Globalizing Doikayt: How the Bund Became Transnational

In contrast to the global dispersion of the post-Second World War Bund, examination of its previous history as a powerful and influential force in Jewish life is usually confined to the former Pale of Settlement. Without disputing its centers of gravity in Russia and Poland, the paper argues for the inclusion also of the effects of migration and transatlantic network-building within this picture. It follows Bundists abroad, exploring how emigrants transnationalized the in practice Bund rather than by design. The article connects the histories of the Bund in Tsarist Russia and independent Poland with those in Argentina, Switzerland, and the United States, highlighting local adaptations as well as the dependency of the Bund “back home” on global network-building. The author argues that only by taking such a transnational perspective we can fully grasp the Bund’s impact on modern Jewish history.