The Social Democratic Bund, or the General Jewish Labour Bund, the Bund (S.D.) or, later, the "Bund" in the Soviet Union ( yi, בונד„ אין ראטן־פֿאַרבאַנד"), was a short-lived

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

. It was formed as the Russian Bund was split at its conference in

Gomel Gomel (russian: Гомель, ) or Homiel ( be, Гомель, ) is the administrative centre of Gomel Region and the second-largest city in Belarus with 526,872 inhabitants (2015 census). Etymology There are at least six narratives of the or ...

in April 1920. The Social Democratic Bund was formed out of the right-wing minority section of the erstwhile Russian Bund. The party was led by

Raphael Abramovitch Raphael Abramovitch Rein (1880–1963), best known as Raphael Abramovitch, was a Russian socialist, a member of the General Jewish Workers' Union in Lithuania, Poland and Russia (Bund), and a leader of the Menshevik wing of the Russian Social-De ...

. After 1923, it continued to exist in exile.

Social Democratic Bund in Soviet Russia

Within the Social Democratic Bund there were two ideological streams, a left-wing tendency led by Abramovitch and a right-wing tendency led by Mikhail Liber. In the summer of 1920 Abramovitch travelled to

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

together with a

Menshevik The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...

delegation. He did not return to Russia afterwards. The Social Democratic Bund lived a shadowy existence. At public workers meetings it would condemn the Yevsektsia, the Jewish Section of the Communist Party. As of 1920, there was a

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

-based All-Ukrainian General Committee of Bund (S.D.). In February 1921, mass arrests to Bund (S.D.) members took place in

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest ci ...

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrat ...

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While ...

and

. The Moscow Bund Club was raided on two occasions and materials confiscated. By March 1921 the party was largely defunct inside Russia. In 1922, the Social Democratic Bund representation abroad took part in a protest against a trial of Socialist-Revolutionary leaders in Moscow. As late as February 1923 it published ''Biuleten tsentralnogo komiteta Bunda'' ('Bulletine of the Bund Central Committee') from Moscow. The February 1923 issue spoke of Bund sections active in Moscow and

In Vilno

After

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional ur ...

Wilno Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urba ...

(present-day

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

) was annexed by the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

in 1922, the Wilno Social-Democratic Bund hesitated to join the

General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland The General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland ( yi, אַלגעמײַנער ײדישער אַרבעטער בּונד אין פוילן, translit=Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter-bund in Poyln, pl, Ogólno-Żydowski Związek Robotniczy "Bund" w Polsce) was ...

. The Wilno Social Democratic Bund distrusted the Polish Bund for its overtures to the Comintern, arguing that the Polish Bund had ceased to be a Social Democratic organization.Johnpoll, Bernard K. ''The Politics of Futility; The General Jewish Workers Bund of Poland, 1917-1943''. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1967. pp. 132-137 However, in 1923 the Wilno Social Democratic Bund group merged into the Polish Bund.

In exile

As of 1924, the Foreign Delegation of the Social Democratic Bund took part in the framing of the platform of the

Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Mensheviks) The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Mensheviks) (russian: Российская социал-демократическая рабочая партия (меньшевиков)), later renamed as Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Unite ...

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. Its leading representatives (Abramovic, Yudin (Aizenshtat) and Grigori Aronson) were inducted into the Menshevik foreign delegation in Berlin.Jacobs, Jack Lester. ''Jewish Politics in Eastern Europe: The Bund at 100''. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001. p. 52 In March 1931, the Foreign Delegation of the "Bund" in the Soviet Union published an issue of the periodical ''Undzer Gedank'' ('Our Thought') from Berlin, with Abramovitch as its editor.

References

{{Reflist 1920 establishments in Russia Bundism in Europe Jewish anti-Zionism in Russia Jewish anti-Zionism in the Soviet Union Jewish political parties Mensheviks Political parties established in 1920 Political parties in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Political parties of minorities in Russia Social democratic parties in Russia Social democratic parties in the Soviet Union