Cornell University Library Digital Collections

Letter from to the National Executive Committee of the American Jewish Conference

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Title:
Letter from to the National Executive Committee of the American Jewish Conference
Collection:
International Workers’ Order (IWO) and Jewish People's Fraternal Order (JPFO)
Set:
Exhibit and Collection Highlights
Creator:
Zaltsman, R. (Reʾuven) (Rubin Saltzman, Reuben Zaltzman)
Date:
1943-06-03
Site:
New York, New York, United States
Address (Creator):
80 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York
Identifier:
5276b42f04_24
Recipient:
American Jewish Conference
Organization:
International Workers Order
Transcription:
COPY [pencilled in]
Language:
English
Work Type:
national organizations
historical figures
world wars
political ideologies and attitudes
conferences
political campaigns
business letters
Subject:
American Jewish Conference
The Jewish Question
Nazism and Fascism
Soviet Union
Wartime Jewish Unity
Jewish Lodges
IWO JPFO Organizational History
Communism
Membership
World War II Homefront
World War II- War Effort
World War II Holocaust
Jewish Left
National Sections
Description:
3 pages. Letter from Rubin Saltzman to the National Executive Committee of the American Jewish Conference expressing once again the IWO's desire to join the Conference as a national organization that sits on the Executive Committee, urging them to reconsider their decision that the Jewish American Section of the IWO is not "a national Jewish membership organization." A letter from Max Bedacht, General Secretary of the IWO, is included that explains that the various national group sections within the IWO exercise "full automony," each with their own National Committees, and only share an administrative benefits structure. "The national group sections through their national committees have full autonomy for their civic activities....This form of organisation and this relationship of the national group sections to the whole Order was chosen, on the one hand, to assure to all members and to all national groups in the IWO the advantages of a unified, centralized benefit system, while, on the other hand, each national group retains freedom of action for adapting its fraternal and cultural life and its civic actions to the desires, the life and the needs of their respective people."
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.
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:
42
Folder:
4
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.