History of the Trotskyist movement

[proletarianrevo]

Hi Ian,

sorry that i havent answered you, but i have been extremely busy (and now it seems likely that 600.000 Danish workers will go on strike in some weeks!!!).

At the founding congress of the fourth international, two polish trotskyists (in exile) were present. they agreed to join the fourth, and they had a group inside Poland.

The book does not go into details about their work. but it actually mentions the point you raise about trotskyist involvement in the uprising.
This is a quotation form the book (page 651):

The Second World War destroyed Polish Trotskyism. Stefan Lamed has written: "The movement was physically wiped out by the Nazis. I also know of some victims of the Soviet Occupation. A few individuals, like myself, survived because, tracked by the police, we had to flee the country". Reiner Tosstorff has brought to our attention the fact that a Trotskyist group functioned in the Warsaw ghetto before the uprising in which the ghetto was wiped out. He has written: "I came recently across the Trotskyist group in the Warsaw ghetto.... The group published two journals between 1940 and 1941 in Polish: Czerwony sztandar (Red Flag) and Przegad Marksistowski (Marxist Tribune)". There is no indication that any of the members of that group survived the war.    

That's the only thing the book contains on that issue.
It is a shame, as I think it could be very interesting to hear more about!
Does anyone know more about it?
In general it was must have been a bitter feeling that the poles bear, as Stalinist Russia remained passive and allowed the hordes of nazi reaction to crush the uprising.


comradely,
Andreas

[turnoviseous]

Interesting thing, Ive seen a movie called "Uprising" recently. It is about the Ghetto uprising in Warshaw. Very interesting film, I borowed DVD and I watched the commentary of the director and he said that the rebellion had in fact a socialist character, he says nothing more about the issue tho´.

[proletarianrevo]

To IAN:

I found out that there is a eye-witness account of the Warsaw rising. Apparently, It's called "The Warsaw Commune, Betrayed by Stalin, Massacred by Hitler", written by Zygmunt Zaremba
It is available from Socialist Platform

comradely,
Andreas

[petrel]

Aren't you confusing the 1943 Jewish ghetto uprising; in which indeed the Communist party, the socialdemocrat Bund and Left Zionists played mayor roles; with the 1944 uprising, in which the Polish nationalist Right and partly anti-Semitic "Interior Army" had a mayor role; and which should not be equated to the Paris Commune of 1871?

[igor_r]

Originally posted by proletarianrevo

Do anyone know where it is possible to get hold of a book/internetsource/anything on the russian trotskyist movement (in illegality).
????

Actually, groups where destroyed, but some activists remained. Some workers-members of Left oposition lived to 1991 or more. In 1940-50's some activists worked like this: they send an anonimous letter, sayng there, that Stalin is not good. If the recipient don't bring this letter  to police, they started tolking with him, not saying they are trotskyists, for example they give him a book of party's hisrory, printed in 1950, then the same book, printed in 1930. He starts to ask questions.. Form 1960's some student circles issued leaflets, saying, they are trotskyist. There are good books on this subject by Rogovin, but i don't know, if its translated to english.

[HelenJames]

I think this topic was discussed loads of time before at this forum