Cornell University Library Digital Collections

Two letters from YKUF Directorate, one with additional handwritten note

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Title:
Two letters from YKUF Directorate, one with additional handwritten note
Collection:
International Workers’ Order (IWO) and Jewish People's Fraternal Order (JPFO)
Set:
Culture Front
Popular Front Years
Creator:
Slovès, Henri (Chaim)
Creator (Yiddish):
סלאוועס, ח
Date:
1938-11-25
Site:
New York, New York, United States
Paris, Ville de Paris, Département de, Île-de-France, France
Address (Creator):
Union de la Culture Juive, 84 Rue Beaubourg, Paris 9, France
Identifier:
5276b53f07_10a
Recipient:
Olgin, Moissaye J. (Moissaye Joseph), 1874-1939|Sulṭan, Y. (Yosef), 1892-1961|Zaltsman, R. (Reʾuven) (Rubin Saltzman, Reuben Zaltzman)
Organization:
IKUF/YKUF, Alveltlekher Yiddishn Kultur Farband
Language:
Yiddish
Work Type:
manuscripts (document genre)
business letters
logotypes
historical figures
authors
conferences
Yiddish (language)
letters (correspondence)
international organizations
political ideologies and attitudes
letterheads
Yiddish (language)
communism
intellectuals
Subject:
Intelligentsia
Culture Front- Publishing, Yiddish, Literature, Poetry, Drama
Popular Front
France
Jewish Left
Conferences
Fellow Travellers
Nazism and Fascism
Political
Communism
Description:
The two letters are dated 11-25. The second one, on blue paper (2 pages) is addressed generally to IKUF/YKUF, New York and is either not signed, or else incomplete. Translated Summary: Reports on Chaim Slovès' trip to the Baltics. Congratulates them on their journal and asks for copies. Strong cautionary words regarding a recent letter in which the New York office discussed the inevitability of becoming the 'Center' of IKUF/YKUF. The first letter is on cream IKUF/YKUF stationery and addressed specifically to Olgin, Saltzman, and Sultan. Describes the crisis in Paris IKUF/YKUF, infighting and intrigue, and Ben-Adir's role in salvaging the organization. Need to keep him on salary, and a request for New York to increase its contribution to that end. That letter on cream stationery also has an appended handwritten note by Slovès containing an implied threat, saying that he cannot come to New York for another four or five months, but that the need for him to do so seems more and more probable. This pair of letters, sent together, was kept in in the same folder as was a similar pair of letters, dated December 2nd also with one to the American Division of IKUF/YKUF, and one to Olgin, Saltzman, and Sultan.
Note:
An unusually direct example of organizational control exerted from Europe. Disambiguation: this is not the Congress for Jewish Culture.
Note:
The Jewish People’s Fraternal Order was the largest ‘national’ section of the International Workers Order (IWO) which focused on cultural awareness and celebration, mutual support especially in health insurance coverage, and anti-fascist activities. The IWO also gave particular emphasis to supporting the rights and interests of African Americans. Documents include language and representations which comprise the historical record and should not be interpreted to mean that Cornell University or its staff endorse or approve of negative representations or stereotypes presented.
Relationships:
19043890
Cite As:
International Workers Order (IWO) Records #5276. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University
Archival Collection:
International Workers Order (IWO) Records, 1915-2002 (KCL05276)
Box:
53
Folder:
7
Rights:
The copyright status and copyright owners of most of the images in the International Workers Order (IWO) Records Collection (Kheel Center #5276) are unknown. This material was digitized from physical holdings by Cornell University Library in 2016, with funding from an Arts and Sciences Grant to Jonathan Boyarin. Documents include language and representations which comprise the historical record and should not be interpreted to mean that Cornell University or its staff endorse or approve of negative representations or stereotypes presented. Cornell is providing access to the materials as a digital aggregate under an assertion of fair use for non-commercial educational use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Cornell would like to learn more about items in the collection and to hear from individuals or institutions that have any additional information as to rights holders. Please contact the Kheel Center at kheel_center@cornell.edu

About the collection

This bilingual project conserves, digitizes, and curates a portion of Cornell's International Workers Order (IWO) archives and most especially those of its Jewish division, known as the Jewish People's Fraternal Order (JPFO). The IWO was founded in 1930 as an immigrant fraternal order that provided high-quality, low-cost health and burial insurance and other benefits for members. The origins of the IWO / JPFO arise from a decade of splits (1920-1930) concerning the U.S.S.R., the Bolshevik Revolution and Communism that consumed the Jewish Federation of Socialists and the Arbeter Ring (Workmens' Circle) groups associated with Eugene V. Debs' Socialist Party. While the vast majority of the IWO's members--200,000 at its peak right after World War II--did not belong to the Communist Party of the United States of America, the IWO's politics and leadership were largely aligned with those of the Party. The IWO was legally disbanded in 1953 due to the Cold War "Red Scare." This closure followed on a famous and unprecedented court case: its insurance funds and records were seized by New York State's Insurance Department. The presence of a goodly portion of the IWO's archives in the Kheel Center's 5276 Catherwood Library collection at Cornell's Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) School is a direct result of that seizure.