Stumbled upon an old FB comment by philologist Kirill Ospovat. He wrote:
"Grandfather of mine was invited to Lubyanka [the KGB HQ] once to give lectures on Latin American literature. He did not dare to refuse, so he came and began lecturing. He started with biographies: "co-operated with the local communist party" and so on. A senior officer in the audience politely interrupted: "Lev Samoilovich, you can leave that out, this we already know".
Today in Labor History August 31, 1919: John Reed and others formed the Communist Labor Party of America in Chicago. The party evolved into the American Communist Party. Reed was a journalist and communist activist who extensively covered World War I. He was most famous for his coverage of the Russian Revolution and his book, “Ten Days That Shook the World.” He died in Moscow in 1920 from typhus. They gave him a hero’s welcome and buried him in Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Only two other American were given this honor: Big Bill Haywood, a founding member of the IWW, and C.E. Ruthenberg, founder of the Communist Party USA.
John Dos Passos included a short biography of him in his “U.S.A.” trilogy. Uptain Sinclair called him the Revolution’s Playboy, elements of which can be seen in Warren Beaty’s portrayal of Reed in the film, “Reds.” Sergei Eisenstein made a film version of “Ten Days That Shook the World” in 1927.
Today in Labor History August 19, 1920: A peasant insurrection began in Tambov, USSR, over the confiscation of their grain. Led by Alexander Antonov, a former official of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, the Green Army uprising evolved into a guerrilla war against the Red Army, Cheka Units and the Soviet authorities. The Bolsheviks finally suppressed the revolt in June, 1921. 240,000 died in the rebellion and over 50,000 were imprisoned. They also used chemical weapons on the peasants. Dissident writer, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, wrote about it in a short story in his book, “Apricot Jam and other Stories,” (2010).
Today in Labor History August 15, 1918: The American 27th Infantry landed in Vladivostok to join a Japanese-initiated attack against Bolshevist forces. The soldiers suffered from problems with fuel, ammunition, supplies, and food. Their horses, used to temperate climates, couldn’t function in sub-zero Russia. And their water-cooled machine guns froze and became useless. During their 19 months in Siberia, 189 U.S. soldiers died.
Upton Sinclair referenced the Siberian expedition in his novel “Oil!” and blamed capitalist motives for the intervention.
Today in Labor History August 12, 1952: The Soviet authorities murdered 13 prominent Jewish intellectuals and writers in the Night of the Murdered Poets. All were members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, which fought for the USSR against Nazi Germany. They were falsely accused of espionage and treason, and then imprisoned, tortured, and isolated for three years before being formally charged.