Foreign Language Federations (1890s - 1930) - Polish

POLISH FEDERATIONS

Early Polish Radical Movement in America

Emigré intellectuals from Poland established the first Polish socialist societies in the mid-1880s, according to one historian of the subject. These individuals also formed several Polish sections of the Socialist Labor Party.

[fn: Mary Cygan, "Polish Americans" in Buhle et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of the American Left, First Edition, pg. 584.]

 

In the 20th Century Polish-American radicalism was a relection of the political situation in the old country.



Alliance of Polish Socialists (ZSP)
The Alliance of Polish Socialists (Zwiazek Socjalisów Polskich, or ZSP) was the first Polish socialist organization in the United States, founded in late-1890s as a group intent on teaching and organizing among Polish emigres in preparation for revolution in Poland. The group retained ties to the Polish Socialist Party [PPS] in the old country and oriented itselves towards the struggle for Polish independence rather than the struggle of the Polish workers for socialism in America. The ZSP published a daily newspaper in Chicago called Rabotnik Polski [The Polish Worker], established in 1896. Later the ZSP additionally published an anti-clerical satirical weekly called Bicz Bozy [God's Whip].

[fn: Executive Committee of the Polish Alliance SP, " The Polish Socialists" in The American Labor Year-Book, 1916. (NY: Rand School Press, 1916), pg. 141; Correspondence with Don Binkowski, Feb. 2005.]

 

A 1910 list of the ZPS's publications included the following, published at 229 -- 6th Street in New York by Wydawnictwa Zwiazku Socyalistów Polskich:

Worek Judaszów: Czyli rzecz o klerykalismie, by Franciszek Mlot. (Illustrated) -- (paper, 25 cents) anti-clerical
Tajemnice klasztoru na Jasnej Górze. (illustrated) -- (paper, 10 cents)
Z tajemnic przyrody. -- (paper, 10 cents)
Pamiatka z misyi socyalistycznej. -- (pamphlet, 2 cents)
Pogadanka o socyalizmie. -- (pamphlet, 2 cents)
Bacznosc! Socyalisci ida! -- (pamphlet, 5 cents)
Czy socyalisci jedza w poscie kielbase? -- (pamphlet, 5 cents)
Precz z socyalistami! -- (pamphlet, 5 cents)
Z robotników slynni wynalazcy. -- (pamphlet, 5 cents)
Kartki z fotografia ks. Macocha i Krzyzhanowskiej, serya 5 sztuk. -- (paper, 15 cents)

By 1912, the Polish Alliance was the smaller of the two affiliates of the American Socialist Party. The group's Translator-Secretary, L. Banka, claimed 97 branches at the end of the first quarter of 1912, including 4 in Canada. The group averaged about 450 dues stamps sold during the first three months of 1912 -- a number which did not necessarily reflect the true size of the organization since a quarter of its branches were in New York and New Jersey, where dues stamps had to be purchased directly from regular party locals.

[fn: L. Banka, "Report of the Polish Alliance" in Proceedings: National Convention of the Socialist Party, pg. 242.]

 

A 1933 article by Polish Communist leader Boleslaw Gebert asserts that the ZPS was more conservative than its competitors, the Polish Section of the Socialist Party. The ZPS was deemed to have been "social-patriotic" -- nationalist and more oriented toward politics in the old country than the ZPPS.

[fn: B.K. Gebert, "The Significance of the Party Anniversary for the Polish Workers in the USA," The Communist, Sept. 1933, pg. 956.]

 
Polish Section of the Socialist Party (ZPPS)
In December of 1908, the Polish socialist movement split, with the minority backing Józef Pilsudski's faction of the PPS, oriented towards secret paramilitary organization and terrorist action against Tsarist authority. The majoirty group, favoring popular education and labor activism, formed the "Polish Section of the Socialist Party" (Zwiazek Polskiej Partii Socjalistyczne, or ZPPS). Both organizations continued to pay extremely close attention to the national liberation movement in the old country, as opposed to single-minded dedication to the struggle of the working class for socialist liberation in America. When first established, the ZPPS had 23 branches and about 400 members.
The ZPPS adopted a daily newspaper in Chicago called Dziennik Ludowy (People's Daily) as its organ -- this periodical was established in 1907 and thus preceeded the establishment of the ZPPS. (Microfilm of this publication is available from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.)
It was not until April 1911 that the Polish Translator-Secretary's office was established. The 27-year old Hipolit Gluski was the first individual to fill the Polish Translator-Secretary's position. By the end of 1911, the Polish Section was an organization of 115 branches with a membership of 1,450 in good standing, with another 680 members on the books but financially in arrears. The first quarter of 1912 saw a net increase of 15 more branches (to a total of 130), with the paid membership of the Polish Section approaching the 2,000 mark.
The official organ of the ZPPS was a newspaper published in its Chicago headquarters called Dzienik Ludowy [The People's Daily].

[fn: H. Gluski, "Report of the Polish Section" in Proceedings: National Convention of the Socialist Party, pp. 241-242; Correspondence with Don Binkowski, Feb. 2005.]

 

The Polish Section of the Socialist Party emphasized mass education and participation in the labor movement. The group operated a People's University and dispatched activists to organize amongst the Polish workers in the Pennsylvania coal region and textile mills of New England.

[fn: Mary Cygan, "Polish Americans" in Buhle et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of the American Left, First Edition, pg. 584.]

Polish Alliance of the Socialist Party of America (Polish Federation)

"The differences between the Polish Section of the SP and the social-patriotic Polish Socialist Alliance slowly disappeared and before the World War a "unity" convention was called at which both groups united, the convention deciding to join the SP, organizing the Polish Alliance of the SP, a language federation of the SP of America."

--B.K. Gebert, "The Significance of the Party Anniversary..." pg. 956.

In February of 1913, the Polish Section of the Socialist Party (ZPPS) and the Polish Alliance (ZSP) united to form the Polish Alliance of the Socialist Party, also known as the Polish Federation. This unity lasted for a very short period, however, with former members of the old ZSP soon withdrawing from the SP and reorganizing themselves once again as the Polish Socialist Alliance.
In the Summer of 1916, there was a split in the Polish Federation over the Socialist Party of America's militant opposition to the European war. Many Polish emigres were in favor of the allied war effort as a vehicle to help achieve Polish national independence. The Polish Federation as a whole voted to disaffiliate with the Socialist Party -- a decision which was reversed by the independent action of a substantial number of branches, who voted to retain organizational affiliation. These SPA loyalists reaffiliated with the party as a new Polish Federation. The group reaffiliating claimed a membership of 800 at the time of its reapplication for membership in September 1916.

[fn: Letter of Adolph Germer to Fred Walchli of Bellaire, OH, Sept. 20, 1916. Digital copy in Tim Davenport collection.]

 

The "new" Polish Federation of the Socialist Party was dominated by radicals taking their lead from Rosa Luxemburg's Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL), an anti-nationalist and anti-militarist organization.

[fn: Mary Cygan, "Polish Americans" in Buhle et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of the American Left, First Edition, pg. 585.]

The group -- although much smaller than the earlier Polish Federation -- was positioned on the ideological left of the SPA and transitioned seamlessly into the emerging Communist movement.
A journal of the Left Wing in the Polish Federation was a publication based in Pittsburgh called Gornik Polski (The Polish Miner). This publication was taken over by revolutionary Socialists and made into an organ targeted at a broader alliance.
At its December 1915 meeting the the NEC of the Socialist Party was also brought into the controversy in the Polish Socialist Federation, in which charges had been preferred by Local Allegheny Co. Pennsylvania that the Federation had violated the principles of the SP in its collecting money for Poland. The Federation was essentially charged with conducting propaganda on behalf of reactionary nationalist Polish Legions. The matter of the disputed ownership of the paper Gornik Polski also came before the NEC as well, with the committee determining it had "no jurisdiction to determine the ownership" but which nonetheless attempted to provide the basis for a temporary settlement by ruling that the regular federationists who formerly controlled the publication were entitled to the mailing list and mail privileges which were being claimed by a group of dissident left wing locals. The NEC recommended that the seceding Left Wing Polish branches should return to the Federation and that henceforth under no circumstances should the Polish Federation engage in soliciting or coercing members to lend aid or assistance to Polish military organizations. The NEC urged the membersip of the Polish Alliance to "bury their differences and concentrate all efforts toward building up a strong organization."

[fn: Minutes of NEC Meeting (Sept. 21, 1915) in The American Socialist, Jan. 1, 1916, pg. 3.]

The factional struggle in the Polish Federation continued to draw the NEC's attention at its session of March 11-13, 1916. It named a special committee of 3 to investigate the financial affairs of the Polish Alliance fo the SP and their daily paper, Dziennik Ludowy, with a view to determining to what extent, if any, that organization and paper were subsidized by the Polish government. The committee was also charged with investigating the matter of Gornik Polski (The Polish Miner), the organ of the dissident Left Wing which had separated itself from the Federation. Members of the committee were Robert Howe, Executive Secretary Walter Lanfersiek, and Max Sherover, and the committee was instructed to report to the NEC in writing at the earliest possible date.

[fn: Minutes of NEC Meeting (March 13, 1916) in The American Socialist, March 25, 1916, pg. 3.]

1. National Convention of the Polish Socialist Alliance -- Detroit, MI -- April 29 - May 2, 1917.

The 1917 convention of the Polish Socialist Alliance of America opened at 9 am on Sunday, April 29, 1917, in Detroit. All regular sessions of the convention were held in teh hall of the Detroit Polish Socialist branches, located at 826 Grnady Avenue. On the agenda for the gathering was: revisioin of the constitution of the Alliance, attitude of the alliance towards the Socialist Party of America and towards the war, attitude of the Alliance to the Polish Defense League of America, the question of securing a home for the Polish-language press in America, and decision-making on a permanent home for the Alliance itself as well as for the Polish Workmen's Sick Benefit Association.

[fn: "Milwaukee Will Send Delegate to Polish Socialist Convention," Milwaukee Leader, April 25, 1917, pg. 2.]

 

National Conference of the Left Wing -- Detroit, MI -- Dec. XX-XX, 1918.
In December 1918 a National Conference of the Left Wing of the Polish Federation of the SP was held in Detroit. This Conference decided to move Gornik Polski from Pittsburgh to Detroit and to change its name to Glos Rabotniczy (Workers' Voice). This conference declared itself the actual Polish Socialist Federation and presented charges to the National Executive Committee of the SPA against the leadership of the Polish Federation for its support of Pilsudski's Legions (and thus the German cause). The NEC responded by removing the official leadership and the "regular" Polish Federation from the party, declaring the Left Wing to be the authentic Polish Federation of the SPA. The new Left Wing Polish Federation gained in strength, making its organ, Glos Rabotniczy into a daily and conducting a steady stream of agitation against the war.

[fn: B.K. Gebert, "The Significance of the Party Anniversary for the Polish Workers in the USA," The Communist, Sept. 1933, pg. 956-957.]

2. National Conference of the Polish Federation -- Detroit, MI -- March XX-XX, 1919.
The March 1919 conference decided to support the emerging Left Wing Section in the Socialist Party. It unanimously decided to pledge its support to the formatoin of a Communist Party in the United States.

[fn: B.K. Gebert, "The Significance of the Party Anniversary..." pg. 957.]

 


Polish Federation of the Communist Party of America
The Polish Federation of the Socialist Party was suspended by the NEC of the SPA on May 27, 1919, for its support of the Manifesto of the Left Wing Section. The federation sent a formal delegation to the Founding Convention of the Communist Party of America, held in Chicago beginning on Sept. 1. The delegation was headed by the Federation's Translator-Secretary, Joseph Kowalski.

The Palmer Raids of Jan. 1920 hit the Polish Section of the CPA hard, resulting in the arrest of the editorial staff of Glos Rabotniczy and hundreds of other rank and file members of the organization. The paper began to be republished very soon after the raid, however, initially as a weekly before resuming a daily production schedule.
The Polish-Soviet war of 1920 generated an enormous amount of political heat among Polish-Americans, with nationalists supporting Pilsudski and radicals supporting the Communist movement. Mass meetings were held in support of the Soviet side and the circulation of Glos Rabotniczy is said to have increased from between 6,000 and 7,000 to some 17,000. In addition to the legal daily newspaper, a Polish language edition of The Communist, official organ of the underground CPA was produced.
A split developed among the publishing association which produced Glos Rabotniczy. A majority was won on the board opposing the current editors, Radwanski and Gebert, and forcing their resignation.

[fn: B.K. Gebert, "The Significance of the Party Anniversary..." pg. 958.]

 

"The opportunistic group which took control of the Glos Rabotniczy with the help of the Proletarian Party, maintained the paper but for a short period, because workers refused to have anything to do with the paper. In a few months the Glos Rabotniczy went bankrupt and the entire printing plant and building were lost."

-- B.K. Gebert, "The Significance of the Party Anniversary..." pg. 958.

Effective with the takeover of Glos Rabotniczy, the Polish section launched a new official organ called Trybuna Rabotnicza (Workers' Tribune).

Executive Secretary of the Polish Federation of the CPA in mid-1921 was "G. Kruk."

In late 1921, during the 5 months between formation of the unified CPA and the split of the Central Caucus faction, the Communist Party's Polish Federation had an average monthly paid membership of 242, making it the 8th largest of the 10 Language groups in the party.

[fn: Comintern Archive: f. 515, op. 1, d. 75, l. 12.]

 

 


Polish groups in the United Communist Party of America
There was a Polish Secion of the UCP. The Executive Committee of the Polish section were based in Pittsburh, PA.
There were a total of 34 of the UCP's 673 primary party units ("Groups") in December of 1920 that spoke Polish. Some 13 of these were located in the Cleveland districts, with 7 more in Chicago and 6 in New York City.

[fn: DoJ/BoI Investigative Files, NARA M-1085, reel 940, doc. 501 -- downloadable below.]

 

 


Polish Language Section of the Workers Party of America


1. First Convention --- [Chicago?] --- Feb. 4-5, 1922.
The First Convention of the Polish Federation of the WPA was held on Feb. 4-5. The gathering adopted the constitution of the WPA and elected a 10 member Federation Executive Committee, consisting ot:
S. Nowakowski (Secretary); W.M. Tabenski (Editor); C. Brudzynski (Organizer); J. Kaminski, J. Kopaszynski, F. Kraswoski, T. Mlynek, J. Podkulski, A. Szostak, and B. Szymanski.
The Polish Language Section maintained its headquarters at 1041 Milwaukee Ave., Chicago.

[fn: Comintern Archive: f. 515, op. 1, d. 115, l. 14.]

 

2. 2nd Convention --- [city?] --- [Feb.?] 1923.

 

3. 3rd Convention --- Detroit, MI --- Feb. 11-13, 1924.
The 1924 convention of the Polish Federation of the Workers Party was attended by delegates representing 31 branches in 18 cities in the East and Midwest. Chairman of the convention was Boleslaw Gebert, former editor of the Federation's organ, Glos Rabotnitczy. A report of the Central Executive Committee was delivered by Earl Browder.

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