Talk:General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland

Conflicting membership numbers....
I just removed the following section: "During the interwar period in Poland, the organization had from 7,000 to 20,000 (on the eve of World War II) dues paying members." ref: Yosef Gorni, "Converging alternatives: the Bund and the Zionist Labor Movement, 1897-1985", SUNY Press, 2006, pg. 4,

Personally I think these numbers are too small, also Rabinowicz (1965:118) cites membership in 1921 as 50,000 and growing to over 100,000 in 1937. Given the Bund's electoral results in 38/39 I think this would be a more accurate number. But we need more sources...--Goldsztajn (talk) 11:57, 3 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Joseph Marcus, Social and political history of the Jews in Poland, 1919-1939 (1983) p 281, cites Bund membership towards the end of the 1930s as 20,000 registered members, 10,000 in Zunkunft and 10,000 in SKIF. --Goldsztajn (talk) 12:36, 3 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Regarding 'In 1927, 50% of Jewish workers were allied with the Bund', does that refer to membership in the party itself or in trade unions managed by the party? --Soman (talk) 11:59, 3 November 2009 (UTC)
 * It means union membership, Marcus (above) confirms this on p 125.--Goldsztajn (talk) 12:36, 3 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Actually, Marcus' figures refer to organised workers in unions, so 50% of Jewish trade union members were in unions allied to the Bund, is probably the more correct formulation. His figures are much clearer, will change to that.--Goldsztajn (talk) 12:42, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

very good source for internal party politics in the 1920s and 30s
Marcus' (1983) Social and political history of the Jews in Poland, 1919-1939 has some very useful parts on internal political debate in the 1920s and 1930s. page 281 --Goldsztajn (talk) 12:49, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

The lede
I just changed the lede to something a little more concrete, the previous version basically said the bund was a party which followed the line of the bund. Rather tautological, really. I've changed it to something more descriptive of the Bund's actual policies and activities. I don't have any particular feeling about what I've written there, so feel free to edit further, I've just put in some of what I think are the most important aspects (although I have not mentioned the trade union aspect, which probably should be mentioned). --Goldsztajn (talk) 04:24, 7 February 2010 (UTC)