The Social Democratic Bund, or the General Jewish Labour Bund, the Bund (S.D.) or, later, the "Bund" in the Soviet Union (), was a short-lived

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area'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), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

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

Gomel Gomel (, ) or Homyel (, ) is a city in south-eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Gomel Region and Gomel District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it is the List of cities and largest ...

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 (Рафаил Абрамович Рейн; 21 July 1880 – 11 April 1963), best known as Raphael Abramovitch, was a Russian socialist, a member of the General Jewish Labour Union, General Jewish Workers' Union in Lithuani ...

. 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 Mikhail Isaakovich Liber (5 June 1880 – 4 October 1937), born Mikhail Goldman and sometimes known as Mark Liber, was a leader of the General Jewish Workers' Union (the 'Bund'). He also played a role in the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' P ...

. In the summer of 1920 Abramovitch travelled to

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

together with a

Menshevik The Mensheviks ('the Minority') were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. Mensheviks held more moderate and reformist ...

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 Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

-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 Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

Rostov Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

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 ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Wilno Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

(present-day

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

) 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 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

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

General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland The General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland (, ) was a History of the Jews in Poland, Jewish socialist party in Poland which promoted the political, cultural and social autonomy of Jewish workers, sought to combat antisemitism and was generally oppos ...

. 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), later renamed the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (United), was a political party in Russia. It emerged in 1912 as the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was divided into two, ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. 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 Labour parties . 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 Yiddish culture in Russia Defunct political parties in Russia