The Gezerd was a

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

organisation of

Australian Jews Australian Jews, or Jewish Australians, () are Jews who are Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia. In the 2021 census there were 99,956 people who identified Judaism as their religious affiliation and 29,113 Australians who ...

that promoted the settlement of Jews in Eastern Siberia, along with pro-

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

positions. It was active in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. The organisation was co-founded by the recent Polish Jewish immigrant & Bundist Sender Burstin. In its early years it cooperated strongly with the Jewish Labour Bund in Australia; including the formation of a Joint Culture Committee, however the two organisations split over the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact along with the expelling of Sender Burstin as a "

Social-Fascist Social fascism was a theory developed by the Communist International (Comintern) in the early 1930s which saw social democracy as a moderate variant of fascism. The Comintern argued that capitalism had entered a Third Period in which proletarian ...

". The organisation supported the activities of the Soviet

Komzet Komzet (, ) was the ''Committee for the Settlement of Toiling Jews on the Land'' (some English sources use the word "working" instead of "toiling") in the Soviet Union. The primary goal of the Komzet was to provide work for the unemployed agricult ...

in trying to build an alternative Jewish Homeland in

Birobidzhan Birobidzhan ( rus, Биробиджан, p=bʲɪrəbʲɪˈdʐan; , ), also spelt Birobijan ( ), is a town and the administrative centre of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway, near the China–Russia bord ...

, working as a local wing of the public relations organisation

OZET OZET ( romanised: Obshchestvo zemleustroystva yevreyskikh trudyashchikhsya, Yiddish: געזעלשאפט פאר איינארדענען ארבעטנדיקע יידן אויף ערד אין פ.ס.ס.ר romanised: ''Gezelshaft far aynordnen oyf Erd ...

for this purpose. Towards these ends, it raised some £50 (

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

) within its first year to help with the settlement there, along with a

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...

and an

x-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

in 1934. The group also maintained strong ties with the

Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian communist party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been ...

, although never formally joined or affiliated with the organisation. Beyond its support of Soviet policies, the group also engaged in

yiddish culture Yiddishism is a cultural and linguistic movement that advocates and promotes the use of the Yiddish language. It began among Jews in Eastern Europe during the latter part of the 19th century. Some of the leading founders of this movement were Men ...

events; including founding a " Culture House" in Carlton in 1938 and running a

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satire, satiric or nostalgic revues; melodr ...

troupe between 1932 and 1937, efforts to support the integration of migrants (such Australian history and English language lessons), and events around international policy; especially the rise of fascism. It also supported the international boycott of German goods, and organised meetings against the political violence of the Nazi Regime against "Jews, Catholics, workers, and intellectuals". The group put itself at odds with the traditional Anglo-Jewery of Australia, positioning itself against

Religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

and ideologically

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

elements of Australian Jewery: being described as an 'undesirable foreign element' by Newman Rosenthal, right-leaning editor of the ''Australian Jewish Herald'' newspaper. The organisation continued despite the liquidation of the Soviet OZET in 1938, apparently not aware of this event. The aforementioned issues regarding the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact would cause a decline in membership and public support from which the organisation would never recover. With the banning of the CPA by Prime Minister

Menzies Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...

in 1940, the organisation voluntarily went underground for roughly 15 months. It re-emerged following the

German Invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

, however this could not abate its decline. The organisation would dissolve in May 1944.

Notes

References

{{Reflist Jewish socialism Socialist organisations in Australia Left-wing politics in Australia Jewish organisations based in Australia Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Australia Political organisations based in Australia Organisations based in Melbourne Organisations based in Sydney Jews and Judaism in Melbourne Organizations established in 1930 Far-left politics in Australia Australia–Soviet Union relations Jewish settlement schemes in the Soviet Union Communism in Australia Jewish communist movements Jewish Autonomous Oblast Secular Jewish culture in Europe Jewish political organizations Jewish Ukrainian history Jews and Judaism in Crimea Jews and Judaism in the Soviet Union Jewish clubs and societies Jewish community organizations Defunct Jewish organizations Secular Jewish culture in Australia Communist Party of Australia Defunct organisations based in Australia Organizations disestablished in 1944

See also

Notes

References