The Bund: A Graphic History of Jewish Labour Resistance

by Sharon Rudahl, Paul Buhle, Michael Kluckner (Illustrator)

Told in an engaging graphic novel format, The Bund explains the oppressive origins of Jewish resistance in Ukraine, Poland, and the "Pale of Settlement" in Tsarist Russia. Jewish people adapted to industrialization and organized against exploitation. As they became more divided along the linguistic borders of Yiddish and Hebrew, Jewish people split between those who sought a distant ancestral homeland, others who emigrated and adapted to the "new world," and many more who fought against murderous Soviet and Nazi regimes. Charismatic resistance figures including Pati Kremer and Bernard Goldstein kept secular and progressive ideas alive against impossible odds in this graphic account of a little-known story. The first of its kind, this graphic history of Jewish labour resistance lays bare evidence of a radical past that can have massive implications for leftist Jewish struggles today.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Jewish, History, Judaism, Nonfiction, Politics, Comics

144 pages, Paperback

Published September 3, 2023

Reviews

[Eavan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was definitely a let down. It’s a very choppy, roundabout look at the history of the Bund, which is such an invigorating and interesting topic that somehow fell dead flat in these pages. The text itself often stops suddenly while learning of an individual or historical event, and is either too brief to fully understand what is happening or getting too off topic just because the author thought something was interesting. It was dry, and not much fun, and not even in a satisfying way robust learning can be.

Ultimately, it seems the author couldn’t decide who their audience should be: People with no background on Jewish history? People with no background in labour history? People with no background in Eastern European history? I have pretty firm grip on the first and latter, but sections of this were still sometimes confusing. The novel lacked a through-line and driving generation of knowledge a history book should be and instead presented a string of historical instances surrounding the Bund as its history. How can I learn when new faces, new places, and new ideas keep coming up page after page without context? Why do I feel like this is only appreciated by people who already know everything within its pages, and can fill in the necessary knowledge gaps to make a comprehensible history? I don’t know, someone tell me I’m insane!

This book also has an agenda, which is fine if you are aware and willing to engage with it, but not what I look for personally in my history. Half of the blurbs in and outside of the book purposely note an explicitly anti-Zionist intent, though it does not really reflect the work itself, oddly enough. Maybe the publisher was just trying to sell more books? The text is an accurate and well-tuned representation of the movement (even if does make some generalities that are a bit disingenuous), but not mentioning any influence on it from the founding of Israel was very apparent and a bit odd. What about Labour Zionism? What about the diaspora that moved to Israel? I understand not liking either of these histories, but ignoring the massive shift it wrought felt… intentional. It didn’t surprise me then that the book was funded in part by the DSA—when I’ve received books by Gefen Publishers for review, a Conservative Jewish and Israeli-owned publisher, I have to walk a similar right-rope line of reviewing a text that is forthright in its slanted intent and agenda. My only moral code is call it out, so this is me doing it here.

To conclude… I will await other graphic stories of this fascinating history. Even if you agree with their intent, it’s not a strong graphic novel by a mile.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

So glad I was finally able to get my hands on this book at the Howard Zinn Book Fair in San Francisco a few weeks ago -- it had been back-=ordered from AK Press for the longest time. Sharon Rudahl does a great job of explaining the detailed history of the Bund, the role it played in the Russian Revolution, and -- with the evocative graphics -- a sense of the culture of the radical Jews who were attracted to it.

[Joshua Rubin · Rating 1 out of 5]

The art is miserable and sometimes confusing. It adds nothing to this thread bare, random history of politics in the old country. It doesn't stay focused on the Bund, but switches to a history of Russia at will. There are very few words, which GN such as this needs lots of. Several panels can only be understood if one already has a deep understanding of the history of Russia and the world, so who's the targeted audience then?

[Marcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful representation of the history of the Bund for those who are new to this phase of Jewish history. Some very interesting figures are highlighted in the volume, especially Bernard Goldstein who helped arm the resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto. I wish they had included more about the anti-Zionist aspects of the movement. Or perhaps that's fruitful terrain for a sequel.

[Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great graphic novel, but incomplete without a broader understanding of the historical context, and a hair Ashkenormative. A good supplement to other studies, or a starting point for further questions for those who don’t already know a modest amount about 19th/20th-century Russia Empire/Soviet Union.

[Dimitrii Ivanov · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is good, the afterword, all about the N American afterlife of the Bund, is sensible, but the plot is vague and the blunders regarding the history of Eastern Europe are glaring and numerous and turn the whole thing nonsensical (Jews in Russia from the 15th century! 1905-1917 Kerensky government! Vilna in 1921 as part of Lithuania! and so on).

[Lo Riddell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels like a good overview/introduction to the history of the Bund. Only about 100 pages so pretty short/quick read and leaves me wanting more — I’m going to check out some of the “further reading” recommendations in the back!

[Rob Tobias · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique medium for exploring a piece of history that I was only vaguely aware of before I started reading. The Bund Movement doesn’t appear to fit neatly into the typical narrative of 20th century world history but its legacy seems undeniable once a reader knows what to look out for.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, graphics were good. To the point but interesting.

[Rhea Tregebov · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fascinated by this history but the book was disappointing, lacking in depth and nuance. I did find the afterword substantial and informative. Wish more of that throughout the book.

[Hk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice introduction with lovely visuals. Remains fairly surface.

[Brenda D · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the turmoil of the 19th century, where new ideas were creating ferment and social movements were as democracy, assimilation, nationalism, anarchism, socialism zionism, communism, and workers rights were generating the creation of resistance and revolution, a movement known as The Bund was working towards societal change without the resorting to terror tactics (no bombings, assasinations or sabatoge). This is an informative (graphic) telling of the history of the Bund and of some of the key people in this Jewish labour resistance movement.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most graphic histories I left this feeling like it was a nice overview but that I probably would have been better served by reading a proper book (supported by the fact that I probably got more out of the prose essays than anything). That being said it was a nice overview and really put me in my feelings about my culture and the history I sit in. A better world truly was (and is) possible for Jews and everyone.