Sara Szweber (; born ''Pesl Katelianska''Jack Lester Jacobs, ''Bundist Counterculture in Interwar Poland'', Syracuse University Press, 2009, pg. 8

) (born circa 1875 in Brest Litovsk, died 1966 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

)Gertrud Pickhan, "Sara Szweber" in ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia'

was one of the leaders of the Jewish Bund, Bund and a

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, and later in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She was one of the few women that held leadership positions in the Jewish socialist and trade union movements of the late 19th and early 20th century. Sara came from a family that was initially prosperous but became impoverished while she was young. Her parents died during her childhood and she was raised by her aunt. She worked as a dressmaker in a tailor shop which she helped to organize into a union shop. The workshop she organized, where all workers were paid the same wage and worked the same hours, was used as an example of a democratic workplace by the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

writer Nikolay Chernyshevsky in his novel '' What Is to Be Done?''. In 1900, Szweber joined the Jewish Labour Bund (The Bund) and became active in its educational activities and meetings. As a result, she was arrested by the Tsarist authorities in 1903. After her release, during the

Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

she headed a joint Polish and Jewish workers' demonstration in

Kalisz Kalisz () is a city in central Poland, and the second-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 97,905 residents (December 2021). It is the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of Gr ...

and for the first time spoke before a large crowd. Afterward she moved to

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

and then

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

. She was arrested by the Russians again, imprisoned in

Lublin castle The Lublin Castle () is a medieval castle in Lublin, Poland, adjacent to the Old Town district and close to the city center. It is one of the oldest preserved royal residencies in Poland, initially established by High Duke Casimir II the Just. It ...

,Nochum Winik, ''The “Bund” in Chelm and its Socialist-Revolutionary Work'', translated by Howard Bergma

and went on a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

. Possibly because of the hunger strike, she contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and was therefore released on bail. She took that opportunity to escape to Galicia where she later met her future husband, Elijahu Szweber, an activist who promoted the use of

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

.Henryk Piasecki, ''Sekcja Żydowska PPSD i Żydowska Partia Socjalno-Demokratyczna, 1892-1919/20'', Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1982, pg. 22

They lived there until the break out of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1918, Sara moved to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

where she worked as a trade union official in the local garment worker's union. Later, together with the Bundist Victor Alter she headed a one hundred thousand strong labor union which joined Polish and Jewish workers, the '' Landrat''. According to Szweber, the activities of the Landrat were hampered by splits within the party which were being organized by Communist party members in the 1920s and '30s. While in Warsaw Szweber became one of the members of Bund's Central Committee. In 1938 she was elected to the

Warsaw City Council Warsaw City Council, officially the Council of the Capital City of Warsaw () is a unicameral governing body of the city of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The council was first created following the location of Warsaw under the terms of the Magdebu ...

, together with sixteen other Bund members. After the Nazi invasion of Poland, Szweber initially escaped to the east, making her way back to her home town of Brest (which had been occupied by the Soviet Union). However, because she was a notable member of the Bund she was in danger of arrest by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

. She managed to escape the Soviets via

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 ...

, eventually making her way to the

. In New York she once again worked as a dressmaker and remained active in the Bund émigré community. At the age of 90, she took part in Bund's fourth World Congress.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szweber, Sara 1870s births 1966 deaths American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Polish emigrants to the United States Belarusian Jews Belarusian socialists Bundists Councillors in Warsaw Jewish socialists Jews from the Russian Empire People from Brest, Belarus People from Brestsky Uyezd Polish Jews Polish socialists 20th-century Polish women politicians