Jewish Communist Party (Poalei Zion) (russian: Еврейская коммунистическая партия (Поалей-Цион), ''Evreĭskaia kommunisticheskaia partiia (Poaleĭ-Tsion)'', abbreviated EKP) was a

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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

1919-1922. The party was formed at a conference of communist dissident fractions of the

Jewish Social Democratic Labour Party (Poalei Zion) The Jewish Social Democratic Labour Party (Poalei Zion) was a Zionist socialist political party in the Russian Empire and Ukraine. The party was founded in 1906 in Poltava. Members of the party participated in the government of Ukraine in 1917-20. ...

, held 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 ori ...

August 10-15, 1919. Members of the party were nick-named 'EKOP-ists'. It was affiliated to the

Jewish Communist Union (Poalei Zion) Jewish Communist Union (Poalei Zion), Komverband was the name taken by the Left World Union of Poalei Zion in 1921. Komverband had members in Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Austria, Italy, Poland and other countries.Политические парт ...

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History

EKP argued in favour of a merger with the Bund, to form a Jewish section of the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...

. The proposed Jewish Comintern section would work under the aegis of the national communist party in each country, apart from

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. EKP was fiercely opposed to the

Yevsektsiya A Yevsektsiya ( rus, евсекция, p=jɪfˈsʲektsɨjə; yi, יעווסעקציע) was a Jewish section of the Soviet Communist Party. These sections were established in fall of 1918 with consent of Vladimir Lenin to carry communist revoluti ...

, the Jewish Section of the

Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

. The II All-Russian conference of the EKP was held in July 1920 in

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

. The IV Congress of was held in August 1921 and the III All-Russian conference was held 1-2 December 1922 in Moscow. The party was represented in the Council for Propaganda and Action of the Peoples of the East of the

through Zajma Ostrovsky, who participated in the 1920

Congress of the Peoples of the East The Congress of the Peoples of the East () was a multinational conference held in September 1920 by the Communist International in Baku, Azerbaijan (then the capital of Soviet Azerbaijan). The congress was attended by nearly 1,900 delegates from a ...

, held in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

(part of

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

). In its later phase the party passed through severe internal disputes. The fact that the Komfarband merged with RCP(b) in March 1921 weakened the case for the formation of a Jewish Comintern section and sparked a debate on RCP(b)-EKP merger within the party. In 1922 the party merged into the Russian Communist Party (bolsheviks) and many of its members became involved in the Yevsektsiya.

In Baku

The EKP occupied a strong position in

after the arrival of the 11th Soviet Red Army. The Jewish population of the city grew considerably in those years because of the

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...

s committed by the

White Army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв� ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

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 ...

and

that led many Jews to find shelter in

, a country without an antisemitic tradition. The fact that the Jewish population had grown up to 13,700 persons helped the EKP (as well as the Communist Bund, the Yevsektsiya and the

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a 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 known in Je ...

parties) to enlarge its membership in the area. The EKP promoted many cultural activities and struggled for the eliminination of illiteracy, in particular among the

Mountain Jews Mountain Jews or Caucasus Jews also known as Juhuro, Juvuro, Juhuri, Juwuri, Juhurim, Kavkazi Jews or Gorsky Jews ( he, יהודי קווקז ''Yehudey Kavkaz'' or ''Yehudey he-Harim''; russian: Горские евреи, translit=Gorskie Yevrei ...

. In 1921 the ''betsalel'' circles were opened in Baku. In those places it was possible to organize

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

and Jewish

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

courses.

Organization

The party was led by a

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

and a

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

. The organ of the Central Committee of EKP was ''Nakanune'' ('Накануне'). In

, the party Central Committee had a Right-bank Bureau (''Pravbirou'') and a Left-bank Bureau. The Belorussian EKP was headed by a Chief Committee. Moreover, the party had a

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

Regional Committee. The youth wing of the party was called Jewish Communist Youth Union. EKP maintained a party school in Kharkov, named after Ber Borochov.

Local organs of the party

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

: ''Budil'nik'' (in

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 ...

) *

Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...

: ''Ekapistskaia khronika'' (in Yiddish) *

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

: ''Kommunisticheskaia mysl΄'' (in Yiddish) *

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

: ''Kommunisticheskaia mysl΄'' (in Yiddish) * Nezhin: ''Kommunisticheskoe slovo'' (organ of the ''Pravbiuro'') *

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence ...

: ''Na strazhe'' *''Avangard'' (organ of the Chief Committee of the Belorussian EKP) *''Molot'' (organ of the Chief Committee of the Belorussian EKP)

References

{{Left-wing parties in Ukraine Poale Zion Political parties of the Russian Revolution Defunct communist parties in Russia Jewish political parties Jewish communist movements Jews and Judaism in the Soviet Union Political parties established in 1919 Defunct communist parties in Ukraine Political parties of minorities in Russia Secular Jewish culture in Europe

History

In Baku

Organization

Local organs of the party

See also

References