This remarkable appeal from the General Federation of Jewish Workers (the Bund) for funds to buy weapons for their Boyishe Organizatsyes (Battle Organizations, self-defense units) in the midst of the 1905 Revolution details not just the horrors of the pogroms, but the heroic acts of mass, and individual, self defense.

‘Bund Asks for Aid in Defense’ from The Socialist (Toledo). Vol. 5 No. 259. September 9, 1905.

Organization of Jewish Workers in Littau-Poland and Russia Issues Call for Help to Defend to Defend Themselves Against Russian Butchers.

The European Committee of the Bund (the General Federation of Jewish Workers in Littaw, Poland and Russia) has issued an appeal for aid to the workers of all countries, for the purpose of providing means by which the Jewish working people can defend themselves against the constant attacks made upon them by the Jew baiters acting under the inspiration and direction of the autocracy of Russia.

The appeal is lengthy, and somewhat condensed, tells the following thrilling story:

“It must be stated that it was not then so evident as it is now that the Russian Government was behind those riots. Then comparatively large masses of the population, principally the peasants, took part in the disturbances, and a superficial agitation on the part of a few police agents sent from St. Petersburg, was sufficient to inflame the ignorant and exploited mass of the people against the Jews.

“It was comparatively easy for the Government to explain these excesses as a spontaneous movement of the masses against Jewish usurers and exploiters.

A Labor Movement Has Developed.

“The anti-Jewish riots of present days present an entirely different aspect. The last twenty years have not passed in vain for Russia. The general intelligence of the masses, especially in the cities, has considerably risen. A strong labor movement has developed and a more correct conception of the social problems of the day is more general.

“To organize a Jewish massacre is by no means so easy now as it used to be twenty years ago. Think only what loads of leaflets and pamphlets of a slanderous and inflammatory character, inviting to violence against the Jews appear now; they are being distributed by the millions. Then an oral agitation is carried on by priests, police officers, spies, etc. The Jews are represented by the professional agitators as the blood-suckers of the Russian people, as the enemies of the Czar, of the Fatherland and of the Orthodox Church, as men, who have sold themselves to the Japanese for money.

“Their desire for a constitution is explained as a scheme by means of which they wish to obtain possession of the whole country in order to be able to exploit the people so much more.

All Elements Misrepresented.

“It is worth noticing that in most of these pamphlets, figure not only the Jews but also the Poles and Armenians, the liberal Zemstvoists, students, physicians, literary men, teachers and intellectuals in general. The people are called upon to exterminate al these elements who are represented as the violent enemies of the Fatherland. We see that not only do they succeed in provoking outbreaks against the Jews, but also massacres of Armenians in Caucasia, frightful attacks upon students in Kursk and Pskof, and individual attacks on students in the university towns. Many teachers were compelled to leave their places as a result of the hostile attitude of the peasants, as, for instance, in the government of Saratov.

“The agitation of the Government against the Jews has assumed gigantic proportions, and yet it must be stated that the net results of this colossal agitation is not by any means as great as their author would desire them to be. The anti-Jewish excesses are out of all proportion, to the amount of energy expended by the Government in provoking them. The work of the Jew-baiters was frustrated by the organized Jewish laboring masses.

What Non-Resistance Brought.

“In the eighties no resistance was offered by the Jews with the exception of Warsaw and several other cities. The Jews concealed themselves in the cellars, their earthly possessions were destroyed before their eyes, their dear ones killed and mutilated, their wives and daughters assaulted. The most horrible thing about these outrages was the fact that no resistance was offered and that the Jews allowed themselves to be slaughtered like so many calves. One cannot, of course, reproach them too severely, one could not, expect from the long enslaved Jewish citizens of Russia that they should possess the same degree of pride and dignity as those who grew up in an atmosphere of political liberty and equal civil rights. We must admire the transformation which has taken place in the last few years.

“The movement among the Jewish laboring masses commenced about fifteen years ago. In the year 1897 the General Jewish Workingmen’s Federation (The Bund) was formed which has been growing every year in power and influence, and which is now, undoubtedly, one of the most. powerful factors in the social life of Russia.

“The Bund has developed its activity in every city, town and village. where there is a Jewish population. This movement has necessarily put the laboring masses on a higher intellectual plane. Out of this movement grew an irresistible desire for knowledge, a strong interest in the various social problems, a desire to know the life and institutions of Western Europe. Every step was made forward, through a hard struggle and it was this schooling which made the Jew, who erstwhile trembled before every police uniform, a citizen in the full sense of the word; and it was this activity of the Bund that revolutionized also the various elements of the Jewish Bourgeoisie, a fact which is often admitted by a majority of the more prosperous classes.

Resistance Develops Manhood.

“This change in the life of the Jewish people created necessarily self-consciousness and a knowledge of one’s rights and human dignity. His traditional cowardice disappeared; and that is why the Jewish defender will rather sacrifice his life than his honor. The Self-Defence movement is now on the program, and in almost every city with the rising of the flame of the anti-Jewish agitation the Bund’s Self-Defence Committee became active.

“Kishineff was the only big city where the masses had no active Self-Defence movement. This was partly due to the fact that the labor movement was very weak there, and the military and police suppressed in the most brutal manner all resistance on the part of the Jews.

“Then followed Homel where the massacre came not altogether unexpectedly and the Self-Defence was thoroughly organized by the Bund. All eye-witnesses agree that if not for the aid that the military rendered to the hoodlums, the latter would have sustained a thorough defeat. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the aid rendered by the soldiers the number of killed and wounded hoodlums was nearly the same as the number of victims among the Jews. The riot was confined to a few streets only, and the greater part of the city was saved.

Working Class Heroes.

“More than ordinary heroism was displayed by the members of the Self-Defence of Shitomir. Without the Self-Defence movement Shitomir would have been a second Kishineff. As a matter of fact very little property was destroyed, but a regular battle took place between the organized toughs and the Self-Defence. The principal agitators came from Moscow and Tula and they were armed not only with pistols, but with modern rifles.

“A small number of the Self-Defence Committee (the larger number were assigned to the centre of the town), fought for four hours with a much greater number of toughs organized on a military basis armed with rifles, and it was due to the efforts of this valiant group of defenders that the band did not penetrate into the city. They fought like heroes and all were either killed or wounded; the last words of the student, Weinstein, were as he fell: “Comrades, take my pistol.” They fell, all, but they have saved hundreds of families from destruction. They held out until an additional number of defenders came to their aid, and over the bodies of their fallen comrades, the fresh forces of the defence continued the attack on the rioters.”

The Reward of Self-Defence.

“In the city of Briest-Litowsk, where the reservists were aroused against the Jews by the officials (it is a well established fact that an agitation was carried on and that anti-Semitic literature was distributed among them by the police officers), and where the reservists were armed with rifles, owing to the Self-Defence the riot was localized and the greater portion of the city was saved from annihilation. This city can also point with pride at her six killed and thirty wounded defenders.

“Even in the small town of Smjela the Self-Defence movement was active and when the news of an uprising in the town reached the neighboring town of Cherkasy, a contingent of young men was sent to the defence of Smjela.

“The strong organization of the Bund and the influence which the Jewish workingmen exercise over their Christian comrades are responsible for the fact that in many cities the officials dare not organize any anti-Jewish outbreaks because the game may prove too expensive for them. For instance, when in Kovno, police agents combined, with the object of provoking an anti-Jewish riot, the Jewish and Christian workingmen immediately organized gigantic demonstration against the Government.

“In several cities the officials were notified by Revolutionary Committees that should anti-Jewish riots take place, that all means will be used against the administration, that all government buildings will be destroyed and that all officials will be killed. In many cities due to the strength of the Jewish labor organization and to the presence of abundant arms an anti-Jewish outbreak is impossible.

A Great Change Occurs.

“A great change for the better has also taken place in the Christian population. It is of great importance to the Jew. It is principally due to two factors. First. To the labor. movement which has taken root amongst the Christians and has spread culture amongst the large masses. Second. To the strong Jewish labor movement which revolutionizes also the Christian workingmen.

“It was easy before, for the professional anti-Semite to induce the Christian masses to believe that the Jews were usurers, exploiters and swindlers. Now, however, when he works together with the Jew in the factory, when he comes in touch with him daily and principally when he sees the courageous and fearless struggle of the Jew, a new attitude of the Christians towards the Jews is the logical sequence, and then due to the propaganda among the Christian population he begins to see who his real enemy is and begins to understand that the Russian Government besmirched with crime, in order to divert the attention of the people from its evil deeds, seeks to excite the populace against the Jews.

Class Consciousness Appears.

“We can cite numerous instances where this new attitude has shown itself. When in the year 1903 the general strike in Elizabethgrad, Ekaterinoslav, Odessa and other cities, broke out, it was impossible for the Government to organize an anti-Jewish riot although it made strenuous efforts to do so, and although in the harbor of Odessa there are thousands of roughs who are always ready for a disturbance.

“In Elizabethgrad the striking Christian builders said to the Jews when they began to close their stores: “Do not be afraid, we recognize no difference between Jew and Gentile we are all workingmen who have learned the lesson of solidarity.”

“In many places as soon as a commotion was noticed among the backward elements, Christian orators made clear to the masses the criminality of an attack against the Jews and the sinister objects of the Government and called upon the workingmen, to join, in case of an outbreak, the ranks of the defenders in order to oppose the Black Band.

Trouble Makers Punished.

“During the very last events in Odessa a few police agents came to the port city and appealed to the crowd with the familiar cry, “Kill the Jews.” These agents were lynched by the populace on the spot and those who participated in the lynching were everywhere received with cheers.

“In a very small factory town of the Province of Mohilev a police agent was offering two and a half rubels to the tramps for participating in a riot. Immediately both Jewish and Christian workingmen of the town combined, killed the agent, wounded two of the band and the uprising was nipped in the bud.

“An interesting story is also reported from Homel in the “Last News of the Bund.” A demonstration took place there, as a protest against the Shitomir outrage; many Christian workingmen were present. It came to a conflict with the cossacks and a seventeen-year-old Jewish boy was killed. When he was wounded a Christian workingman, who two years before that participated in an anti-Jewish riot, approached him, took the boy to a hospital and shedding tears said, “I envy you that you die such a heroic death.”

“It is also well known that in almost every Self-Defence Committee Christians participate, intellectuals as well as laborers; in Shitomir, for instance, the student Blinoff was killed, in Brest Litofsk a Christian was severely wounded. In Melitopol a considerable number of Christians fought against the Black Band.

Money Needed At Once.

“In conclusion we think, it necessary to say a few words about the difficulty which confronts the organization of the Self-Defence movement. It is not that we are short of men, no, every man burns with a desire to sacrifice his life in the struggle and to find an honorable death in the battle for human rights, but the principal difficulty lies in the fact that notwithstanding all our efforts, we lack financial means and are therefore short of arms.

“It is a well established fact that only the best kind of Browning’s long-distance revolvers are effective. These weapons are either smuggled into Russia or secretly purchased there. The price of fire-arms has therefore necessarily risen.

“One must not forget that wholesale arrests and searches of private houses are an everyday occurrence in Russia, and that frequently our fire-arms fall into the hands of the police. That is why the Bund is endeavoring to arm the great masses, so that each man may, in resisting an attack, defend his own life and that of his neighbor.

“All this demands large sums of money which we can not raise in Russia. We consider it the moral duty of all men who sympathize with the heroic struggle of the organized Jewish defenders, of all who understand that through the Self-Defence movement hundreds and thousands of Jewish families have been saved from misery and destruction, to assist financially “The Bund” in organizing the Self-Defence work.”

(Signed),

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE BUND. Geneva, Switzerland, July, 1905.

***

A special fund to assist the Bund was opened in America four months ago, of which DR. A. CASPE, 210 East Broadway, New York City, is the treasurer. About four thousand dollars has already been collected and forwarded to the European Committee of the Bund. Contributions to any amount will be gladly received by Comrade Caspe at the above address.

There have been a number of journals in our history named ‘The Socialist’. This Socialist was a printed and edited in Seattle, Washington (with sojourns in Caldwell, Idaho and Toledo, Ohio) by the radical medical doctor, former Baptist minister and socialist, Hermon Titus. The weekly paper began to support Eugene Debs 1900 Presidential run and continued until 1910. The paper became a fairly widely read organ of the national Socialist Party and while it was active, was a leading voice of the Party’s Left Wing. The paper was the source of many fights between the right and left of the Seattle Socialist Party. in 1909, the paper’s associates split with the SP to briefly form the Wage Workers Party in which future Communist Party leader William Z Foster was a central actor. That organization soon perished with many of its activists joining the vibrant Northwest IWW of the time.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/thesocialist-seattle/259-SS-1905-09-09.pdf