'Here Where We Live is Our Country' with Molly Crabapple
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In a powerful exploration of forgotten radical history, artist and author Molly Crabapple reveals the story of the Jewish Labor Bund—a democratic socialist movement founded in 1897 that envisioned a future where Jews could thrive not by fleeing Europe, but by building a multi-ethnic, multilingual, socialist democracy within the very lands they had called home for centuries. Unlike Zionism, which sought a Jewish state as a solution to anti-Semitism, the Bund believed racism was not innate but manufactured by elites to divide the working class. Their vision was one of 'here-ness'—a world where Jews could be themselves, speak Yiddish, celebrate their culture, and fight for justice alongside their neighbors, even those who might turn on them. This ideal was tested through pogroms, revolutions, and ultimately the Holocaust, culminating in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, where Bundists, Zionists, and communists united in a desperate last stand. Crabapple argues that the Bund’s defeat was not due to ideological failure, but to historical contingency—particularly the rise of Bolshevism and the Nazi genocide. Yet their legacy lives on in the very idea of pluralist democracy, mutual aid, and the belief that solidarity across difference is not just possible, but essential.
The Jewish Labor Bund believed Jews could thrive in Europe by building a multi-ethnic socialist democracy, not by fleeing to a state.
Bundists rejected Zionism not out of anti-Semitism, but because they saw it as surrendering to the very anti-Semitism they sought to overcome.
The Bund’s core principle was 'here-ness'—the belief that Jews belonged in Eastern Europe and could live freely with dignity alongside others.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was not a military strategy but a moral act: dying with guns in hands, not in gas chambers.
Zionism’s success was not inevitable—it relied on British imperial backing, Soviet arms, and the coercion of Holocaust survivors into military service.
…and 3 more takeaways available in PodZeus
The Power of a Forgotten Vision
Chris Hayes introduces the episode by reflecting on the moment when history and personal meaning converge, setting the stage for a deep dive into the Jewish Labor Bund—a movement that believed in building a future of solidarity and belonging in Eastern Europe, not fleeing to a state.
The Bund’s Founding: A Radical Response to Three Boots
The Bund was born from the triple oppression of Tsarist autocracy, anti-Semitism, and working-class exploitation. Young Jewish Marxists rejected assimilation and nationalism, instead creating a movement rooted in Yiddish culture, class struggle, and universalist humanism.
Bund vs. Zionism: The Ideological War That Never Ended
The Bund and Zionism were mortal enemies from the start. While Zionists saw Europe as irredeemably racist and demanded a state, the Bund believed in transforming Europe through education, contact, and solidarity—proving that anti-Semitism could be overcome.
The Golden Age of the Bund in Interwar Poland
In Poland, the Bund built a thriving alternative society: schools, unions, newspapers, clinics, and a militia. It functioned like the Black Panther Party—organizing, defending, and uplifting a marginalized people within a hostile democracy.
The Tragedy of 1917: When Idealism Met Realpolitik
The Bund’s fatal mistake was supporting Russia’s war effort in WWI, clinging to a misinterpreted Marxist theory. This ideological rigidity allowed Lenin to seize power, leading to the Bolsheviks’ violent consolidation and the Bund’s destruction.
“ghetto uprising was an act of mass suicide by people who knew that they were going to die anyway, who knew that they had no hope whatsoever of a military success, but who wanted to die with guns in their hands and not in a gas chamber.”
“If man is at heart a beast, no amount of running away will help. I mean, they just believed that human solidarity was the only thing that could save us.”
“The reason that the Eshuv survived was because of contingency. It was not because of anything beyond that.”
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jewish labor bund
organization
zionism
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nazism
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poland
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warsaw ghetto
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bolsheviks
organization
palestine
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molly crabapple
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soviet union
organization
chris hayes
person
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