Leo Krzycki and the Detroit Left

Leo Krzycki and the Detroit Left
Author: Don Binkowski
Publisher: Xlibris Us
Total Pages: 568
Release: 2001
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781401039967

As Dr. Edward Jennings wisely observed, "Most Polish American historians were too conservative to be interested in radicalism. On the other hand, most historians, especially labor historians, were liberal to radical, and weren't interested in the Polish community because it wasn't radical enough." However, it must be emphasized that I am presenting primarily an American perspective of liberal persuasion of the work of Leo Krzycki in the Polish Left, 1942-1950, while attempting to be loyal to the Polish cause. The Detroit Left was an infinitesimal part of Polonia. Hopefully, I have not been chauvinistic to either view. The label, "Detroit Left," resulted from many radical activities, often spawned by the Depression. The anti-Soviet writers coined the expression, "Detroit Left," based upon the perceived headquarters of the Polish Left. Only Krzycki's involvement has been researched, not the complete breadth of the Polish Left, so that their entire involvement remains to be revealed. Starting with Daniel DeLeon's "Detroit IWW," headquartered in Hamtramck, Detroit was home to the radicals in the circle of C.L.R. James known as the Johnson-Forest Tendency in the 1940s. A 1940s member of the Detroit Habonim recalled "the panoply of radical groups that existed in Detroit, not only Zionist radicals, but Communists, Trotskyites, Socialist Labor Party people, and even a few surviving Wobblies." Black Power manifested itself in DRUM and Malcolm X, dubbed "Detroit Red." "In the Detroit area, as nationally, labor did more than most civilians to win the war," stated William O'Neill. During WW II, Detroit, America's fourth largest city, became the center of America's heavy industry, the arsenal of democracy. The auto workers union, the UAW, headquartered in Detroit, represented the "most important working-class organization in all of American machine industry." Starting in 1919, B.K. Gebert (1895-1986) agitated and organized Ford workers, 1937-40. Probably, no large American city was as unionized as Detroit with such a multitude of militant CIO unions. The higher wages paid to union members allowed those few Communist Party (CP) members and radicals of other persuasions to support not only the many CP front groups in the Detroit area but also other radical groups. Smaller than Chicago, a small Polish communist cadre developed, starting in 1919 with the Glos Robotniczy (The Worker's Voice) and then in 1924 with the paper, Trybuna Robotnicza (The Workers Tribune) by Gebert. With the most Polish city in America, Hamtramck, in its territorial center, Detroit became a central geographical location in America with its many Polish organizations and buildings. The Polish Workers Hall erected in 1919 at 3014 Yemans, Hamtramck, developed into the center for the Polish Left. Joseph Kowalski, the first Pole on the executive board of the Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA or CP), made Detroit his headquarters. Marrying a Detroiter in 1920, Gebert also headquartered himself in Detroit. Stanley Nowak (1903-1994) settled in Detroit and pioneered the rise of the United Automobile Workers. His Polish Trade Union Committee consisted of militant CP members. They used the radio as effectively than FDR. However, it must be remembered that the socialists, active for over 40 years, paved the way for the CPUSA, created in 1919 from left-wing groups expelled by the Socialist Party. Tadeusz Radwanski (1884-1960) not only edited the various newspapers but developed a CP correspondence course in Polish. In 1936, the Polish left founded the Glos Ludowy (The People's Voice, 1936-1991) which because the official organ of the Polonia Society, IWO, headed by Gebert. Edited by Henry Podolski; Wladyslaw Kucharski (1883- 1960); Thomas X. Dombrowski (1917-1956); Conrad Komorowski (1906-1991); Adam Kujtkowski et al., the Glos Ludowy paper had a national circulation and it was lat

Leo Krzycki and the Detroit Left

Leo Krzycki and the Detroit Left
Author: Don Binkowski
Publisher: Xlibris Us
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2001
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781401039967

As Dr. Edward Jennings wisely observed, "Most Polish American historians were too conservative to be interested in radicalism. On the other hand, most historians, especially labor historians, were liberal to radical, and weren't interested in the Polish community because it wasn't radical enough." However, it must be emphasized that I am presenting primarily an American perspective of liberal persuasion of the work of Leo Krzycki in the Polish Left, 1942-1950, while attempting to be loyal to the Polish cause. The Detroit Left was an infinitesimal part of Polonia. Hopefully, I have not been chauvinistic to either view. The label, "Detroit Left," resulted from many radical activities, often spawned by the Depression. The anti-Soviet writers coined the expression, "Detroit Left," based upon the perceived headquarters of the Polish Left. Only Krzycki's involvement has been researched, not the complete breadth of the Polish Left, so that their entire involvement remains to be revealed. Starting with Daniel DeLeon's "Detroit IWW," headquartered in Hamtramck, Detroit was home to the radicals in the circle of C.L.R. James known as the Johnson-Forest Tendency in the 1940s. A 1940s member of the Detroit Habonim recalled "the panoply of radical groups that existed in Detroit, not only Zionist radicals, but Communists, Trotskyites, Socialist Labor Party people, and even a few surviving Wobblies." Black Power manifested itself in DRUM and Malcolm X, dubbed "Detroit Red." "In the Detroit area, as nationally, labor did more than most civilians to win the war," stated William O'Neill. During WW II, Detroit, America's fourth largest city, became the center of America's heavy industry, the arsenal of democracy. The auto workers union, the UAW, headquartered in Detroit, represented the "most important working-class organization in all of American machine industry." Starting in 1919, B.K. Gebert (1895-1986) agitated and organized Ford workers, 1937-40. Probably, no large American city was as unionized as Detroit with such a multitude of militant CIO unions. The higher wages paid to union members allowed those few Communist Party (CP) members and radicals of other persuasions to support not only the many CP front groups in the Detroit area but also other radical groups. Smaller than Chicago, a small Polish communist cadre developed, starting in 1919 with the Glos Robotniczy (The Worker's Voice) and then in 1924 with the paper, Trybuna Robotnicza (The Workers Tribune) by Gebert. With the most Polish city in America, Hamtramck, in its territorial center, Detroit became a central geographical location in America with its many Polish organizations and buildings. The Polish Workers Hall erected in 1919 at 3014 Yemans, Hamtramck, developed into the center for the Polish Left. Joseph Kowalski, the first Pole on the executive board of the Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA or CP), made Detroit his headquarters. Marrying a Detroiter in 1920, Gebert also headquartered himself in Detroit. Stanley Nowak (1903-1994) settled in Detroit and pioneered the rise of the United Automobile Workers. His Polish Trade Union Committee consisted of militant CP members. They used the radio as effectively than FDR. However, it must be remembered that the socialists, active for over 40 years, paved the way for the CPUSA, created in 1919 from left-wing groups expelled by the Socialist Party. Tadeusz Radwanski (1884-1960) not only edited the various newspapers but developed a CP correspondence course in Polish. In 1936, the Polish left founded the Glos Ludowy (The People's Voice, 1936-1991) which because the official organ of the Polonia Society, IWO, headed by Gebert. Edited by Henry Podolski; Wladyslaw Kucharski (1883- 1960); Thomas X. Dombrowski (1917-1956); Conrad Komorowski (1906-1991); Adam Kujtkowski et al., the Glos Ludowy paper had a national circulation and it was lat

The Immigrant Left in the United States

The Immigrant Left in the United States
Author: Director of the Oral History of the American Left at Taminent Library Paul Buhle
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 1996-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780791428832

A transnational social history of immigrant-group involvement in radical activities in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America that provides missing links between the immigration experience, the neighborhood, the workplace, politics, and culture.

The Polish American Encyclopedia

The Polish American Encyclopedia
Author: James S. Pula
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 597
Release: 2010-12-22
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 0786462221

At least nine million Americans trace their roots to Poland, and Polish Americans have contributed greatly to American history and society. During the largest period of immigration to the United States, between 1870 and 1920, more Poles came to the United States than any other national group except Italians. Additional large-scale Polish migration occurred in the wake of World War II and during the period of Solidarity's rise to prominence. This encyclopedia features three types of entries: thematic essays, topical entries, and biographical profiles. The essays synthesize existing work to provide interpretations of, and insight into, important aspects of the Polish American experience. The topical entries discuss in detail specific places, events or organizations such as the Polish National Alliance, Polish American Saturday Schools, and the Latimer Massacre, among others. The biographical entries identify Polish Americans who have made significant contributions at the regional or national level either to the history and culture of the United States, or to the development of American Polonia.

Henry Wallace's 1948 Presidential Campaign and the Future of Postwar Liberalism

Henry Wallace's 1948 Presidential Campaign and the Future of Postwar Liberalism
Author: Thomas W. Devine
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 425
Release: 2013-05-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 1469602040

In the presidential campaign of 1948, Henry Wallace set out to challenge the conventional wisdom of his time, blaming the United States, instead of the Soviet Union, for the Cold War, denouncing the popular Marshall Plan, and calling for an end to segregation. In addition, he argued that domestic fascism--rather than international communism--posed the primary threat to the nation. He even welcomed Communists into his campaign, admiring their commitment to peace. Focusing on what Wallace himself later considered his campaign's most important aspect, the troubled relationship between non-Communist progressives like himself and members of the American Communist Party, Thomas W. Devine demonstrates that such an alliance was not only untenable but, from the perspective of the American Communists, undesirable. Rather than romanticizing the political culture of the Popular Front, Devine provides a detailed account of the Communists' self-destructive behavior throughout the campaign and chronicles the frustrating challenges that non-Communist progressives faced in trying to sustain a movement that critiqued American Cold War policies and championed civil rights for African Americans without becoming a sounding board for pro-Soviet propaganda.

Poles Together

Poles Together
Author: Don Binkowski
Publisher: Xlibris Us
Total Pages: 560
Release: 2001
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

Leo Krzycki (1881-1966) was one of the most talented speakers in the union movement, and only John L. Lewis (1880-1969), considered the most skillful orator in the union movement, could surpass him. While he was described as "one of the most dramatic men in the American Labor movement," Krzycki has generally been ignored by historians and writers. Today, no one in the labor movement remembers him. "There was no one like him," exclaimed Mrs. Mildred Jeffrey. "He was a real orator; a very effective speaker who could make rousing speeches bringing people to their feet. Whenever they needed a speaker, they called on Leo." Accordingly, Krzycki has been recognized in every labor who's who since 1925. No labor organizer has made such large contributions to the formation of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA), the steel workers, the rubber workers, and the auto workers as Krzycki. For over five decades he dedicated himself to securing social justice for the American worker through the union movement as well as the Socialist Party. Krzycki proved to be a premier organizer who met regularly with workers; walked the picket lines; and was arrested on several occasions. Unlike other union leaders who directed strategy from their offices safely ensconced from the battle lines, Krzycki struggled in the trenches, in the front lines, personally leading rank and file workers. A product of Polonia (Latin describing the Polish American community), Krzycki was molded by his Polish American environment. Born in Milwaukee, Krzycki learned early of the brutality inflicted upon striking workers. "The story of Grandpa Martin Krzycki's association with the steel workers at the Bay View rolling mills was told many times, of workers beaten and bloodied strikers gathering at Martin's saloon during the strike in 1886 and of 'matkas (mothers)' coming there tearfully seeking word of their sons and husbands," recalled Gene Krzycki. Fired at the age of fifteen while leading a lithographers walkout of teen-age press tenders in Milwaukee, Krzycki was blacklisted two years. Later he began his organizing career on behalf of unions. Initially, he was a member of the Lithographers Union becoming a vice president in the International President Lithographer Press Feeders Union. A founding member of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America in 1914, Krzycki enjoyed a life-long, collegial relationship with President Sidney Hillman. Promoted from chief labor organizer to the Executive Board of the Amalgamated in 1922, Krzycki became a vice-president eleven years later. Naming his first son, Eugene, for Eugene Debs and his second son, Victor, for Congressman and socialist leader, Victor Berger, Krzycki joined the Socialist Party in 1908. Elected twice on the socialist ticket, he served as a Milwaukee alderman and then under sheriff. Running for Congress with Berger, he too was arrested in 1918. He ran again for Congress and also the U.S. Senate on the Socialist ticket. Working with all of the celebrated Socialist leaders of the XXth century, like Debs, Morris Hillquit, Berger, Norman Thomas, Hoan, Oscar Ameringer, Powers Hapgood, Krzycki became a member of the Executive Board and then its national chairman. Gene Krzycki revealed that "the closeness of Berger must have felt to my Dad and his family" was expressed in the token of gifts like the silver commemorative cup (see photo), a wooden play pen on casters, and tricycle bestowed upon Victor Krzycki. As testimonial of his rhetorical skills, Krzycki joined Thomas and Theodore Debs in a "Debs Commemoration Dinner." Using his Polish language skills, Krzycki traveled to the various Polonian centers of clothing workers organizing and resolving strikes. Polish Professor Adam Walaszek documented the many Polish locals of the Amalgamated, which also included Ukrainians and Russians. Often, Krzycki c

This is Detroit, 1701-2001

This is Detroit, 1701-2001
Author: Arthur M. Woodford
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2001
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780814329146

An illustrated history of Detroit from 1701 to 2001.