Jews, Labour and the Left, 1918–48

With the advent of the Second World War, fascism became inextricably associated with anti-Semitism. It is hardly surprising, therefore, to find that a significant number of Jewish people were politically inclined towards the left and were actively involved in socialist movements. The essays in this volume seek to arrive at an understanding of Jewish involvement in Labour movements outside Israel from the end of the First World War to the final stages of World War Two. This was a period which saw the creation of several international socialist institutions. Gail Malmgreen looks at the American Jewish Labor Committee and examines the interaction between trades unions and the Jewish community. Deborah Osmond, Christine Collette and Jason Heppell discuss the contributions made by Jews living in Britain to Labour politics, including the Communist Party of Great Britain and the Labour and Socialist International. The reactions and stances of the British Labour party in relation to Zionism and the Holocaust are the subjects of essays by Isabelle Tombs and Paul Kelemen. David De Vries's study of the position of Jewish white-collar workers in British-ruled Palestine provides another perspective on the complex web of relationships between British and Jewish identity, class, labour and politics. An invaluable bibliography by Arieh Lebowitz of sources for the study of Jewish interaction with the American and British Labour movements completes this important survey.