Show Summary Details
- Title Pages
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Awakenings
- 1 “When I Went Home I Was Aflame” (memoir; c. 1925)
- 2 “I Saw a New World Opening Before Me” (memoir; 1931)
- 3 The World of Socialism and Revolution (memoir; 1963)
- 4 “Rebellion Raged within Me” (memoir; 1948)
- 5 “It Wasn’t Difficult for Me to Reject Judaism” (memoir; 1965)
- Part II In Struggle
- 6 “Strong, Firm, and Correct Propaganda” (1886)
- 7 “Socialism Is Not a Dream” (1888)
- 8 The Birth of the Knee-Pants Makers’ Union (memoir; 1924)
- 9 “The Whole City Seethed” (1892)
- 10 Working Women Unite (1893–1894)
- 11 The Attempted Assassination of Henry Clay Frick (memoir; 1912)
- 12 The Prophet Karl Marx (c. 1910s)
- 13 “Our Mecca” (memoir; n.d.)
- 14 “The Right to Control Birth” (1916)
- 15 A Personal and Confidential Letter to Louis Marshall (1917)
- 16 Gangsters and Socialists on Election Day (memoir; 1944)
- 17 “If I Were a Colored Man What Would I Do?” (1919)
- 18 The Meaning of Labor Day (1921)
- 19 An Encounter with a Klansman (memoir; n.d.)
- 20 Communist “Criminals” in Los Angeles (1929)
- 21 “Unions with Brains” (1930)
- 22 In Defense of the Kentucky Miners (1932)
- 23 “The Obligations of Youth Today” (1932)
- 24 “Some Vital Problems of Negro Labor” (1935)
- 25 “Charlatans and Gangsters and Pompous Racketeers” (1938)
- 26 “With Nazism We All Are at War” (1942)
- Part III Life of the Mind
- 27 “Their Intense Desire to Study” (1893)
- 28 The Power of Speech and Education (1893)
- 29 “For That, We Found Time” (interview; 1965)
- 30 A Lower East Side Vacation (1903)
- 31 “Jewish Working People … Have Lost All Interest in the Synagogue” (1905)
- 32 “Peripatetic Philosophers” (1910)
- 33 Yiddish Lectures in Philadelphia (1916)
- 34 “A Language That He Wants to and Must Forget” (1918)
- 35 “America’s Most Interesting Daily” (1922)
- 36 “The Strongest Weapons in the Hands of Jewish Workers” (1924)
- 37 The Aims of Workers’ Education (1926)
- 38 Sexual Relations from a Communist Standpoint (1928)
- 39 “Sow the Field of Yiddish Cultural Tradition” (1939)
- 40 “The Responsibility of English-Speaking Jewish Intellectuals” (1946)
- Part IV The Russian Revolution
- 41 In Honor of Red Sunday (1906)
- 42 Leon Trotsky on Second Avenue (memoir; 1944)
- 43 “These Glad Days of Russian Freedom” (1917)
- 44 New York Socialists Contribute to Chaos in Russia (1917)
- 45 “The New Man” (1921)
- 46 Communism and Freedom of Speech (1925)
- 47 A Revolutionary Returns (1929)
- 48 Building Communism in the Ukraine (interview, 1981–1982)
- 49 “G.P.U. Intrigues in America” (1938)
- 50 Fighting Stalinists and Chasing Girls (memoir; 1965)
- 51 The Murder of Ehrlich and Alter (1943)
- 52 The Soviet Union Reappraised (1956)
- Part V The Question of Zionism
- 53 “The Whole Thing Is Ridiculous” (1906)
- 54 “The Jewish Militant” (1906)
- 55 Zionism and Transnationalism (1916)
- 56 “Should We Change Our Stance toward Zionism?” (1918)
- 57 “The Pogroms in Palestine” (1929)
- 58 A Revolt of the Oppressed Arab Masses (1929)
- 59 “Jew and Arab” (1934)
- 60 “Give Up the Illusion of Building a Jewish Homeland” (1936)
- 61 Jewish Upbuilding Is Revolutionizing Palestine (1939)
- 62 “The Jewish Problem Will Be Solved as Soon as the Jews Again Become a Normal Nation” (1943)
- 63 The Final Emancipation of the Jews Is the Struggle for Socialism (1946)
- 64 Jewish National Aspirations Are Not a Violation of Marxist Principles (1947)
- 65 Israel and the World Struggle for Peace and Democracy (1948)
- Recommended Reading on Jewish Radicals
- Index
- About the Editor
The World of Socialism and Revolution (memoir; 1963)
The World of Socialism and Revolution (memoir; 1963)
- Chapter:
- (p.49) 3 The World of Socialism and Revolution (memoir; 1963)
- Source:
- Jewish Radicals
- Author(s):
Alexander Bittelman
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
DOI:10.18574/nyu/9780814757437.003.0003
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
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- Title Pages
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Awakenings
- 1 “When I Went Home I Was Aflame” (memoir; c. 1925)
- 2 “I Saw a New World Opening Before Me” (memoir; 1931)
- 3 The World of Socialism and Revolution (memoir; 1963)
- 4 “Rebellion Raged within Me” (memoir; 1948)
- 5 “It Wasn’t Difficult for Me to Reject Judaism” (memoir; 1965)
- Part II In Struggle
- 6 “Strong, Firm, and Correct Propaganda” (1886)
- 7 “Socialism Is Not a Dream” (1888)
- 8 The Birth of the Knee-Pants Makers’ Union (memoir; 1924)
- 9 “The Whole City Seethed” (1892)
- 10 Working Women Unite (1893–1894)
- 11 The Attempted Assassination of Henry Clay Frick (memoir; 1912)
- 12 The Prophet Karl Marx (c. 1910s)
- 13 “Our Mecca” (memoir; n.d.)
- 14 “The Right to Control Birth” (1916)
- 15 A Personal and Confidential Letter to Louis Marshall (1917)
- 16 Gangsters and Socialists on Election Day (memoir; 1944)
- 17 “If I Were a Colored Man What Would I Do?” (1919)
- 18 The Meaning of Labor Day (1921)
- 19 An Encounter with a Klansman (memoir; n.d.)
- 20 Communist “Criminals” in Los Angeles (1929)
- 21 “Unions with Brains” (1930)
- 22 In Defense of the Kentucky Miners (1932)
- 23 “The Obligations of Youth Today” (1932)
- 24 “Some Vital Problems of Negro Labor” (1935)
- 25 “Charlatans and Gangsters and Pompous Racketeers” (1938)
- 26 “With Nazism We All Are at War” (1942)
- Part III Life of the Mind
- 27 “Their Intense Desire to Study” (1893)
- 28 The Power of Speech and Education (1893)
- 29 “For That, We Found Time” (interview; 1965)
- 30 A Lower East Side Vacation (1903)
- 31 “Jewish Working People … Have Lost All Interest in the Synagogue” (1905)
- 32 “Peripatetic Philosophers” (1910)
- 33 Yiddish Lectures in Philadelphia (1916)
- 34 “A Language That He Wants to and Must Forget” (1918)
- 35 “America’s Most Interesting Daily” (1922)
- 36 “The Strongest Weapons in the Hands of Jewish Workers” (1924)
- 37 The Aims of Workers’ Education (1926)
- 38 Sexual Relations from a Communist Standpoint (1928)
- 39 “Sow the Field of Yiddish Cultural Tradition” (1939)
- 40 “The Responsibility of English-Speaking Jewish Intellectuals” (1946)
- Part IV The Russian Revolution
- 41 In Honor of Red Sunday (1906)
- 42 Leon Trotsky on Second Avenue (memoir; 1944)
- 43 “These Glad Days of Russian Freedom” (1917)
- 44 New York Socialists Contribute to Chaos in Russia (1917)
- 45 “The New Man” (1921)
- 46 Communism and Freedom of Speech (1925)
- 47 A Revolutionary Returns (1929)
- 48 Building Communism in the Ukraine (interview, 1981–1982)
- 49 “G.P.U. Intrigues in America” (1938)
- 50 Fighting Stalinists and Chasing Girls (memoir; 1965)
- 51 The Murder of Ehrlich and Alter (1943)
- 52 The Soviet Union Reappraised (1956)
- Part V The Question of Zionism
- 53 “The Whole Thing Is Ridiculous” (1906)
- 54 “The Jewish Militant” (1906)
- 55 Zionism and Transnationalism (1916)
- 56 “Should We Change Our Stance toward Zionism?” (1918)
- 57 “The Pogroms in Palestine” (1929)
- 58 A Revolt of the Oppressed Arab Masses (1929)
- 59 “Jew and Arab” (1934)
- 60 “Give Up the Illusion of Building a Jewish Homeland” (1936)
- 61 Jewish Upbuilding Is Revolutionizing Palestine (1939)
- 62 “The Jewish Problem Will Be Solved as Soon as the Jews Again Become a Normal Nation” (1943)
- 63 The Final Emancipation of the Jews Is the Struggle for Socialism (1946)
- 64 Jewish National Aspirations Are Not a Violation of Marxist Principles (1947)
- 65 Israel and the World Struggle for Peace and Democracy (1948)
- Recommended Reading on Jewish Radicals
- Index
- About the Editor
