V. I.

Lenin

To the Jewish Workers [2]

Inpublishing the Report on the Third Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. in Yiddish, the
Editorial Board of the Party Central Organ considers it necessary to say a few
words in connection with this publication.

Theconditions under which the class-conscious proletariat of the whole world
lives tend to create the closest bonds and increasing unity in the systematic
Social-Democratic struggle of the workers of the various nationalities. The
great slogan “Workers of all countries, unite I”, which was
proclaimed for the first time more than half a century ago, has now become more
than the slogan of just the Social-Democratic parties of the different
countries. This slogan is being increasingly embodied both in the unification of
the tactics of international Social-Democracy and in the building of
organisational unity among the proletarians of the various nationalities who are
struggling under the yoke of one and the same despotic state for freedom and
socialism.

In Russia the workers of all nationalities, especially those of non-Russian
nationality, endure an economic and political oppression such as obtains in no
other country. The Jewish workers, as a disfranchised nationality, not only
suffer general economic and political oppression, but they also suffer under the
yoke which deprives them of elementary civic rights. The heavier this yoke, the
greater the need for the closest possible unity among the proletarians of the
different nationalities; for without such unity a victorious struggle against
the general oppression is impossible. The more the predatory tsarist autocracy
strives to sow the seeds of discord, distrust and enmity among the nationalities
it oppresses, the more abominable its policy of inciting the ignorant masses to savage pogroms becomes, the more does the duty devolve upon
us, the Social-Democrats, to rally the isolated Social-Democratic parties
of the different nationalities into a single Russian
Social-Democratic Labour Party.

The First Congress of our Party, held in the spring of 1898, set itself the aim
of establishing such unity. To dispel any idea of its being national in
character, the Party called itself “Rossiiskaya” and not “Russkaya”. [1]

The organisation of Jewish workers—the
Bund—affiliated with the Party as an autonomous section. Unfortunately,
from that moment the unity of the Jewish and non-Jewish Social-Democrats within
the single party was destroyed. Nationalist ideas began to spread among the
leading members of the Bund, ideas which are in sharp contradiction to the
entire world view of Social-Democracy. Instead of trying to draw the Jewish and
the non-Jewish workers closer together, the Bund embarked upon a policy of
weaning the former away from the latter; at its congresses it claimed a separate
existence for the Jews as a nation. Instead of carrying on the work begun by
the First Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Party towards still closer
unity between the Bund and the Party, the Bund moved a step away from the
Party. First, it withdrew from the united organisation of the R.S.D.L.P. abroad
and set up an independent organisation abroad; later, it withdrew from the
R.S.D.L.P. as well, when the Second Congress of our Party in 1903 refused by a
considerable majority to recognise the Bund as sole representative of the
Jewish proletariat. The Bund held to its position, claiming not only that it was
the sole representative of the Jewish proletariat, but that no territorial
limits were set to its activities. Naturally, the Second Congress of the
R.S.D.L.P. could not accept such conditions, since in a number of regions, as,
for instance, in South Russia, the organised Jewish proletariat constitutes part
of the general Party organisation. Ignoring that stand, the Bund with drew from
the Party and thereby broke the unity of the Social-Democratic proletariat,
despite the work that had been carried out in common at the Second Congress, and despite the Party Programme
and Rules.

Atits Second and Third Congresses the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party
expressed its firm conviction that the Bund’s withdrawal from the Party was a
grave and deplorable mistake on its part. The Bund’s mistake is a result of its
basically untenable nationalist views; the result of its groundless claim to be
the sole, monopolistic representative of the Jewish proletariat, from which the
federalist principle of organisation necessarily derives; the result of its
Long-standing policy of keeping aloof and separate from the Party. We are
convinced that this mistake must be rectified and that it will be rectified as
the movement continues to grow. We consider ourselves ideologically at one with
the Jewish Social-Democratic proletariat. After the Second Congress our Central
Committee pursued a non-nationalist policy; it took pains that such committees
should be set up (Polesye, North-Western) as would unite all the local workers,
Jewish as well as non-Jewish, into a single whole. At the Third Congress of the
R.S.D.L.P. a resolution was adopted providing for the publication of literature
in Yiddish. In fulfilment of that resolution we are now issuing a complete
translation into Yiddish of the Report on the Third Congress of the R.S.D.L.P.,
which has appeared in Russian. The Report will show the Jewish
workers—both those who are now in our Party and those who are temporarily
out of it—how our Party is progressing. The Report will show the Jewish
workers that our Party is already emerging from the internal crisis from which
it has been suffering since the Second Congress. It will show them what the
actual aspirations of our Party are and what its attitude is towards the
Social-Democratic parties and organisations of the other nationalities, as well
as the attitude of the entire Party and its central body to its component
parts. Finally, it will show them—and this is most important—the
tactical directives that were drawn up by the Third Congress of the
R.S.D.L.P. with regard to the policy of the entire class-conscious proletariat
in the present revolutionary situation.

Comrades! The hour of political struggle against the tsarist autocracy is
drawing near—the struggle of the proletariat for the freedom of all
classes and peoples in Russia, for the freedom of the proletarian drive towards socialism. Terrible trials are
in store for us. The outcome of the revolution in Russia depends on our
class-consciousness and preparedness, on our unity and determination. Let
us set to work then with greater boldness and greater unity, let us do all
in our power for the proletarians of the different nationalities to march
to freedom under the leadership of a really united Russian
Social-Democratic Labour Party.

Editorial Board of the Central Organ of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party

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Notes:
[1]
The adjective Russkaya (Russian) pertains to nationality,
Rossiiskaya (Russian) pertains to Russia as a country.— Ed .

[2]
The document is an editorial preface to the pamphlet Report on the Third Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. , published in Yiddish in 1905.