Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

Zydowskie Ugrupowania Wywrotne w Polsce, by Rudolf Korsch (Kazimierz Krippendorf). 1925. Warszawa

Communism in Poland–Jewish. Disguised as a Huge Jewish Socialist Party (the Bund)

JEWISH SUBVERSIVE GROUPS IN POLAND is the title of this Polish-language book written by a Polish Jew. This gem of a book is not well known because of the standard narrative that would have us believe that Poland’s Jews were “Jewish Poles”, and that the large and mainstream Jewish political party in Poland, the Bund, was “only socialist, not Communist”. Both are untrue, as this book abundantly makes clear. Consequently, Polish conclusions about the overall disloyalty and pro-Communism, of Polish Jews, are well justified. Note that the author himself was not pro-Polish or anti-Communist: He considered Marx correct. (p. 166).

The Bund sided with Soviets in the 1920 Polish-Bolshevik War, and Soviets recognized the Bund as an ally (p. 62, 135). They promptly released captured POWs that could prove Bund membership (p. 52). After the Soviet Communists failed to conquer Poland, the Bund began promoting a cease-fire that would be favorable to the Soviets but not to the Poles. (p. 78). See:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/jewish-disloyalty-1920-war-szczepanski/

COMMUNISM IN POLAND–JEWISH, NOT POLISH

Korsch calls a spade a spade as he writes, “In all revolutionary movements since the dawn of time, the Jewish element has played a highly influential, and, as some would argue, decisive role.” (p. 7) and “In all revolutionary movements, Jews play a leading role.” (p. 13). This has a deep-seated basis, “Jews, as has been widely noted, are generally critical of their Aryan surroundings.” (p. 7). [Note that the term Aryan, used here by a Jewish author, did not then have the Nazi connotations that developed much later.]

He pointedly adds, “The theory of communism, as is well known, did not find many supporters in Poland outside Jewish circles, even among the working classes.” (p. 165). That says it all!

COMMUNISM IN POLAND–JEWISH. THE BUND WAS COMMUNIST, NOT JUST SOCIALIST. PERIOD

Except for the Kombund (an overtly Communist version of the Bund), most of the Bund signed nearly all, but not all, of the 21 points of the Comintern that would have formally made the Bund Communist. The differences were over technicalities, not political philosophy or goals. The Bund did not sign all 21 points of the Comintern because it did not want to subordinate itself to the central politics of Moscow (p. 23). In addition, the Bund insisted on a strong Jewish separatism while Soviet Communism tended towards Jewish assimilation, and the Komintern itself had frowned upon what it called “Jewish nationalism”. (p. 30). Poland’s Jews also feared that a Soviet-centered approach would inhibit the revolutionary energy of the Jewish masses. (p. 35).

So, the Kombund signed all 21 points of the Comintern and the Bund did not sign quite all 21 points. But the murderous goals were the same. The author comments, “After all, the leaders of Kombund are aware that the Bund also pursues the same goal as Kombund, namely–a bloody social revolution, only through slightly different tactics.” (p.63)

Korsch makes it additionally clear that the socialist Bund was Communist in every way except its name and its formal recognition by the Comintern. He writes, “The Bund strives for social revolution through a bloody upheaval, considering the dictatorship of the proletariat, which it envisions in the concrete form of Soviet power, to be the means of achieving this goal. It is therefore a program that is essentially consistent with that of the Comintern.”  (p. 29). In fact, Korsch connects “bloody revolution” with the Bund no less than 15 times in his book!

The subversive anti-Polish character of the Bund is obvious. Korsch writes, “Hence the Bund’s tendency to weaken Polish statehood at every opportunity, because such weakening leads to internal turmoil in the country and, as a result, to ‘social upheaval,’ after which, as can be seen from the above-quoted speech by Comrade.”  (p. 31)

For more on the Bund folding itself into Communism, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/zydokomuna-socialist-communist-fuzzy-boundary-brossat/

COMMUNISM IN POLAND–JEWISH. THE FEW ASSIMILATED POLISH JEWS WERE POLITICALLY IRRELEVANT

Korsch concludes, The influence of assimilationist ideology among Jews in general, and in Poland in particular, is negligible. This camp does not play any significant role.” (p. 40). One might add that Jewish assimilation to Polish-ness, however rarely it occured, itself did not necessarily transform Jews into Poles.

So much for the myth of the “Jewish Pole”.