Max Levitas

Max Samuel Levitas (1 June 1915 – 2 November 2018) was an Irish communist activist and antifascist fighter, prominent in the East End of London for many years.

Max Levitas
Max Levitas in 1945
Born(1915-06-01)1 June 1915
Dublin, Ireland
Died2 November 2018(2018-11-02) (aged 103)
Known forParticipant in the Battle of Cable Street
Political partyCommunist Party of Great Britain
FamilyMaurice Levitas (Brother), Sol (Brother)

Levitas was born in the Portobello area of Dublin, where he attended St Peters' School, a son of two Yiddish-speaking Jews fleeing pogroms in Imperial Russia: Lithuanian-born Harry and Latvian-born Leah. Harry was prominent in the Amalgamated Jewish Tailors', Machinists' and Pressers' Union, and this led to his blacklisting by employers. As a result, in 1927, the family moved to Glasgow, and Max left education.[1][2][3]

In Glasgow, Levitas became interested in communism, and when he was sixteen, he joined the Young Communist League. In 1931, he moved with his family to the East End of London, and he joined his father in the clothing industry, becoming a tailors' presser. He became secretary of the Mile End branch of the YCL, which his younger brother Maurice also joined.[1][2]

In the East End, Levitas devoted much of his time to anti-fascism; in 1934, he was arrested for writing "all out against fascism" on three sides of Nelson's Column, having later returned to the scene to admire his work, while still carrying the paintbrush.[4] In 1936, he was involved in the Battle of Cable Street, where Jewish people and socialists prevented a march of fascists through the East End. On his death, the Morning Star described him as the "last survivor of the Battle of Cable Street".[1]

The communists' other main campaign in the East End in the 1930s was against unfair rents. In 1939, Levitas led a four-month rent strike at Brady Street Mansions, where he lived, as did his grandmother. Through this, he met his future wife, Sadie Freedman. He continued to work in the garment trade, serving as a shop steward for the Tailors' and Garment Workers' Union. During World War II, he served as a fire warden. With Phil Piratin, he organised an occupation of the bomb shelter at the Savoy Hotel, in protest at the lack of such shelters in the East End; a few days later, the government agreed to open underground stations as bomb shelters.[1][3]

Becoming well known as a speaker, Levitas graduated to Stepney Communist Party (CPGB), for which in 1943 he co-authored "Stepney: A Borough to Be Proud Of". In 1946, he was one of ten CPGB candidates to win election to Stepney Borough Council. He served several terms of office, latterly on Tower Hamlets London Borough Council. When he lost his final election, in 1971, he had been a councillor for a total of fifteen years.[1] He also stood unsuccessfully in Stepney at the 1952 and 1955 London County Council elections.[5][6]

After standing down as a councillor, Levitas became a market trader, working in Dunstable, although he continued to live in the East End. He remained active in the CPGB, eventually joining its Communist Party of Britain (CPB) split, and also in local tenants' and pensioners' groups, and anti-racism campaigns.[3] He retired from work when he was eighty, but continued campaigning. In 2002, he unveiled a plaque in Dublin marking the site of the Camden Street Synagogue and Tailors' and Pressers' Union. In 2013, he addressed a rally opposing the English Defence League,[2] and when he was 99, he led a campaign against high repair bills at his flats on Sidney Street.[1]

In his spare time, Levitas was a fan of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., and frequently attended games with his son, Stephen, until Stephen's death in 2014. For his 100th birthday, the team gave him a card and a pennant signed by all the team members.[1] The following year, he became the world's oldest Dementia Friend.[3] He remained a member of the CPB until his death, becoming its oldest and longest-serving member.[7]

Levitas died in November 2018, aged 103, with tributes paid by Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the British Labour Party,[2] and Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland.[8]

References
  1. Davis, Mary (16 November 2018). "Remembering Max Levitas". Morning Star. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  2. Corbyn, Jeremy (8 November 2018). "The world is a better place because of my friend Max Levitas". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  3. Rahman, Emdad (21 November 2018). "Max Levitas obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  4. "Max Levitas obituary". The Times. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  5. "London County Council: Election results". The Times. 5 April 1952.
  6. "LCC results: Conservatives make headway". The Times. 25 April 1955.
  7. "Cable Street veteran and communist Max Levitas dies at 103". Morning Star. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  8. Trilling, Daniel (16 November 2018). "Lessons From a 103-Year-Old Jewish East London Socialist". New York Times. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
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