Mischpoche Singer" - the writers family of Nobel Prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer - in the center of the event, framed by the musicians to Arno Lustiger and Mark Aizikovitch.

While they were persecuted in the Soviet Union by the first cooperating followers of Lenin of the October Revolution and many of its survivors by Stalin's " Great Terror " were killed, they could by their immigrants in the West - especially in France and the New England states of the USA - continue their activities and have built up political and cultural influence on social democracy and workers' education.

Numerous cultural institutions go to the " Bundists " back, including the Paris Maison de la Culture Yiddish, which is now one of the largest research institutes for Jewish History of Eastern Europe and the Yiddish language. In the interwar period the Bundists Eastern and Western Europe had significant influence on the creation and development of socialist parties (see also Austro-Marxists ), and political interconnections exist today especially to Poland and the Baltic states. An association created in Paris workers' club bears the name of Vladimir Medem (1879-1923), the leading ideologue of the Russian- Lithuanian Bundists.

History

General Jewish Labour Bund

→ Main article General Jewish Labour Bund

The politico- geographical basis of the Bundists extended after its establishment in 1897 rapidly, which, inter alia, to change the name to " General Jewish Labour Union of Lithuania, Poland and Russia," led ( Arbeter Yiddish Algemeyner Yidisher Bund in Lite, Poyln un Rusland ). "The Covenant " soon became a internationally networked society of Jewish socialists, had political contacts, inter alia, to Lenin, Rosa Luxembourg and Otto Bauer and was 1890-1930 active in many European countries. The "covenant" had first to unite the goal all the Jewish workers of the tsarist Russia into a socialist party and to help the Russian Jews to legal recognition.

Activities in Poland

The federal government moved its main activity to Poland - where he was later involved decisively to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising against the Nazis - and to France.

Emigration to the West

In its origins the Bundists were a secular socialist party and rejected the traditional Jewish life in Russia and Poland as "reactionary " from. Also Zionism rejected the most from because Alija would represent a kind of escape to Palestine and would weaken the sought Russia national rights.

This orientation of the Bundists changed when many Bundists City decided to emigrate to Palestine, Western Europe or New York. Although the " covenant" in Eastern Europe thus suffered from the loss of members, he promoted Yiddish as a national Jewish language and rejected the ( successful in later Israel) revival of Hebrew as a sign of a clerical Jewish society from. The " renegade " Bundists but fell into two groups. The One in Israel were active founding members of socialist parties and promoted indirectly the Hebrew, the others were - especially in France and the U.S. - to be decided makers of the Yiddish language and culture.

In the interwar period, especially the Bundists the Paris emigration and the groups in the New England states of the United States developed a high efficiency. Two Parisian groups distanced themselves around 1922 by the overly activist Left Socialists, founded the Workers' Club and a few years later ( 1929) the Maison de la Culture Yiddish. The latter has become the main research institute on Yiddish language and culture, and today has over 30,000 volumes. The Bundists formed in France an important bulwark against the growing Nazi, and had to resist the other hand also in the Jewish diaspora strongly represented communists in Paris.

Post-war period

1947 was founded at a conference in Belgium, the successor organization International Jewish Workers' Union (International Jewish Labor Bund). It is associated body of the Socialist International. In Israel, the Yiddish appears bimonthly magazine of the Federal Lebns Fragn. The current chairman is Benjamin needle.