History
Introducing The ‘Tuers’: Translations from Doyres Bundistn, Part 3: Anne Braude-Heller
The doctor-activist is often publicly remembered for her heroism in the Warsaw Ghetto, and less for her political activity with the Bund before 1940.
History
For a Bundist Chanukah (the Best-Worst Jewish Holiday)
We can think of the struggles that might have been left out of history, so that new struggles can make history today.
History
Manifesto of the General Jewish Workers’ Union (Bund) in Poland
Baited by Polish nationalism and scoffed at by Jewish nationalism, the Bund never grew tired of calling upon the Jewish masses; ‘‘Do not succumb to despair; do not surrender to any feeling of panic!’’
History
Word on the street is…
An article by Philadelphia shul teacher Shloyme Davidman reveals the extent to which secular Yiddish shuls were embedded in in the everyday lives and struggles of the working class.
History
Organized Labor, Politics and Klezmer Musicians in New York Until the First World War
From the early days of the 1880s to the First World War, klezmorim were present at every twist and turn of immigrant Jewish radicalism and labor organizing, from strikes to union elections.
History
Letters on Zionism Part 2: Socialism on Occupied Land
Socialism on occupied and stolen land, on land that still shrieks with the blood and sweat of the disenfranchised and the expelled… It is a perversion of socialism; it is a deformity of socialism!
Translation
Introducing The ‘Tuers’: Translations from Doyres Bundistn, Part 2: Ephraim (“Frank”) Zalman Atran
Translator’s Introduction: I am pleased to be continuing my series of translations from Doyres Bundistn, “Introducing the ‘Tuers,’” with the entry of Ephraim (“Frank”) Zalman Atran. While this installment only features one individual, his story presents a great deal to dig into. A barricade fighter who was shot three
History
Letters on Zionism, Part 1: The Two Worlds of Socialism and Zionism
You see the world as a Zionist, by which I mean you see the world with eyes full of darkness. You are not seeing the world as it is. Try to look at the world with socialist eyes and see.
History
World Jewry, the State of Israel, and the Defence of Yiddish: Statements and Resolutions from the Third World Bund Conference, 1955
At an international meeting of the Bund ten years after the Holocaust, Bundists highlighted the importance of participation in communal Jewish life, the preservation of Yiddish, and a "just peace" in Israel and Palestine.
History
The Zionist War on Yiddish in Palestine
Editor's note: This is a version of Elia Ayoub’s Master’s thesis about the war on Yiddish in Palestine written in 2016, graciously abbreviated and adapted for publication in Der Spekter. Source citations have been changed to links for easier reading. To read the original full essay
History
The Jews and the Left in America: Reprint from Jewish Socialist Critique, 1979
The issues faced by Jewish Americans in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, and their assessment of the New Left, are no less crucial to us now in 2025, having witnessed the failure of neoliberalism and the rise of right-wing populism.
History
Introducing the ‘Tuers’: Translations from Doyres Bundistn, part 1
Translator’s Introduction: דורות בונדיסטן [Doyres Bundistn] was edited by the Bundist Jacob Sholem Hertz, who published many books about the history of the General Jewish Labor Bund. These three volumes contain over 500 short biographical entries about rank-and-file Bundists by various authors. The Bundist term for an activist, “tuer”