August 23 marks the 80th anniversary of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (also known as the Hitler-Stalin Pact) between the then-socialist Soviet Union and Hitler’s Nazi Germany, on the eve of World War II. This was a non-aggression treaty, not an alliance, as the anti-communist capitalist historians want us to believe. The Soviets needed to buy time to build up their military and industrial capabilities before they could take on the German fascists. Not only did the Soviet Red Army take on the Nazis, they smashed them, driving them all the way back to Berlin. 80 percent of German casualties in World War II were at the hands of the Soviet forces. But this victory came at a political cost as the communists promoted the nationalist idea of “defending the motherland” instead of inspiring and organizing workers everywhere to rise up against the Nazis and all capitalists.
Pre-World War II period
The capitalist bosses lie about this treaty because it exposes their own loyalty to fascism.During the 1930s, Britain, France, and the U.S., desperate to crush the first workers’ state that they had failed to do in their onslaught after the Bolshevik Revolution, encouraged Hitler to move East to attack the Soviet Union. They allowed him to take back the Rhineland, a region of Germany that had been occupied by the U.S., France, Belgium and Britain as a result of Germany’s defeat in World War I; to build up Germany’s military in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I; and to incorporate Austria as part of Germany. In the 1938 “Munich Agreement,” the British and French gave Germany more of what it wanted, the most industrialized part of Czechoslovakia, in a brazen attempt to aim the Nazis toward the Soviet Union and hold off war in Western Europe.
In 1939, the Soviets tried to get Britain, France, and Poland to agree to a mutual defense treaty against Hitler. Britain was reluctant; its negotiators were sent to Moscow on a slow boat, instructed to drag out the talks, and given no authorization to sign anything. The French also did nothing. The Soviets got the message – the Allies wanted Hitler to smash the USSR, headquarters of the world communist movement that the capitalists of the world hated far more than they hated Hitler.
All the while, the USSR was at war with Japan, which had attacked it from Mongolia at Khalkhin Gol in May 1939. This was clearly a Japanese probe to test the strength of the Soviet Far Eastern Army. Without a temporary treaty with Germany, the USSR might have faced two wars at the same time. But by early September 1939, Japanese forces were defeated.
Meanwhile, Hitler wanted to conquer Poland without worrying about the Soviet Red Army. He rightly guessed that Britain and France would not fight.On August 23, 1939, the USSR and Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. On August 25, Britain signed a treaty with Poland promising to go to war if Germany attacked it (France and Poland later signed a similar agreement).
World War II begins
On September 1, 1939, Hitler’s armies attacked Poland. On September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany. From September 1939 to May 1940, the “Phony War” took place with no large-scale military land operations. The Western capitalists were signaling Hitler that they still wanted him to “move eastward” against the Soviets.
Communist led workers defeated the Nazis
Tactically, the Pact was of some help in defeating Hitler. It temporarily kept Hitler’s armies 300 miles from the Soviet border. When the war started in September, Leningrad and Moscow, two centers of Soviet industry and political strength, were that much further from the Nazi armies. But it was the heroic workers of Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad and throughout the USSR that defeated the Nazis. Just think of what an inspired and organized working class throughout Europe and the world could have accomplished.
The treacherous Western Allies were hoping that Hitler would conquer the Soviet Union defeating the world’s first workers state. Today they rewrite history saying the Soviets invaded Poland after dividing it up with the Germans. Not true. The Germans invaded, the fascist Polish army provided little resistance, and the Polish government fled to Rumania. Quickly the Germans declared that the Polish government was no longer in control of the country and therefore the Polish state no longer existed. That meant that the secret “sphere of influence” clause in the Pact was no longer valid. Hitler ordered the German army to help form a fascist Ukrainian state in former Eastern Poland. The Soviets sent in the Red Army to keep the Nazi army away from their border by occupying those parts of Poland that had been seized from Soviet Russia by imperialist Poland in 1921.
Everyone – Soviets, Germans, and the Western powers – assumed that the Polish government would make peace with Hitler and then form a buffer state that, no matter how anti-Soviet, would also be anti-German. But the Polish government did not form a so-called government-in-exile. “Their own” ruling class abandoned the Polish working class to Hitler’s Nazis, who proceeded to murder several million of them.
Reject nationalism, fight for communism!
It is in the interest of workers around the world to get to the truth behind historical events. Our working class worldview allows us to develop our revolutionary communist ideas. We can’t depend on the rulers to do this for us, as they do in our schools, because their “truth” is always based on their class interest, and therefore lies. When the working class controls all aspects of society, then we will tell the class history of humanity.
From the standpoint of the USSR, the treaty was a delaying tactic, as the Soviets prepared for the German attack. Progressive Labor Party criticizes this treaty as the Soviets succumbing to nationalism and prioritizing the “defense of the motherland” instead of building the international communist movement. In spite of their weaknesses the Soviet communists, with a monumentally heroic effort, defeated the Nazis. We must learn from their strengths and weaknesses as the imperialist powers once again are headed toward world war. Say no to nationalism. Workers of the world unite! Fight for communism!
Further Reading: Pages of articles and evidence at tinyurl.com/furr-mlg09 ; Grover Furr, Blood Lies (2014), Chapters 7-8.
NEW YORK CITY, July 24—When Eric Garner fought for his life five years ago, saying “I can’t breathe” 11 times before dying in a chokehold captured on video, outrage at this racist cop murder exploded in an outpouring of militant multiracial demonstrations that shut cities down.
Eric Holder, Obama’s do-nothing attorney general, refused to pursue a federal civil rights charge against Daniel Pantaleo, Garner’s killer. This has now resulted in no punishment for this fiend. Meanwhile liberal mayor Bill de Blasio refuses to meet the Garner family’s demand to fire Pantaleo.
Garner’s mother, sister and others have called for eleven days of outrage in the wake of the federal decision, and Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members were there on the first day’s rally. At points, marchers around us picked up PL-led chants like “If we don’t get it, shut it down!” and kept them going through the crowd. “I can’t breathe!” choked the streets of lower Manhattan, as hundreds demanded the imprisonment of Pantaleo.
PLP’s presence and CHALLENGE was also felt at a gathering organized by the Garner family the Saturday before the federal no-indictment decision, which brought together mothers of 24 Black youth slain by the police. At this intergenerational event CHALLENGE was welcomed by Garner’s mother and multiracial unity in the struggle for justice was emphasized by his sister.
NYPD rotten to the core
Each time one of these police is cleared of wrongdoing the political message is crystal clear—brutality and wanton murder is not an aberration or a mistake, but an essential function of policing in racist, capitalist United States. Pantaleo walks free. Of course, Pantaleo has a pattern of abuse: “Pantaleo was previously accused of false arrest and violating police procedures in two lawsuits, according to court records…In one lawsuit, two Black plaintiffs each won $15,000 after claiming they’d been falsely arrested in 2012 and forced to publicly strip for a search” (Vox, 7/14/2015). Similarly, Black NYPD cop “Bad Boy” Phillip Atkins who killed Shantel Davis caused over $200,000 in excessive force settlements to be paid out before he took her life.
Though a rash of high-profile racist police murders marked the tenure of Amerikkka’s first Black president not a single cop was punished by Obama’s so-called ‘Justice’ Department.
Violent nature of capitalism
Families like the Garner, Livingston, West, Davis and more fighting for justice over many years are positioned to see clearly a lesson the entire working class must absorb: elections do not change the basic violent, racist and anti-worker nature of capitalist state power.
It is up to PLP to organize these families and many millions more into a movement to smash that state power in a multiracial communist revolution that will forever abolish racist police murder.
CHICAGO, July 17 – Workers from Mount Sinai Hospital continue to sharpen the class struggle against their racist and sexist bosses. Today, a multiracial delegation of workers, including comrades from Progressive Labor Party (PLP), marched in the building to interrupt the hospital bosses’ phony “town hall” meeting.
By taking the offensive and regularly engaging in bold direct actions, we are collectively deepening our understanding of our power as a united working class. Those of us in PLP are proud to be giving and receiving leadership from our class sisters and brothers in this struggle for an improved worker and patient environment.
With each step forward, we push the call for a communist society–one without racism, sexism, borders, exploitation or profits–as the only real solution to overcome the failures of capitalism and build the egalitarian world that we truly need and deserve.
Class struggle at Sinai
Mount Sinai is a community hospital in the mostly-Black North Lawndale neighborhood on the city’s west side. It is a safety-net hospital, meaning that the majority of the patients served there are uninsured or underinsured workers and their families. The overwhelming majority of these patients are Black and Latin immigrant workers, and the staff is primarily Black, Latin, and Asian women.
The racist and sexist hospital bosses prioritize their money and profits over the well-being of the workers and patients. They routinely understaff departments in the name of “productivity” and neglect broken equipment and building repairs until the problems become too big to ignore. They regularly use intimidation and harassment against workers who speak up against them or make demands for better conditions.
But the hospital workers have not been taking these capitalist attacks lying down. In recent months, they have been engaging in direct actions against the bosses, many of which are organized through the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) healthcare local. These include marching on the bosses (see CHALLENGE 6/26) as well as holding a mass rally in front of the hospital on Juneteenth, tracing the racist legacy of capitalism from the era of chattel slavery to the present day.
The workers who are already formally recognized by the union, including nurse aides, dietary staff, and housekeepers just recently had their contract expire, and during recent negotiation sessions the bosses have only offered a pathetic 1.5 percent wage increase. On June 6th, the hospital nurses presented the bosses with a majority of signed cards stating that they too wanted to be official union members, a demand that was quickly shot down.
Learning of the nurses’ desire to become unionized sent the bosses into panic mode. They quickly brought in union-busting consultants and launched a counter-campaign of misinformation and manipulation. They systematically pulled nurses into one-on-one meetings with managers. The new chief operating officer (COO), Airica Steed, has released a series of insincere letters, using identity politics and elitism to confuse and mislead nurses from uniting with other workers. They have hosted luncheons, a monthly system-wide town hall meeting, and even a ridiculous “transformation hotline” to try to convince workers that they suddenly care about the racist, sexist, and anti-worker conditions in the hospital.
Don’t take a racist attack sitting down
But the working class is smart, and the majority of the workers see through their crap. We remain committed to the fight! So with this in mind, a PL comrade made the suggestion that for the town hall scheduled on this day, we sharpen the struggle by marching as a delegation to the event, delivering a petition of unity signed by hundreds of Sinai workers, and putting the bosses on the spot.
Over a dozen of us, multiracial women and men workers, entered the main hospital auditorium as the bosses babbled on near the front stage. A few corporate stooges and security tried to usher us into seats, but we collectively insisted on remaining together, facing the bosses in a show of defiance.
When the bosses paused to address the audience for questions, a comrade raised his hand and our group marched closer to the front of the stage. The comrade took the microphone, handed the COO the petitions and reinforced the demand that the bosses recognize the nurses as part of the union and that they stop disrespecting workers both on the job and at the negotiation table. Another comrade then took the microphone and sharply scolded the bosses, in front of over a hundred people, to end their campaign of wasting resources and dividing workers.
The bosses stuttered and quickly gave a meek response, barely addressing the statements made. We then marched out of the auditorium as a group, noting the smiles and raised thumbs given to us by our coworkers along the way.
Communist revolution must be the goal
As satisfying as this action was, we know as communists that the core of our struggle is to connect, bold, anti-racist fightback with revolutionary communist politics. Each time we push the limits with our fellow workers, we must be winning more of them to the reality that we need to ultimately run society after destroying capitalism by means of a mass international PLP.
We are making modest gains. More of our coworkers are getting CHALLENGE and some are coming to marches and study groups. We are ready for the next steps of this struggle, shoulder to shoulder with the working class!J
- Information
2019 Summer Project: ‘Inspired to be a better communist’
- Information
- 27 July 2019 225 hits
The following letters are from the Summer Project in Texas organized about the Mexico-U.S. border and anti-immigrant racism (see CHALLENGE, 7/24).
This year marks the fifth summer project I attended, and it was by far the most sobering, transformative, and politically enriching one yet. I had both the misfortune and opportunity of being an eyewitness to the bosses’ monstrous border crisis, and the suffering they’ve inflictied on our working class brothers and sisters, when I volunteered at a migrant shelter. I was awestruck and inspired by the resilience of my fellow workers who made the incredibly dangerous and arduous journey from all corners of the continent, from Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, and Venezuela.
It was a crash course in becoming a better communist and developing leadership. I got to see the dangers of liberalism’s push for rainbow fascism up close and personal at a rally at Carrizo Springs. Selling CHALLENGE in Laredo, just steps away from the border, was a reminder of the importance of our work for CHALLENGE newspaper, not only a weapon against the bosses’ toxic ideology but as a tool for sharpening ourselves, as we struggle for the best political line that puts forth the truest reflection of the working class. The eagerness from workers to receive our message reaffirmed this, and helped me overcome my cynicism and further built my confidence in the working class.
Best of all, the time I spent with my comrades growing, singing, laughing, learning, and sharing our ideas and visions for a communist future These moments were glimmers of hope for me, and provided a much needed contrast to the tragedies I witnessed in Texas. This trip taught me that only workers armed with communist politics and values have the power to turn the dark nights we’re currently living in into brighter days. Long live communism!
*****
I recently participated in the summer project and it has left me inspired to build the Party. We were hosted by comrades based in Texas. Their cohesion made me realize I ought to take greater advantage of my capacity to be bolder in my basebuilding. The impetus to build the Party also came as a result of impressions left from the various study groups and experiences in working collectively.
During our stay, we learned about the history of inter-imperialist rivalry that has led to the border crisis, as well as about locally relevant issues such as abusive labor practices and the socioeconomic effects of NAFTA. We also hosted a forum discussing how liberal fascism poses a greater threat to workers than blatant right wing racism. It was interesting to learn concrete information about how exactly liberal misleaders such as then-U.S.-president Obama and Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador have paved the way for anti-migrant policies. The necessity to build PLP is clear. If we don’t, the bosses and their minions will continue to exploit workers’ feelings of hopelessness and to redirect any sense of spirit towards dead ends such as electoral politics.
Exercises in working collectively demonstrated that we have progress to make, but successful application of Party principles is our greatest tool in resolving conflict and staying unified. Activities such as collectively cooking is one of the highlights of any summer project, as it is the taste of communism. Working collectively, however, can have its drawbacks since we are conditioned against it by this society.
In collectively producing a leaflet while on this trip, we ran into one such conflict, where a political criticism was raised, but in a non-productive way. Emotions ran high for all involved, but through diligent application of criticism/self-criticism we were able to reach a resolution. We learned more about how to struggle with each other. My main take-away was that I need to try to take greater leadership. Having witnessed a migrant shelter and having gained all this confidence in the line, it now feels more like a duty of pride, already filling me with excitement for next year’s May Day!
*****
I am a high school student from Brooklyn. On the Summer Project, we focused on the undocumented immigrants crossing the border. The most impactful experience I had was going to volunteer at a resource center that gave undocumented immigrants a shelter and food until their buses came and took them to wherever their family or friends were in the United States. I speak only some Spanish, but still attempted to make conversation.
I met a father and his son coming from Honduras. The boy told me all about his interests in school and his admiration for making things from scratch. He took a bracelet that he made off of his wrist and put it onto mine. This was one of the most amazing and heartbreaking feelings I have ever experienced. It shows how dehumanized this 13-year-old boy was during the process of seeking asylum. It took only 15 minutes of a genuine interest in getting to know him for him to feel as though he owed something to me.
Seeing stories about how terribly these innocent people are treated is less impactful than just seen through a T.V or phone screen. When meeting them in person, you become so much more empathetic with them and more angry with the system for treating people so horribly. The Summer Project was so enlightening and I am so glad I went on it. It has motivated me to continue to fight for the international working class!
*****
PL’ers and comrades came from all parts, LA, Chicago, NY, NJ, and Puerto Rico to visit a migrant shelter to give aid to our fellow workers who made the perilous journey of crossing the border.
Our fellow workers made the journey from Honduras, Haiti, Venezuela, and even the Democratic Republic of Congo. Despite the brutish conditions our brothers and sisters had to face to cross the U.S border, they were still able to be resolute, along with smiles and playfulness. Comrades dove in to help families at the shelter with whatever was needed without hesitation. Handing out toiletries, a change of clothes, using their electronics to allow families to communicate with their loved ones, and the list could go on. The relief work provided by comrades was necessary, but we also clearly recognize that the conditions that the families endured, many refugees, and migrants all over the world is no accident. And that these same conditions will continue as long as the decrepit system of capitalism exists.
The liberal bosses narrow down the conversation of the border crisis as more “human treatment” of migrants coming into the U.S, but ultimately will have them become mindless cogs numb to super exploitation. The Republican wing of U.S bosses are overt in their racism, and sexism towards our fellow workers, but favor U.S companies reaping maximum profit and working us to bone abroad. We as communists, saw first hand, in the migrant shelters the direct effect of U.S imperialism, and the violence it imposes upon our class. Making us flee from homes, and leave all we know behind. But the working class will answer the bosses’ violence with revolutionary violence, smashing borders, sexism, racism, imperialism, and put an end to capitalism. Only a communist society can give peace and empowerment to the working class.
*****
While attempting to distribute food and water to immigrant workers in a Greyhound bus station, we were denied total access to awaiting passengers and were told to exit the premises immediately. A comrade stalled the manager of the station and its security guard while we modified our plans. Comrades less fluent in Spanish were accompanied by a stronger fluent Spanish speaker. We decided to give out food and leaflets with CHALLENGE. We effectively realized our plans and managed to talk to many people around the bus station.
A Black man that I had given literature to returned and began a healthy debate. We briefly discussed topics on racism, ethics, moral values, economics, incarceration and communism. He seemed insistent on talking with me on how successful Trump has been as a president. We debated about this for twenty minutes. He claimed he was not a Trump supporter. He said, “Mexicans don’t have the right to receive benefits when they move here.” He claimed, “hard work should be praised, not dependency.” He also stated that workers from other countries should feel happy that they could work at U.S. factories or businesses because they make more money than working for local institutions.
What I got from this interaction is that workers are willing to exchange ideas and debate solutions. He did not flinch when he learned that the leaflet and newspaper was communist. I was a bit surprised that he seemed comfortable talking with a communist like me. This goes to show that even our expectations may be on the side of error at times.
*****
As one of our comrades pointed out, there were posters saying “keep families together” and “stop the separation” but not enough posters saying shut the detention centers not end racist deportation. To make matters worse the center is placed near a racist Japanese internment camp. But none of the protesters mentioned this. Instead they wanted to sing This Little Light of Mine to “bring hope into the children’s hearts.” Hearing people older than me think this was a solution was nothing but disturbing.
But by the help of some rebel protesters screaming “WHY” and the PLP, we stopped the nonsense and turned the protest from standing around and holding hands to actually pointing out the problem: capitalism. The rally showed that even though most of the protesters were liberals, many of them agreed with the fact that this system isn’t working. We sang a pro-communist song called The Internationale. Almost all the protesters gathered and cheered and of many of them were following our chants.
Not even thirty minutes passed when guards began lining up, making sure we wouldn’t march to the gates. They began towing away the protesters’ cars. We were a small group. The fact that they needed to intimidate us with their force showed that they were scared. It showed me that we might have a long way to go before we start some real change, but we are not too far from it.
*****
TRENTON, NJ—When members and friends of Progressive Labor Party and Cosecha arrived at the state capitol building, about 100 people on the left side of the courtyard were holding signs in support of driving licenses for undocumented workers.
Two immigrant women workers denounced the fact that Democrats starting with Governor Phil Murphy are manipulating the votes of antiracist workers by promising this reform while campaigning, but refusing to hold an antiracist line while in office. The fight for licenses reveals a division between the oppressors and a danger of growing fascism. However, it also reveals opportunity to expose the bosses and build a movement without borders and pass laws: communism.
Driver license fight between two sets of fascists
In 2005, the federal government passed the Real ID Act, which imposed ironclad requirements for getting a driver’s license (see below). Many undocumented immigrants then did not have the necessary documents to renew or get a new license. This then leads to the threat of deportation over simple traffic infractions by bringing the undocumented immigrants to ICE’s attention. This June a law allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses passed the New York Assembly. In the meantime, workers in a couple of other states like New Jersey are being mobilized around similar reforms throughout the U.S. by mass organizations like Cosecha. The different attitudes towards immigrants by politicians represent fighting within the capitalist class. One set of bosses, represented by Donald Trump and his senior adviser Stephen Miller, are concerned about issues affecting their short-term profits. Their caging of children is exciting their mostly racist white working-class base.
On the other hand there is a set of liberal bosses that still worry about the U.S. being the main superpower in the world (see editorial, page 2). They know in order for that to happen they will need a much larger multiracial army. In order to do that they must convince Black and Latin workers that capitalism and these bosses care about them. The driver’s license is one way of doing that.
The pass laws
Notably, in 2005 when the Bush administration signed into law the $82 billion military fund to slaughtering workers in Iraq and Afghanistan, they also incorporated what is known as the REAL ID Act. By 2020, all state identification cards will need to meet this standard to get on a domestic flight or federal facilities, including military bases. Not only do these identification cards enable a central way to track biodata of workers, it also differentiates which cardholder is a citizen, a “lawful” resident, or a “temporary” person with a corresponding symbol at the on the top right corner of the card. This system then effectively creates two classes of identification systems—one for documented and one undocumented workers. This demonstrates how the liberal bosses are building a wider base for fascism.
CHALLENGE, a tool for class-consciousness
CHALLENGE continues to make a difference with more than 30 workers taking these revolutionary working-class ideas into their hands. Communist ideas continue to have a growing impact among workers, as one person at Cosecha acknowledges that reading passages from CHALLENGE helped her realize that the fight of workers extends far beyond this reform organization.
After the speeches, our Cosecha group moved into the statehouse. Once past the checkpoint, we went downstairs and chanted in the hallways through which politicians were walking back and forth to their meetings. Though security pushed us into to a confined area, but we were still able to make our presence known to the politicians when they were in our sights. Chants included, “Licenses Yes, Promises No!” as we gave the politicians pamphlets. Some faked being supportive and others didn’t care and kept moving through the crowd.
Which side are the politicians on?
Then, we moved upstairs into the chamber where the politicians vote. In the hallway leading to the chamber were paintings of rich white capitalist politicians throughout history. Their portraits amplified the oppression we already felt. While in the chambers, two protesters defiantly revealed a banner in support of the driving licenses. Some workers revealed posters, and still other workers began to chant against the politicians. Soon after, the workers were kicked out. This revealed the true colors of the politicians.When asked what lessons she could share with other workers who read CHALLENGE, an immigrant leader on the front lines of the reform shared the following:
Bosses and politicians have a lot in common. Politicians pretend to advocate for our rights, which ultimately they only grant when it serves their interests. Both use similar tactics to dominate us. While we labor without fighting back, okay with the little that they give us, the bosses will keep treating us the same. We must realize bosses need us. If we all refuse to work for them, they will be forced to see they need us. When the working class rises up the politicians lose control. They get upset because they are losing domination over us. This is the same with bosses. Learning that fear is the only thing that prevents us from fighting back is important. I have realized that I have the strength to struggle with other workers to fight back. That is how all struggle starts. With knowing that fear has not allowed us to fight back, and having the courage to take leadership in inspiring other workers to rise up against all of our suffering.
Communists in PLP agree. The suffering we feel from bosses is what we call exploitation. The system that maintains this unequal relationship between bosses and workers is capitalism. Regardless of the reforms promoted by one politician or another under this capitalist system, any reform can and is reversed or turned against workers when the conflicts between bosses intensify.
You don’t need a license to join PLP
Communist politics on the other hand means learning from and giving leadership to workers wherever PLP has a presence. We fight to transform any limited reform for a small section of workers into an international working class revolution. This is done by exposing how the competition and division among bosses constantly undermines any benefits gained through reform, drives bosses to find new ways to divide workers, and creates the conditions for workers to unite internationally against our common exploiters. This is what we call organizing for communist revolution! Join the fight!
