Folks-Ligue

The Jewish People's League in Mexico (Yiddish: אידישע פאָלקס ליגע אין מעקסיקא, Idishe Folks-Ligue in Meksike, popularly known as Folks-Ligue, Spanish: Liga Popular Israelita de México) was a communist Jewish organization in Mexico.[1] The organization was founded by members of Gezbir in 1942, in response to the German invasion of the Soviet Union.[2][3] Initially the name of the organization was Jewish League to Help the Soviet Union (Yiddish: אידישע ליגע פארן סאוועטן פארבאנד, Idishe Ligue farn Sovetn Farband, Spanish: Liga Israelita pro Ayuda a la Unión Soviética, abbreviated LIPAUS).[2][4] It was commonly known as Di Ligue in the Jewish community.[5][6] The organization had good relationship with the Jewish Central Committee of Mexico, as several members of Di Ligue were also part of the Central Committee.[7] Di Ligue organized bazaars for fundraising to support Soviet orphans and families affected by the war.[4] Di Ligue published the newspaper Fraivelt ('Free World').[5]

In January 1945 the name was changed to Idishe Folks-Ligue, a move that indicated the organization would be open to Jews of different political tendencies.[3][6] At the time the communists sought to broaden their base in the struggle against fascism. Mordkhe Korona, a Zionist, was the chairman of the organization during this period.[3] The Fraivelt editor Boris Rosen represented Folks-Ligue in the Jewish Central Committee.[5]

Representatives of the Jewish Central Committee, World Jewish Congress, Nidkhei Israel Congregation, the United Zionist Organization and Histadrut participated in the inaugural ceremony of Folks-Ligue at its new office on Paseo de la Reforma 503 on January 21, 1945.[3] The Soviet ambassador Konstantin Umansky held a speech at the meeting (his last public speech before his death).[3] Portraits of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Mexican president Manuel Ávila Camacho decorated the meeting hall. During this period three flags were displayed at Folks-Ligue meetings; the Mexican, Soviet and Zionist, and the Hatikva was played alongside Mexican and Soviet national anthems at ceremonies of the movement.[3]

Artist Fanny Rabel had her first exhibition at the Folks-Ligue office in 1945. Frida Kahlo wrote the presentation for the exhibition of twenty four oils, thirteen drawings and eight engravings.[8][9]

After the end of the Second World War, the influence of Folks-Ligue declined sharply as European Jewish refugees began leaving Mexico.[3] The organization pulled out of the Jewish Central Committee, in response to Zionist hegemony in that body.[2] As of the 1950s the office of Folks-Ligue was located at Pino Suarez, 27.[10]

  1. ^ Cimet de Singer, Adina. Ashkenazi Jews in Mexico: Ideologies in the Structuring of a Community. Albany, NY: State Univ. of New York Pr, 1997. p. 99
  2. ^ a b c Backal, Alicia G. de. Generaciones judías en México: la Kehilá Ashkenazi, 1922-1992. México, D.F.: Comunidad Ashkenazí de México, 1993. pp. 29, 69, 137
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Cimet-Singer, Adina. The Last Battles of Old-World Ideologies in the Race for Identity and Communal Power: Communists vs. Bundists vs. Zionists in Mexico, 1938-1951
  4. ^ a b Cañadas García, Teresa. LA HUELLA DE LA CULTURA EN LENGUA ALEMANA EN MÉXICO A PARTIR DEL EXILIO DE 1939-1945
  5. ^ a b c UNESCO. MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER - Collection of the Center of Documentation and Investigation of the Ashkenazi Community in Mexico (16th to 20th Century) (Mexico)
  6. ^ a b Gurvich Peretzman, Natalia. La memoria rescatada: la izquierda judía en México: Fraiwelt y La Liga Popular Israelita 1942 - 1946. México: Univ. Iberoamericana, 2004. pp. 42, 49
  7. ^ Goldsmith, Shulamit, and Natalia Gurvich Peretzman. Sobre el judaísmo mexicano: diversas expresiones de activismo comunitario. México, D.F.: UIA, Departamento de Historia, Programa de Cultura Judaica, 2009. p. 246
  8. ^ Merry MacMasters (November 27, 2008). "Murió la pintora Fanny Rabel, alumna de Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo" [Painter Fanny Rabel diez, student of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo]. La Jornada (in Spanish). Mexico City. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  9. ^ Tibol, Raquel (May 20, 2007). "Algo sobre Fanny Rabel" [Something about Fanny Rabel]. La Jornada Semanal (in Spanish). Mexico City. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  10. ^ Federbusch, Simon. World Jewry Today. New York: T. Yoseloff, 1959. p. 87