Pesakh "Paul" Novick (7 September 1891 – 21 August 1989) was a radical

Jewish 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""The ...

-American journalist, political commentator, and editor. Novick is best remembered as the long time editor-in-chief of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

-language daily ''

Morgen Freiheit Morgen Freiheit (original title: ; English: ''Morning Freedom'') was a New York City-based daily Yiddish language newspaper affiliated with the Communist Party, USA, founded by Moissaye Olgin in 1922. After the end of World War II the paper's pro- ...

'' (Morning Freedom) and of the Communist-affiliated English-language magazine ''Jewish Life.'' Novick was expelled from the Communist Party in 1972 for challenging Soviet foreign policy (specifically as it pertained to Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, and Israel), and for openly supporting

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...

Biography

Early years

Pesakh Novick, better known as Paul Novick, was born in 1891 in Brest-Litovsk,

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 Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(today

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

). In 1920 he emigrated to the United States, to which he gained citizenship in 1927."Seek Revocation of Editor's Citizenship,"
'' Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle'' ilwaukee Sept. 4, 1953, pg. 9.

Political career

In 1953, during the height of the

Second Red Scare McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origina ...

, the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

announced that it would attempt to strip Novick of his naturalized American citizenship and to have him deported on the grounds that he swore to false statements during his 1927 citizenship proceedings.

Expulsion

Novick had repeatedly come under fire for going against Communist Party policy. In 1967, Novick asserted that

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

was "acting in self-defence" in its aggression against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

during the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

, and was the only dissenting vote against publishing a statement of support for Soviet-backed Egypt. When the Communist Party of Israel (Maki) split in the mid-1960s, and the Communist Party USA supported the anti-Zionist ''Rakah'' faction, Novick aligned himself with the opposing Mikunis-led faction. Novick was also accused by CPUSA members Hyman Lumer, Claude Lightfoot, and Jose Ristorucci of signing petitions that countered Party policy, and of openly proclaiming himself a Zionist in both his personal life and in editorials for the ''

''. Novick was expelled from the CPUSA in 1972, following further accusations of anti-Black racism and nationalism.

Death and legacy

Novick died, aged 97, of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

and kidney deficiency at a hospital in

Peekskill, New York Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, from New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across fro ...

. Novick's wife, Shirley Novick, was the subject of '' Red Shirley,'' a short

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

produced in 2011 by New York City rock icon

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

. Rokhl Kafrissen
"Lou Reed's ''Red Shirley,"''
Dynamic Yiddishkayt for the New Millennium, October 27, 2013.

References

Works

"Decay of the Socialist Party,"
''New Masses,'' July 10, 1934, pp. 8–11.
"The Rise and Fall of Abraham Cahan,"
''New Masses,'' Aug. 20, 1935, pp. 9–10.
"The Socialist Housecleaning,"
''New Masses,'' Sept. 7, 1937, pp. 15–16.
"Peace by Understanding: A Communist Rejects the Partition of Palestine,"
''New Masses,'' Aug. 9, 1938, pp. 8–10.
"A Solution for Palestine,"
''The Communist,'' Sept. 1938, pp. 785–796.

External links

* Daniel Soyer and Shloyme Krystal (eds.)
"Guide to the Papers of Paul (Pesakh) Novick (1891-1989) 1897-1991, 2006 (bulk 1940-1988),"

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research YIVO (Yiddish: , ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. (The word ' ...

, Center for Jewish History, New York, 2011.
Communist Party, USA section of Jews, Marxism and the Worker’s Movement
at marxists.org, containing many articles by Paul Novick {{DEFAULTSORT:Novick, Paul 1891 births 1989 deaths American male journalists American Zionists Belarusian Jews Communist Party USA politicians Jewish American journalists Jewish socialists Jews from the Russian Empire Labor Zionists Writers from Brest, Belarus People from Brestsky Uyezd