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Title: The Vanishing Jewish Anarchists Author: CrimethInc. Date: May 26, 2017 Language: en Topics: Jewish anarchism, book review, letter Source: Retrieved on 22nd April 2021 from https://crimethinc.com/2017/05/26/anarchism-without-anarchists-a-book-review-of-an-incomplete-history
At the close of 2016, Verso books published Revolutionary Yiddishland: A
History Of Jewish Radicalism, by Alain Brossat and Sylvia Klingberg.
Eager to learn more about Jewish radicalism of all stripes, one
CrimethInc. agent sent away for a copy of this book. The results were
surprising, as detailed in this full report to Verso.
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Dear Verso Books,
I am sad to say that I recently received a defective book and I would
like a full refund. The book I ordered was Revolutionary Yiddishland: A
History Of Jewish Radicalism, but instead I received an incomplete
version. It seems that any mention of anarchy, anarchism, anarchists,
and even anarcho-communism has been left out completely from my copy.
When looking in the index I found that my copy was missing even the most
notable Jewish radicals, who happen to be anarchists, such as Emma
Goldman and Alexander Berkman. Also, there is no mention of the
anarchists who participated in the 1905 uprising, the Bialystok
anarchists,[1] or the notable anarchist group, The Black Banner. When
the authors got to the assassination of Symon Petliura on page eight,
there was not one mention of his assassin, Sholem Schwartzbard, a Jewish
anarchist. I noticed, too, that the numerous Jewish anarchist newspapers
were missing, as well as the Jewish anarchists who wrote, compiled,
edited, and printed those papers, such as anarchists David Edelstadt and
Saul Yanovsky.
Ironically, the title of the book I received is “Yiddishland” and yet
Baruch Rivkin is not mentioned once in my copy. Rivkin, an anarchist,
diligently wrote on the subject of “Yiddishland,” and arguably coined
the term. It grieves me that I was sold an incomplete version of a
“History of Jewish Radicalism.” I am sure it was an honest mistake and
not false advertising, since there is not one point in history when
communists or socialists have attempted to erase anarchism, anarchists,
Jewish anarchists, or Jews from its pages.
For a history of Jewish anarchism in the United States please refer to
Di yiddishe anarkhistishe bevegung in emerika (The Jewish Anarchist
Movement in the United States: A Historical Review and Personal
Reminiscences) by Joseph Cohen. Within the 557 pages of that lovely
book, you will find a beautiful description of Jewish anarchism.
However, there is little to no mention of Jewish communism. Maybe that
is because it is a history of Jewish anarchism and not Jewish communism.
If it were to include both Jewish anarchism and Jewish communism, then
it could be boldly titled Revolutionary Yiddishland: A History Of Jewish
Radicalism.
I would like to return this book and be given a full refund.
Thank you.
[1] All the members of the first anarchist group in the Russian Empire,
which was formed in 1903 in Bialystok, were Jews. Yiddish-speaking Jews
participated in the International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam in
1907.