Borochowicz, Elly Breucker, 1902-1989.

Elly Breucker Borochowicz and her husband Leo Borochowicz (1900-53) worked, under the direction of militant anti-communist Jay Lovestone, for the Free Trade Union Committee of the American Federation of Labor, and later for the International Affairs Department of the AFL-CIO. Refugees from fascism, both received U.S. visas in 1941 with the aid of Lovestone. Elly received a Ph.D. in sociology in 1927 in her native Germany, while Leo, born in Poland, studied economics and history in Berlin. Both worked as researchers and educators, frequently on behalf of the labor movement, in Europe and the U.S. before settling at the AFL around the end of World War II.

From the description of Papers, 1913-1985. 1942-1984 (bulk). (New York University). WorldCat record id: 477247485

Elly Breucker Borochowicz (1902-1989) was born into a middle class family in Oberhausen, Germany. Her father was building contractor. While little is known of Borochowicz's childhood years, her personal papers reveal a great deal about her life during and after her student years. Borochowicz's education reflects her intellectual tendencies and her linguistic talents. An interest in modern history particularly labor and women's history is evident throughout Borochowicz's career, and a proper understanding of her papers necessitates a knowledge of her education and intellectual background.

Elly Borochowicz received her formal education in Germany. After completing her studies at a teacher s college in 1923, she continued her education at the Universities of Freiburg and Cologne. In 1927, she received her Phd in Sociology. The scope of Borochowicz's studies and her linguistic abilities reveal her as a Renaissance woman. Her university studies included majors in German philology, modern history and sociology. She minored in philosophy and economics. Borochowicz was fluent in English, German, and French. She read Spanish as well. From 1928 1931, Borochowicz taught German philology at the high school and college levels. In these years, she also conducted philological studies of modern German novelists. From 1931 to 1932, she gave lectures on topics in history, sociology, and economics at the People's University in Essen and the Labor Councils in the Ruhr district. In 1932, Borochowicz began work as a researcher at the publishing house Soziologische Verlagsanstalt. It is probable that she met Leo Borochowicz, her husband to be, at this time. He too began employment with Soziologische Verlagsanstalt in 1933. Elly and Leo Borochowicz probably married in 1933 when the two, because of the Nazis' rise to power fled together to Paris, France. In Paris, Elly Borochowicz taught German privately. In addition, both she and her husband did research and wrote for the Institute of Social Research in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1941, the couple received visas to the United States through the help of Jay Lovestone; they moved to New York City in that year. Elly and Leo Borochowicz shared their exile in France. Both were avid researchers and keen observers of social movements. Their personal papers portray a couple both very devoted to their work and very devoted to each other.

Elly Borochowicz's activities in New York from 1941 to 1953 are sketchy. Until 1942, she continued work on a manuscript she had begun in 1932 concerning Germany between 1918 1920. Her manuscript was never published although sections of it may have been published in a collection. Whether or not portions of her manuscript appeared in editions on German history remains unclear. She gave lectures on Nazi Germany at Cedar Crest College for Women in Pennsylvania. Given her pursuits in Europe before 1940 and her work for the International Department of the AFL CIO after 1953, it seems likely that these early years in New York were spent on her own research, teaching, translating, and helping her husband in his work.

Leo Borochowicz (1900 1953) was born in Poland. He studied economics and modern history at Berlin University from 1918 1922. Leo Borochowicz was fluent in English, French, German, Polish and Russian. He worked in Germany as a researcher and translator until 1933 when he began work at the Soziologische Verlagsanstalt. In his Curriculum Vitae, Borochowicz wrote "[w1hile in Germany and later in France followed closely the development of the trade union movement and assisted German trade unionists engaged in underground work against the Hitler regime by conveying information material on international labor problems to them." In New York, Leo Borochowicz worked as a researcher in Modern Russian history and for the Secretary General of the Yearbook of Human Rights sponsored by the United Nations (UN). Sometime in the mid 1940s clearly by 1947 Leo began work for the Free Trade Union Committee (FTUC) of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). As a FTUC worker, he monitored political developments in Germany and developments within the German Trade Unions. He wrote reports for the FTUC and worked as an editor on the Free Trade Union News (FTUN), a paper focusing on international labor published first under the auspices of the FTUC and later under the International Affairs Department of the AFL. The FTUN appeared in English, Spanish, German and French. Leo Borochowicz died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1953. Before his death, there is among the English materials in this collection no indication that Elly Borochowicz was in the employ of the FTUC. Following her husband's death, however, she seems to have assumed his responsibilities.

Elly Borochowicz helped publish the FTUN. She translated letters for Jay Lovestone and did research work for the FTUC. When Jay Lovestone nominally resigned his position at the International Affairs Department at the AFL CIO in 1974, Elly seems to have left her post as well. She continued, however, to advice those publishing the FTUN; she translated documents for the International Affairs Department as well. Elly also continued her work as a researcher for Jay Lovestone who had begun work as a consultant in international affairs for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU).

Elly and Leo Borochowicz were fascinating individuals in their own right. Both individuals had a deep commitment to the international labor movement. Much of the interest in this collection, however, stems from their work for Jay Lovestone and their involvement in the FTUC and later the International Affairs Department of the AFL CIO. Jay Lovestone had been a leader of the Communist Party of the United States and was ousted as General Secretary of the American Party on Joseph Stalin's orders. A dissident communist from 1929 through the 1930's, Lovestone had become a vehement anti Communist by World War II (WWII). Lovestone is best known for his work as the Director of the International Affairs Department of the AFL CIO where he pursued an unswervingly hardline anti Communist road.

A brief sketch of the FTUC and the International Affairs Department will illuminate the present collection, over half of which pertains to the activities of Jay Lovestone, the FTUC, and, later, the International Affairs Department of the AFL CIO. Relations between the Allied nations particularly between the United States and Russia were anything but smooth as World War II (WWII) drew to a close, and a corresponding antagonism evolved between the American and Soviet trade union movements. It was the conviction of David Dubinsky, who had been vice president of the AFL in 1945, William Green, who was active in international affairs for the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), and George Meany, who was, in 1944, the Secretary Treasurer of the AFL, that the Soviets tried to infiltrate Western Europe through trade unions. To counter any Communist threat, these three men helped found the FTUC in 1944. They appointed Jay Lovestone as the FTUC's Executive Secretary. The history, organizational structure, and pursuits of the FTUC and later the International Affairs Department of the AFL CIO remain elusive. There are no organizational charts and there is no clear statement of the concrete activities of this arm of the AFL CIO. The FTUC was under the direction of the AFL. The people who worked for the FTUC were accountable to the Executive Council of the AFL. In 1955, with the merger of the AFL CIO, the FTUC was suspended. Its work, however, continued and flourished in the International Affairs Department of the AFL CIO with Jay Lovestone as the Director of that department. The tasks of the FTUC and later the International Affairs Department were to monitor labor developments in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa, develop contacts with union leaders throughout the world, take a leading role in the work of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), counter propaganda of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), monitor foreign press coverage of labor issues, and educate and inform foreign workers about working conditions in the United States and the trade unions in the United States.

From the guide to the Elly Borochowicz Papers, Bulk, 1942-1985, 1913-1985, (Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive)