Poale Zion Collection

8' 1.5"

Movement of the "Workers of Zion" was initially comprised of Marxist Zionist Jewish workers. Founded by Ber Borochov in various cities throughout the Russian Empire around the turn of the twentieth century, following the Bund's rejection of Zionism in c. 1901. According to movement's ideology, a Jewish proletariat would come into being in the land of Israel (then Palestine). These views were outlined by Borochov in his work, Our Platform, published in 1906. A World Union of Poale Zion was formed, with its first World Congress taking place in August 1907 in the Hague. In 1919-1920 a split occurred between different Poale Zion factions, thus creating Left Poale Zion and Right Poale Zion. This split paralleled a similar division that occurred in the Second International. The right-wing of the movement was non-Marxist and more moderate than the movement's left wing faction. It advocated the views of the Second International, and essentially became a social-democratic party. The Left Poale Zion did not view the Second International as radical enough, and participated in the Bolshevic revolution. The left wing faction was also more heavily represented than the movement's right wing faction, in Britain and Poland until World War II. Another distinction between the two factions was their approach to Yiddish. The left wing was more supportive of Yiddish and Yiddish culture, whereas the right wing -- like the Zionists -- advocated the use of modern Hebrew. In post-World War II Poland, the movement as a whole was banned by the Communist leadership, and as a result, was disbanded in 1950. Poale Zion continues to exist in c. 2012 in North America, Britain, Israel, and elsewhere, in various forms that frequently include revamped titles and mergers with other entitites.

Education
Poland
Politics and Political Parties
Russia
Socialism
United States
Zionism

Inventory, English, 10 pp., typed

English
French
German
Russian
Spanish