Joe Rapoport : the life of a Jewish radical / Kenneth Kann.

Biography written by Kenneth Kann, sourced from interviews and recollections voiced in the first person from the subject, Joe Rapoport.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [263] - 292) and index.

1. Stanislavchik -- 2. War and revolution -- 3. Emigration -- 4. America -- 5. Organizing the unorganized, 1929-34 -- 6. The Soviet Union, 1934 -- 7. United Front 1935-41 -- 8. "Evreiskii Vopros," the Jewish question -- 9. Jewish chicken ranchers and the Cold War -- 10. Travels in 1963: the Soviet Union, Israel, Brazil -- 11. The struggle continues.

"Joe Rapoport's experiences span the past half-century of American radicalism from the trade union movement to the protests against the war in Vietnam. Through the author, Joe tells the story of his life - growing up in the shtetl during the Russian Revolution, emigrating to America in 1920, organizing the knitting trade in New York City during the twenties and thirties, and joining the Jewish chicken ranching community in Petaluma, California, where he and his wife Sheba live today. During these years, Rapoport had a number of opportunities - a return visit to his village of Stanislavichik in the thirties and a trip in the sixties to the soviet union, Israel, and Brazil - to reflect on American radicalism and Judaism and their relationship to international events. Joe's inner struggle over how a Jew who believes in social justice should understand Israel, Palestine, and the Soviet Union is one of the most interesting sections of the book. Most other accounts of the American left wing have focused on leaders and party intrigues. This is one of the very few accounts of the labor movement from the viewpoint of rank and file, and it is one that provides a rare glimpse of the relationship between Yiddish culture and politics." - From book jacket.