Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 30, 1970 Page: 11 of 20
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► | '1HIS month marks the hun-
dredth anniversary of
A Lenin’s birth. More than
any other statesman of this
century he has changed a vast
portion of the world, and even
outside Russia his name is held
in contempt by some, in awe by
many and admired by many
others.
Whether one agrees with his
views or rejects them totally or
partially, it is the duty of the
historian to study them. They
are important not only because
they were the philosophical poli-
tical views of a man who suc-
ceeded in carrying out a social
revolution in a country as vast
as Russia, but also because his
ideas have influenced other
countries in Eastern Europe and
Left-wing movements in many
parts of the world.
In a word, his writings serve
as a kind of blueprint, a model
for his successors. It is necessary
to see his views in the historical
perspective of the time and to
assess whether they were based
on objective analysis or were
merely preconceived notions
lacking profundity or percep-
tion.
Of more than purely historic
Interest are the views Lenin
formed of the Jews, their prob-
lems, their contribution to
society, and their future.
St. Petersburg group
Lenin was bom in Simbirsk, a
town on the Volga with hardly
any Jews. He first came into con-
tact with Jews in the revolution-
ary circles of St. Petersburg.
Jews who joined the revolution-
ary movement during the early
’nineties of the last century
were culturally very assimila-
ted, spok« only Russian, and felt
equal in the secret, illegal
revolutionary circles they be-
longed to.
The compact mass of the Jews,
living predominantly in the Pale
of Settlement remained un-
known to him. He met Martov,
Axelrod and other Jewish re-
volutionaries, many of whom
later became his political oppon-
ents, but they were in agree-
ment with his views on the Jews.
One has also to bear in mind
that in Russia at the end of the
last century there were over five
million Jews, living a compact
cultural life in a restricted area
known as the Pale of Settle-
ment, speaking their own lan-
guage—Yiddish—having many
old established institutions and,
in many parts of the Pale, par-
ticularly the urban areas, form-
ing a majority of the population.
This mass of people, with its rich
cultural traditions and insti-
tutions, remained unknown to
Lenin during the whole of his
life.
The Bundists
At.first, Lenin's reaction to the
Jews was one common to all
Socialists of the day and to the
majority of the radicals, namely
the duty of all progressive
people to demand the removal
of all discriminatory policies
against Jews in every field of
political, economic and cultural
activity. At first we find Lenin
denouncing antisemitic propa-
ganda in the press of the day.
He complained of Tsarist policy
which excluded the Jews from
settling on the land and prevent-
ing them from developing
Siberia.
This line of simple denuncia-
tion of antisemitic policies
changed when the Jews formed
a specifically Jewish revolution-
ary political party—the Bund—
which demanded to speak on be-
half of all Jews in the revolu-
tionary movement and which
planned to organise the Jewish
workers in a separate political
organisation. In conditions of
illegality prevailing in Russia at
the time, the Bund succeeded
beyond expectations. It managed
to' organise printing presses,
call strikes, distribute litera-
ture and raise funds.
By 1902, the Bund demanded
The author is Reader in
'Jewish History at University
1College, London, and Senior
Research Fellow at St Antony's
College, Oxford.
to be the chief spokesman and
defender of the interests of the
Jewish workers. Particularly, its
leaders were insisting that the
Russian Social Democratic Party
be built on federal lines, with
autonomy to each section.
The leaders of the Russian
Social Democratic Party, Plek-
hanov, Martov and Lenin,
countered these demands by
accusing the Bund of nationalist
tendencies and splitting tactics,
and dividing the revolutionary
movement, thus weakening the
fight against Tsarism.
Lenin pointed out the danger
to the socialists inherent in a
nationalist policy as advocated
by the Bund, and he saw anti-
semitism as a phenomenon due
only to the existence of classes
in society. Once classes vanished
after the social revolution and
legislation passed banning anti-
semitic propaganda, Lenin
argued, the Jewish problem
would be solved.
During the historic second
Congress of the Russian Social
Democratic Party in 1903, which
led to the split between the two
dominant groups, the Bolsheviks
and the Mensheviks, and where
the demands of the Bund were
debated, Lenin himself, being a
Russian, was too sensitive to
come out publicly and attack the
Bund. Worried lest his inter-
vention be interpreted as “ anti-
Jewish,” he wrote a private note
to Trotsky, which is of immense
psychological and political in-
terest both as to the writer and
the recipient.
Bv CHIMEN
J
ABRAMSKY
“ Trotsky, would you take the
floor after Martov for a little
statement regarding the resolu-
tion which you have signed on
the Bund and declare that the
Jews who signed it are also
representatives of the Jewish
proletariat ? ”
Trotsky reformulated the
above in the following way:
“ Jewish comrades who signed
it, while working in the Russian
Party, regarded and still do re-
gard themselves also as repre-
sentatives of the Jewish prole-
tariat.”
After this clash with Bund,
Lenin took Kautsky’s idea that
the Jews lacked a common lan-
guage and a common territory,
and could not therefore be con-
sidered a nation. “ The Zionisl
idea of the Jews being a nation
is false and reactionary accord-
ing to its own essence.” Lenin
did not mind having Socialist
propaganda conducted in Yid-
dish, but the future for the Jews
he believed lay in assimilation,
“ the undoubted progress of
their assimilation with the sur-
rounding population.”
For Lenin, Jews who spoke
of Jewish culture specifically,
were using the same slogan “ of
the rabbis and the bourgeoisie,
the slogan of our enemies.”
At the same time, he demanded
a vigorous campaign against
antisemitic attacks on Jews and
even planned to introduce a law
in the Duma on national
equality. “ to remove all dis-
abilities from the Jews.”
The essence of Jewish culture
was summed up by Lenin as
“ its internationalism, its respon-
siveness to the advance move-
ment of the epoch (the percen-
tage of Jews in the democratic
Lenin—by Jacob Kramer (1892-
1962)
and proletarian movements is
everywhere higher than the per-
centage of Jews in the popula-
tion as a whole).”
Lenin sincerely believed that
“ the Jewish question would be
solved together with the basic
question facing Russia,” that
once a Socialist government was
in power the Jews could no
longer be used as a scapegoat
and the road would lie wide
open for their total assimilation
in Russian society.
November Revolution
After the outbreak of the
November Revolution in 1917,
and with the growing menace of
pogroms against Jews from the
White armies and Ukrainian
Nationalists, Lenin delivered a
speech to the Red Army, which
was played on gramophone re-
cords on all fronts, warning
about pogroms. He told the
Russians :
Not the Jews are the enemies
of the workers, The enemies of
the workers are the capitalists of
all countries. Among the Jews
are workers and toilers—they
are the majority. They are our
brothers.
In brief, Lenin represented
the classical period of the liberal
European society, when many
people believed sincerely that by
the removal of all restrictions
from the Jews they would be
able to assimilate fully into the
society in which they lived.
Lenin, like many Liberals and
Socialists, did not feel it neces-
sary to examine deeply the roots
of antisemitism.
Apart from a few articles by
Kautsky, the theoretician of
German Social Democracy, on
the Jews, he seems not to have
read a single book on this vital
question. He agreed with the
view on assimilation. It was an
easy and superficial answer to a
highly complex problem.
His own over-simplified solu-
tion to the Jewish problem foun-
dered on the rocks, both in the
- Soviet Union and in other Com
munist countries.
FORMER FORT WORTH NATIVE RECEIVES MARINE CORPS PLAQUE
A former native of Fort Worth, now an outstanding citizen of
Joplin, Missouri, was recently cited by the United States Marine Corps
for his efforts in promoting the "We Love America* 1” campaign of
which he is chairman.
Dr. J. B. Simon, an optome-;,
trist,son of the late Arthur and
the late Mrs. Ida Fred Green, and
brother of Mrs. Calmon A. Landa
of Dallas, was heralded by the
Marine Corps and received a plaque
for founding the observance which
takes place in November during
Thanksgiving week.
Why did Dr. Simon originate
the idea?
Listen to his words.
"I was tired of hearing people
complain, reports of riots and acts
against our country and flag."
How did it start?
Dr. Simon contacted several
Joplin and area people upon his
return from a trip to Texas last
October and the first observance
was organized in November, 1969.
With only a month to promote the
observance, it brought worldwide
attention to Joplin.
Dr. Simon described his feel-
ings of the observance this way:
"We are not supporting any po-
itical, religious or military orga-
nization, but just expressing our
thankfulness for being an Ameri-
can."
Mpj. Smaldone, representing the
Marines, said, "We in Kansas City
have heard a lot about the 'We
Love America' group in Joplin and
hardly a day goes by when some-
one requests information as to
how they can join Joplin in the
observance in November. We know
that this is growing across the nation
and the Marine Corps wants to
be a part of it. We assure you and
your group of full backing of the
observance in the future."
Dr. Simon complimented his
fellow workers: "This was not a
one-man job. There was help from
many people and 72,000 wore the
red, white and blue armbands."
What about the future?
Dr. Simon noted that plans
have already been started for the
nationwide observation in Novem-
ber. Various types of red, white
and blue emblems are being print-
ed for the campaign, he said.
Joplin Mayor Larry Hickey
congratulated Dr. Simon as his
wife and two children enjoyed
the Nachus._
A Plaque For Dr. Simon...
L/R Major Smaldone, Dr. Simon, and Mayor Hickey
POSTERBOARD
Stories and news events that you will not read elsewhere
edited for you especially by your Postaff from JTA and other
sources
PAGE 11 POSTERBOARD THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1970 TEXAS JEWISH POST
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Wisch, J. A. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 30, 1970, newspaper, April 30, 1970; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth753279/m1/11/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .