Jacob (Jack) Shulman, (1914–1999), was an American anti-Revisionist Communist activist who fought in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

and later moved to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Background

Jacob Schulman was born and raised in

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, New York, to Jewish parents who had fled

Tsarist Russia Tsarist Russia may refer to: * Grand Duchy of Moscow (1480–1547) *Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721) *Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of ...

. His father was a housepainter and his mother a washerwoman. Shulman won a scholarship to college but had to leave due to the onset of the Great Depression.

Career

Shulman joined the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of Y ...

in 1930 and went on in 1936 to serve with the Lincoln Brigade for 26 months during the

and in United States Army during World War II. In the early 1950s he worked in the South as part of the Party's organizing efforts with

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s. He was for several years William Z. Foster's secretary. Shulman was dissatisfied by the Communist Party USA's turn away from Marxism Leninism following

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

's "Secret Speech" in 1956. Following his resignation from the Party, Shulman traveled to

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and China in pursuit of his political objectives. Shulman visited Albania then moved to China in 1968 and worked as an editor of English language publications during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

in Beijing. As China itself began to display outward revisionist tendencies Shulman grew closer to the

Party of Labour of Albania The Party of Labour of Albania ( sq, Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë, PPSh), sometimes referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded o ...

. He returned to the United States, published '' Albania Report'' and organized the USA-Albania Friendship Association. He had good relationships with the India-Albania Friendship Association and Indian Marxist-Leninists. After the

fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

in Albania he participated in the Alliance Marxist-Leninist (North America) and supported International Struggle Marxist-Leninist (ISML). He was associated with the British Marxist-Leninist W. B. Bland. In 2008, former political associates of Shulman helped found the American Party of Labor.

Personal life

Shulman married three times. The ashes of his third wife, Ruth, are buried in the Martyr's Hill in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

. Shulman died in 1999. His son Norman, an American draft dodger who joined him in China during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, stayed behind in China for several years and met and later married

Jan Wong Jan Wong (; born August 15, 1952) is a Canadian academic, journalist, and writer. Wong worked for ''The Globe and Mail'', serving as Beijing correspondent from 1988 to 1994, when she returned to write from Canada. She is the daughter of Montreal ...

, a Canadian student who later became a journalist.

References

External links

Obituary

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20041012182507/http://harikumar.brinkster.net/AllianceIssues/ALL38INTRO.html Memorial Issue Alliance 38
Interview with Jack Shulman Memorial Issue, Alliance 38
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shulman, Jack 1914 births 1999 deaths Abraham Lincoln Brigade members American communists Anti-revisionists Hoxhaists Jewish anti-fascists Jewish socialists