Arbeter Fraynd

Group

The basis of the Workers' Friend Group, or the Arbeter Frainters, was the foundation in 1885 of Arbeter Fraynd (The Worker's Friend), London's first Jewish newspaper, by Russian émigré and Jewish socialist, Morris Winchevsky. In the following June, the Berner Street Club took control of it. From the early 1900s through 1914 Winchevsky was joined by two or three dozen comrades. The group was small and elitist in the face of a predominantly religious immigrant culture. As a group of close-knit friends, who lived in close proximity as a "quasi-Libertarian commune", they regularly raised funds for their club. The editorial group would meet in a member's handbag workshop as an editorial group, discuss the newspaper's next issue, and pool funds, often a significant part of their wages.