Jacob Gaster (6 October 1907–12 March 2007), known as Jack Gaster, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

and politician.

Biography

Born in

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale is p ...

, Jack was the son of

Moses Gaster Moses Gaster (17 September 1856 – 5 March 1939) was a Romanian, later British scholar, the ''Hakham'' of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish congregation, London, and a Hebrew and Romanian linguist. Moses Gaster was an active Zionist in Romania ...

, the leader of the

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

Jewish Congregation in London, and Lucy Friedlander. He studied at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

and then entered a legal career, qualifying as a solicitor in 1931, and soon thereafter forming a socialist law practice with Richard Turner.

Victoria Brittain Victoria Brittain (born 1942) is a British journalist and author who lived and worked for many years in Africa, the US, and Asia, including 20 years at ''The Guardian'', where she eventually became associate foreign editor. In the 1980s, she wor ...

,
Obituary: Jack Gaster
, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 13 March 2007. In 1926, Gaster joined the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

(ILP), inspired by its support for workers during the British General Strike. He became prominent in the party, and was its representative at the arrival of the

Jarrow March The Jarrow March of 5–31 October 1936, also known as the Jarrow Crusade, was an organised protest against the unemployment and poverty suffered in the English town of Jarrow, near Newcastle upon Tyne, during the 1930s. Around 200 men (or "Crus ...

in London. However, he was a champion of unity with the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

(CPGB), and to this end was a founder of the ILP's

Revolutionary Policy Committee {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Revolutionary Policy Committee (RPC) was a faction within the former British political party, the Independent Labour Party (ILP). The RPC was formed in 1931 by members of the ILP who were especially unhappy wit ...

. The Committee successfully persuaded the ILP to disaffiliate from the Labour Party, but could not convince members to merge with the CPGB. As a result, in 1935, he joined the majority of the Committee in resigning from the ILP and joining the CPGB. Gaster joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was posted to the

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot ...

and was watched closely by British intelligence. However, he was injured in training and instead spent the war educating illiterate soldiers. In 1946, Gaster was elected to the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

, alongside fellow communist

Ted Bramley Edward F. Bramley (1905 – February 1989) was a British communist activist. Biography Born in Westminster, while still young, Bramley moved to Detroit with his family, but they returned to London during World War I. Ted became an engineer and joi ...

. However, he lost the seat in 1949, and was again unsuccessful in 1952. He subsequently acted as the principal legal consul to the CPGB, and became a vice-president of the

Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers is a socialist and legal campaigning organisation in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1930 to provide legal support to the then Labour government. The Society was named after Viscount Haldane, a Liber ...

. During the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, Gaster travelled to the North to study the situation, as part of an international legal team. The group produced a report covering a range of issues, including the conditions for prisoners of war, but were heavily criticised for their allegations of

germ warfare Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Bi ...

by the United States. Gaster remained a prominent communist solicitor until he retired in 1990, and an activist in the CPGB until it was disbanded in 1991, a decision with which he strongly disagreed. He subsequently joined the Socialist Labour Party, but soon left, later re-joining and then again resigning.John Haylett,
Obituary: Jack Gaster
, '' Morning Star'', 20 March 2007. He spent much of his retirement in support of the

Marx Memorial Library The Marx Memorial Library in London, United Kingdom is a library, archive, educational, and community outreach charity focused on Marxist and wider socialist bodies of work. England and Wales charity number: 270309. Its collection comprises over ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaster, Jack 1907 births 2007 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain councillors English Jews English solicitors Jewish British politicians Jewish socialists Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members Members of London County Council People from Maida Vale Socialist Labour Party (UK) members Alumni of the London School of Economics 20th-century English lawyers