ABSTRACT
The first attempt to set up a Jewish organization in the USSR which would support the struggle against Hitler’s Germany was made by Erlich 1 and Alter, 2 two prominent leaders of the Bund in prewar Poland. Although Erlich and Alter were known to the Bolsheviks, including Stalin, as outspoken critics of Soviet Russia, their involvement in such an organization was welcome, at least during the initial phase of the war.
