History of a False Illusion - Memoirs of the Communist Movements in Poland 1918-1938

This is a translation (from the Yiddish) of the memoirs of the Polish-Jewish workers leader Pinkus Minc (1895-19620. Minc played a leading role in the Jewish Bund in the early 1920s, leading its left wing in a fusion with the Polish Communist Party in 1922. Minc was active in organizing workers in Poland, West Byelo Russia and West Ukraine. He spent much time in prison. In the face of severe state repression, Minc was forced to leave Poland in the mid-1930s, whereupon he worked with Trotskyite groups in Prague, Danzig, Copenhagen, and finally Paris, where he was a close collaborator and friend of Trotsky’s son Leon Sedov. The publication of his memoirs contributes significantly to our understanding of the East European workers movements. It will also interest scholars in Jewish Studies, Russian studies, political science, and personal history. Includes rare photographs and facsimiles of correspondence between Minc and Leon Sedov.