Cornell University Library Digital Collections

What Russia Means to Us: A Speech by Albert Einstein. English Version

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Title:
What Russia Means to Us: A Speech by Albert Einstein. English Version
Collection:
International Workers’ Order (IWO) and Jewish People's Fraternal Order (JPFO)
Set:
Culture Front
Einstein
Exhibit and Collection Highlights
Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee
Postwar Reconstruction and Relief
Creator(s):
Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955
Date:
1942-10-25
Site:
New York, New York, United States
Address (Creator):
11 East 35th Street, Room 1001, New York, New York
Identifier:
5276b45af09_16
Organization:
Jewish Council for Russian War Relief
Translation of:
21072640
Language:
English
Work Type:
leaflets
printed ephemera
historical figures
organization files
political campaigns
world wars
speeches
fund raising
political ideologies and attitudes
banquets (feasts)
portraits
drawings (visual works)
Subject:
World War II- War Effort, Fundraising
Soviet Union
Culture Front- Publishing
Intelligentsia
Jewish Left
Communism
Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee of the USSR (JAFC)
Wartime Jewish Unity
Fellow Travellers
Nazism and Fascism
Fellow Travellers
Jewish Lodges
Description:
Fundraising leaflet with Einstein's address from the October 25, 1942 dinner in his honor at the Hotel Commodore in New York. The Jewish Council for Russian War Relief, Inc. is part of Russian War Relief, Inc. Einstein praises Russia's scientific, technological and economic progress, reviews Russia's pre-war foreign policy, and offers some words of mitigation for the lack of internal political freedom. Implies the U.S.S.R is doing a better job of treating minority nationalities equally, which he calls, "a fact of peculiar and decisive importance for us Jews". Finally he turns to the crux of the argument, that if Russia fell, England and America would be "in a very bad way." Drawing by Morris J. Kallem.
Note:
The Jewish Council for Russian War Relief, Inc. is part of Russian War Relief, Inc..
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.
Relation:
19043892|21072652
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 Number:
45a
Folder Number:
9
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.