Komuniści przeciw bundowcom. Atak na sanatorium w Miedzeszynie w dniu 12 lutego 1931 roku
Communists against the Bundists. Attack on Medem Sanatorium in Miedzeszyn on February 12, 1931

Summary/Abstract: The program of the Communist International, adopted in 1928, identified the so-called legal left parties as the main opponent of the communists. Joseph Stalin called the social democratic parties "social fascists" and ordered them to be combated by all available methods. The General Jewish Workers' Union Bund and all social and cultural organizations under its influence were also considered enemies of the revolution. The Communist Party of Poland (KPP), as member of the Comintern, was obliged to implement all resolutions of the congresses of the Communist International. Actions against the Bund were carried out by the Central Jewish Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Poland (CBŻ). Armed violence was also used in the political struggle. On February 12, 1931, communists attacked the Medem Sanatorium in Miedzeszyn near Warsaw. This educational and clinical facility for children and young adults at risk of tuberculosis was the pride of Jewish socialists. The communists smashed the windows in buildings, destroyed technical equipment and mauled staff. Firearms were used during the attack. There were wounded on both sides. The incident triggered a quick response from the police, who were just waiting for it. Several dozen perpetrators were arrested and brought to court. Information about the attack shocked the working class of Warsaw and aroused hostility towards the communists. The press reported these shocking events in detail. Some CBŻ activists considered the direction of political action set by the Comintern to be wrong and the violent methods to be inappropriate and ineffective. Opposition groups, including Trotskyists, began to emerge inside the KPP. Only the 7th Congress of the Comintern, held in 1935, changed the tactics of the revolutionary movement, concluding that "there is no enemy on the left."The events that occurred on February 12, 1931 in the Medem sanatorium in Miedzeszyn were described in "Medem sanatorie buch", published under the editorship of Khayim Shloyme Każdan. The book includes press reports and accounts of participants and witnesses of the events. Two accounts were selected and translated for this article: by Bernard Goldstein and Josef Brumberg.

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