Mikhail Liber
Encyclopedia
Mikhail Isaakovich Liber (b. May 24/June 5, 1880, d. October 4, 1937).
M.I. Liber, sometimes known as 'Mark Liber', was a leader of the General Jewish Workers' Union (the 'Bund'). He also played a role in the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party (RSDRP) and among the Mensheviks. Liber was instrumental in the soviets during the February Revolution
of 1917 but opposed to October Revolution
. He was reportedly shot during the Purges. Liber played a defining role in the development of the Bund and helped shaped the policies of the leaders of the February Revolution.
The Bund competed, on the one hand, with non-Marxist Jewish socialist groups that were influenced by Russian populism
and, on the other, with the emerging Jewish Zionist movement. The Bund rejected Jewish national separatism and eventually came out against the Zionist project of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine. The Bund stressed that the struggle for Jewish emancipation in th Russian empire must be linked with the struggle of the Russian proletariat, and for that reason sought close relations with Russian Social-Democracy. Nevertheless, the Bund insisted on the cultural autonomy of the empire's Jews and, accordingly, the organisational autonomy of the Bund within a federal Russian Social-Democratic party. In internal debates within the Bund, younger Bundists like Liber placed greater emphasis on Jewish cultural identity than their more assimilationist elders (such as the Bund's founder, Arkadi Kremer
), and on the need for propaganda in Yiddish aimed specifically at Jewish workers. In relation to the RSDRP, they argued for a looser, federal form of organisation, rather than a unitary centralised one.
Liber was one of the Bund's representatives at the fateful Second Congress of the RSDRP in 1903, and the third most frequent speaker at the congress (after Lenin and Trotsky). He defended the Bund's demand to be recognised as an autonomous organisation within the RSDRP and as the sole legitimate representative of the Jewish proletariat in the Russian empire. This position was roundly rejected by both Lenin and I.O. Martov
, soon to emerge as the leaders of the Bolshevik
and Menshevik
factions of the RSDRP. Martov had himself been a member of the Bund in the 1890s and one of Liber's former collaborators, but at the second congress, he supported Lenin in demanding the integration of the Jewish proletariat in an All-Russian Social-Democratic party. Martov proposed a more liberal criterium of paty membership than Lenin, but by the time that issue led to the schism between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, Liber and his fellow Bundist delegates had withdrawn in protest from the congress and from the RSDRP. It was the Bundists' exit that gave Lenin a slight majority at the congress (and hence enabled him to call his faction 'Bolshevik' - 'Majoritarian').
As the division between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks hardened, the Bund was increasingly drawn to the Menshevik side. The Mensheviks reversed their position on organisational federalism, making it possible for the Bund to rejoin the Menshevik wing of the RSDRP. In 1906, Liber represented the Bund at the 4th, Unification, Congress of the RSDLP
in Stockholm
when the Bund rejoined the party. At the 5th Congress
in London
in 1907 he was elected to the RSDLP Central Committee
. During the abortive Revolution of 1905, Liber played a role as a Bundist representative in the soviets, even though he, like most SDs (including Lenin), initially greeted the new, spontaneous workers' organisation with some scepticism. When the Revolution petered out in 1907 and the autocracy reasserted its authority, Liber was one of those who advocated a more cautious, legalistic course of action for the RSDRP. Known as 'Liquidators' because they wanted to 'liquidate' the illegal underground organisation of the party, this group was fiercely opposed by Lenin as well as by 'Party Mensheviks' like Martov and Trotsky (then a Menshevik). However, Social-Democratic 'Liquidators' like Liber had counterparts among the Socialist-Revolutionaries
, including Liber's contemporary A.R. Gots
. Liber's subsequent close alignment with Gots in 1917 may have had its roots in their common 'Liquidationism' of the 1910s. During this period, Liber married, which may also have encouraged his emphasis on legal work.
In 1914, Liber at first opposed the First World War and took a moderate 'Internationalist
' position. However, after the February Revolution of 1917, Liber called for war 'in defence of the revolution' and took up a 'Revolutionary Defencist' position. As a representative of the Bund and the Mensheviks, Liber played amajor role in the soviets. He collaborated closely with Menshevik and SR 'Revolutionary Defencists' like F.I. Dan, I.G. Tsereteli
, A.R. Gots, V.M. Zenzinov
and N.D. Avksentiev
- so closely that his name was often linked in Bolshevik propaganda with those of Dan and Gots, in a pun on the German phrase Dann lieber Gott! ('then, dear God!), as Danlibergots. Liber was a staunch supporter of F.M. Kerensky's Provisional Government, although he declined an offer to join the cabinet, preferring to concentrate on his work in the soviet. He represented the Bund in the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet and was a member of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Soviet. As such, Liber opposed not only the Bolsheviks but also Menshevik Internationalists like his old comrade Martov.
Liber opposed the October Revolution of 1917 and rejected the position taken by the Mensheviks and many Bundists, which called for negotioation with the Bolsheviks for the purpose of forming an all-socialist coaltion government. This proposal then had considerable support among Mensheviks, SRs and even some Bolsheviks (such as L.B. Kamenev
), to Lenin's great annoyance. Nothing came of it beyond a brief cooperation of the Left SRs with the Bolsheviks. Liber, for opposite reasons, agreed with Lenin that a unity government uniting the Bolsheviks with the moderate socialists they had just overthrown was politically impossible and would destroy the revolution. In taking this view, Liber parted ways with Dan, who had gone over to Martov's Menshevik Internationalists and eventually migrated to the far left of the Menshevik party. Owing to his anti-Bolshevism, Liber lost his leadership positions in the Menshevik party and in the Bund, but found himself in agreement with anti-Bolshevik SRs like Gots and Avksentiev.
Despite his fierce and public opposition to the Bolsheviks, Liber was not at first persecuted (perhaps because his brother-in-law was F.E. Dzerzhinky, first head of the Cheka
). Liber spent most of the Civil War years in the Ukraine, returning to Moscow in 1920. He resumed work in the Menshevik party (which was abandoning hopes of co-operation with the Bolsheviks). In 1922 he protested against the death sentences passed against A.R. Gots and his co-defendants at the 'Trial of the Right SRs'. Shortly thereafter, Liber was himself arrested and sentenced to internal exile. It was the first of several arrests in the course of the next 15 years. His final arrest occurred in March of 1937, at the height of the Purges. Reportedly he was shot in October of that year, together with Gots. However, Soviet sources deny this and claim that Gots lived until 1940, while Liber retired from politics, devoted himself to business and died of natural causes.
M.I. Liber, sometimes known as 'Mark Liber', was a leader of the General Jewish Workers' Union (the 'Bund'). He also played a role in the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party (RSDRP) and among the Mensheviks. Liber was instrumental in the soviets during the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
of 1917 but opposed to October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
. He was reportedly shot during the Purges. Liber played a defining role in the development of the Bund and helped shaped the policies of the leaders of the February Revolution.
Life and Career
Mikhail Isaakovich Goldman was born in the Lithuanian city of Vilnius, then part of the Russian empire, into a secular Jewish family. His father was a poet and office clerk. Like his older brothers, Boris and Lev (known as 'Gorev' and 'Akim' respectively), Mikhail became involved in radical student politics and was drawn to Marxism. He took an interest in the plight of Jewish workers in the Russian empire and joined the General Jewish Workers' Union in Lithuania, Poland and Russia (Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund in Lite, Poyln un Rusland, אַלגעמײַנער ײדישער אַרבעטער בונד אין ליטע פוילין און רוסלאַנד) in 1897. Goldman took the revolutionary pseudonym 'M. Liber', by which he became known. He soon rose to prominence in the Bund and was elected to its Central Committee in 1902.The Bund competed, on the one hand, with non-Marxist Jewish socialist groups that were influenced by Russian populism
Narodnik
Narodniks was the name for Russian socially conscious members of the middle class in the 1860s and 1870s. Their ideas and actions were known as Narodnichestvo which can be translated as "Peopleism", though is more commonly rendered "populism"...
and, on the other, with the emerging Jewish Zionist movement. The Bund rejected Jewish national separatism and eventually came out against the Zionist project of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine. The Bund stressed that the struggle for Jewish emancipation in th Russian empire must be linked with the struggle of the Russian proletariat, and for that reason sought close relations with Russian Social-Democracy. Nevertheless, the Bund insisted on the cultural autonomy of the empire's Jews and, accordingly, the organisational autonomy of the Bund within a federal Russian Social-Democratic party. In internal debates within the Bund, younger Bundists like Liber placed greater emphasis on Jewish cultural identity than their more assimilationist elders (such as the Bund's founder, Arkadi Kremer
Arkadi Kremer
Arkadi Kremer Also known as Aleksandr Kremer or Solomon Kremer.A.S. Kremer was a Russian socialist leader known as the 'Father of the Bund' Arkadi Kremer (1865-1935)Also known as Aleksandr Kremer or Solomon Kremer.A.S. Kremer was a Russian socialist leader known as the 'Father of the Bund' Arkadi...
), and on the need for propaganda in Yiddish aimed specifically at Jewish workers. In relation to the RSDRP, they argued for a looser, federal form of organisation, rather than a unitary centralised one.
Liber was one of the Bund's representatives at the fateful Second Congress of the RSDRP in 1903, and the third most frequent speaker at the congress (after Lenin and Trotsky). He defended the Bund's demand to be recognised as an autonomous organisation within the RSDRP and as the sole legitimate representative of the Jewish proletariat in the Russian empire. This position was roundly rejected by both Lenin and I.O. Martov
Julius Martov
Julius Martov or L. Martov was born in Constantinople in 1873...
, soon to emerge as the leaders of the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
and Menshevik
Menshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
factions of the RSDRP. Martov had himself been a member of the Bund in the 1890s and one of Liber's former collaborators, but at the second congress, he supported Lenin in demanding the integration of the Jewish proletariat in an All-Russian Social-Democratic party. Martov proposed a more liberal criterium of paty membership than Lenin, but by the time that issue led to the schism between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, Liber and his fellow Bundist delegates had withdrawn in protest from the congress and from the RSDRP. It was the Bundists' exit that gave Lenin a slight majority at the congress (and hence enabled him to call his faction 'Bolshevik' - 'Majoritarian').
As the division between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks hardened, the Bund was increasingly drawn to the Menshevik side. The Mensheviks reversed their position on organisational federalism, making it possible for the Bund to rejoin the Menshevik wing of the RSDRP. In 1906, Liber represented the Bund at the 4th, Unification, Congress of the RSDLP
4th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Fourth Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party that took place in Stockholm, Sweden, from April 10-25 , 1906....
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
when the Bund rejoined the party. At the 5th Congress
5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The 5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was held in London between May 13 and June 1, 1907. The congress was the largest in attendance of the congresses of the unified RSDLP. Thirty-five session of the congress were held in the Brotherhood Church in Hackney, during which...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1907 he was elected to the RSDLP Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
. During the abortive Revolution of 1905, Liber played a role as a Bundist representative in the soviets, even though he, like most SDs (including Lenin), initially greeted the new, spontaneous workers' organisation with some scepticism. When the Revolution petered out in 1907 and the autocracy reasserted its authority, Liber was one of those who advocated a more cautious, legalistic course of action for the RSDRP. Known as 'Liquidators' because they wanted to 'liquidate' the illegal underground organisation of the party, this group was fiercely opposed by Lenin as well as by 'Party Mensheviks' like Martov and Trotsky (then a Menshevik). However, Social-Democratic 'Liquidators' like Liber had counterparts among the Socialist-Revolutionaries
Socialist-Revolutionary Party
thumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...
, including Liber's contemporary A.R. Gots
Avram Gots
Avram Rafailovich Gots was a Russian Socialist-Revolutionary leader, active in the Revolutions of 1905 and 1917.- Biography :...
. Liber's subsequent close alignment with Gots in 1917 may have had its roots in their common 'Liquidationism' of the 1910s. During this period, Liber married, which may also have encouraged his emphasis on legal work.
In 1914, Liber at first opposed the First World War and took a moderate 'Internationalist
Internationalist/Defencist Schism
The terms 'Internationalist' and 'Defencist' were commonly used to describe the broad opposing camps in the international socialist movement during and shortly after the First World War. Prior to 1914, anti-militarism had been an article of faith among most European socialist parties...
' position. However, after the February Revolution of 1917, Liber called for war 'in defence of the revolution' and took up a 'Revolutionary Defencist' position. As a representative of the Bund and the Mensheviks, Liber played amajor role in the soviets. He collaborated closely with Menshevik and SR 'Revolutionary Defencists' like F.I. Dan, I.G. Tsereteli
Irakli Tsereteli
Irakli Tsereteli was a Georgian politician, one of the leaders of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party and later the Georgian Mensheviks....
, A.R. Gots, V.M. Zenzinov
Vladimir Zenzinov
Vladimir Mikhailovich Zenzinov was a member of Russia's Socialist-Revolutionary Party, a participant of the First , Second , and Third Russian Revolutions, and an author of a number of books.-Biography:...
and N.D. Avksentiev
Nikolai Avksentiev
Nikolai Dimitrovich Avksentiev was a leading member of the Russian Socialist-Revolutionary Party . He was one of the 'Heidelberg SRs' , like V.M. Zenzinov...
- so closely that his name was often linked in Bolshevik propaganda with those of Dan and Gots, in a pun on the German phrase Dann lieber Gott! ('then, dear God!), as Danlibergots. Liber was a staunch supporter of F.M. Kerensky's Provisional Government, although he declined an offer to join the cabinet, preferring to concentrate on his work in the soviet. He represented the Bund in the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet and was a member of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Soviet. As such, Liber opposed not only the Bolsheviks but also Menshevik Internationalists like his old comrade Martov.
Liber opposed the October Revolution of 1917 and rejected the position taken by the Mensheviks and many Bundists, which called for negotioation with the Bolsheviks for the purpose of forming an all-socialist coaltion government. This proposal then had considerable support among Mensheviks, SRs and even some Bolsheviks (such as L.B. Kamenev
Lev Kamenev
Lev Borisovich Kamenev , born Rozenfeld , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a prominent Soviet politician. He was briefly head of state of the new republic in 1917, and from 1923-24 the acting Premier in the last year of Lenin's life....
), to Lenin's great annoyance. Nothing came of it beyond a brief cooperation of the Left SRs with the Bolsheviks. Liber, for opposite reasons, agreed with Lenin that a unity government uniting the Bolsheviks with the moderate socialists they had just overthrown was politically impossible and would destroy the revolution. In taking this view, Liber parted ways with Dan, who had gone over to Martov's Menshevik Internationalists and eventually migrated to the far left of the Menshevik party. Owing to his anti-Bolshevism, Liber lost his leadership positions in the Menshevik party and in the Bund, but found himself in agreement with anti-Bolshevik SRs like Gots and Avksentiev.
Despite his fierce and public opposition to the Bolsheviks, Liber was not at first persecuted (perhaps because his brother-in-law was F.E. Dzerzhinky, first head of the Cheka
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
). Liber spent most of the Civil War years in the Ukraine, returning to Moscow in 1920. He resumed work in the Menshevik party (which was abandoning hopes of co-operation with the Bolsheviks). In 1922 he protested against the death sentences passed against A.R. Gots and his co-defendants at the 'Trial of the Right SRs'. Shortly thereafter, Liber was himself arrested and sentenced to internal exile. It was the first of several arrests in the course of the next 15 years. His final arrest occurred in March of 1937, at the height of the Purges. Reportedly he was shot in October of that year, together with Gots. However, Soviet sources deny this and claim that Gots lived until 1940, while Liber retired from politics, devoted himself to business and died of natural causes.