‘The Jewish Communist Movement in Poland’ by L. Domski from International Press Correspondence. Vol. 2 No. 5. January 17, 1922.

The first issue of the “Communist Voice”, an illegal bulletin published by the Communist Party of Poland, contains an article entitled “The Communist Movement among the Jewish Workers”, from which we take the following data.

Party work among the Jewish workers has progressed favorably in the course of the last six months. Our party being illegal, the revolutionary struggle is carried out within the trade unions. The trade-union movement in Poland is divided along national lines, the Polish trade-unions being led by the P.P.S. and the Jewish by the social-nationalist Bund. Recently the Central Committees of both these federations have agreed on “unity” which is, however, only to apply to bureaucratic leaders, the rank and file of both the Polish and the Jewish trade unions continuing to be organized separately.

“Red Wings” exist in all Jewish trade-unions. They are being as savagely attacked by the Bund as their counterparts in the Polish trade-unions by the P.P.S., the only difference being that the Bund does not call upon the Secret Service for assistance in its endeavors. The Red sections in the trade-unions in Warsaw and Lodz are with the exception of the wings controlled by the Bund the strongest fractions, more and more Reds always being elected into the Technical Commissions and Trade-Union Executives. At the recent conventions of the Jewish clothing, textile and leather workers Red Groups were working quite openly. At the leather workers’ convention a resolution was adopted favoring affiliation with the Red Trade Union International and sending greetings to the Communist Polish deputies.

The crisis in the Jewish opportunist parties (Bund, Poale Zion and United Socialists) is an indirect result of Communist activities. Though single groups have always been leaving these parties and joining the C.P.P., such desertions have of late assumed immense proportions, while the parties themselves are being compelled towards the left. The reason for this is to be found in the growth of revolutionary sentiment and in the always more apparent sterility of Jewish opportunism.

The recent convention of the United Socialists witnessed a split within the ranks of that party, great numbers leaving both the right and the left wing. The former have joined the Bund, while the latter group have affiliated with the C.P.P.

The Poale Zion has declared for the 21 conditions and approached the Communist Party with the proposal to be allowed to enter it while at the same time retaining its autonomy (as a Jewish Section) and the right to carry on its propaganda on behalf of immigration to Palestine. Needless to say the Party declined the offer. In this connection we must mention that a really Communist group has developed within the Poale Zion.

The Bund has been carrying on negotiations with the E.C. of the C.I. for at least one year, the reason of the failure so far being that it refuses to oust its nationalist leaders. The Communist group within the Bund is the object of various persecutions on the part of the party leaders.

In spite of its illegality our Party succeeded in convening a national conference of the Jewish organizations, which met in September and lasted two days. The 25 delegates present represented Warsaw, Lodz, Bjelostok, Brest Litovsk, Czenstochau, Bendzin, Kalisz, Radom, Kielce and Grodno. In its theses on party work among the Jewish proletariat the conference stated that Communism had developed considerably. It furthermore recommended that the Jewish language, paid attention to in the trade-unions and other organizations as far as possible. It declared, however, strongly against organization along national lines and demanded that Jewish and Polish labor cooperate as much as possible. The conference also disapproved of special political slogans being given out for the workers of different nationalities, and demanded absolute unity of the political action of all the proletarians of Poland.

International Press Correspondence, widely known as”Inprecorr” was published by the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) regularly in German and English, occasionally in many other languages, beginning in 1921 and lasting in English until 1938. Inprecorr’s role was to supply translated articles to the English-speaking press of the International from the Comintern’s different sections, as well as news and statements from the ECCI. Many ‘Daily Worker’ and ‘Communist’ articles originated in Inprecorr, and it also published articles by American comrades for use in other countries. It was published at least weekly, and often thrice weekly.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/inprecor/1922/v02n005-jan-17-1922-inprecor.pdf