The World of Socialism and Revolution (memoir; 1963)
The World of Socialism and Revolution (memoir; 1963)
This chapter chronicles the formative years of Alexander Bittelman, one of the founding members of the Communist Party in the United States. Specifically, the chapter recounts his experiences in the Bund, an underground organization of Jewish workers of a socialist and revolutionary nature. Its full name was The General Jewish Labor Alliance of Lithuania, Poland and Russia. The “Bund” was simply the Jewish word for “alliance.” During his time in the Bund, Bittelman learned about socialism, revolution, and the democratic republic; he also learned more about class struggle, exploitation, capitalists, and the proletariat—the last four he'd experienced firsthand as one of the oppressed. Bittelman would also experience a religious crisis during this period, as he attempted to reconcile his Jewish beliefs with the atheistic socialist movement.
Keywords: Alexander Bittelman, Bund, socialism, revolution, religion, atheism, Judaism, Jewish workers
NYU Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
