Szaja Charnam (1908–1929), also known as Szymon Harnam or Szajek, was a Jewish-Polish communist activist in Łódź, Poland.
Biography Charnam was born on November 22, 1908.Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej (Archiwum). ul. Harnama SzymonaThe National Union Catalogs, 1963-: A Cumulative Author List Representing Library of Congress Printed Cards and Titles Reported by Other American Libraries, Vol. 57. Library of Congress, 1964. p. 93Polski Indeks Biograficzny. Walter de Gruyter, 2012. p. 203 he joined the underground communist movement around 1926 or 1927. He became a leading figure of the Young Communist League of Poland (ZMKwP) in his hometown, and was known to be a fiery public speaker.Romana Torúnczyk. Z dziejów rewolucyjnej walki młodzieży w latach 1929-1933 Iskry, 1961. p. 102 He was a member of the Trade Union of Workers of the Textile Industry in Poland. As a 21-year old he had been arrested five times.Józef Ławnik. Represje policyjne wobec ruchu robotniczego 1918-1939. Książka i Wiedza, 1979. p. 204 His underground code name was 'Szajek'. On April 19, 1928 he was sentenced to two years imprisonment.
Charnam was released from prison in 1928 and resumed political and trade union activities. He was named vice-chairman of the youth section at the Trade Union of Workers of the Textile Industry and Related Professions in Łódź, established in 1929. On October 24, 1929 Charnam organized a rally at the gates of the Biderman textile mill, to commemorate the anniversary of the October Revolution.The New "Folks-Shtimme", in Jewish Life in Poland, Issue 14. Polish Research and Information Service. New York, 1947. p. 4 A plainclothes policeman sought to arrest him at the event, and Charnam was shot in the stomach during process. He died at a hospital the following day.
The Łódź branches of the Communist Party of Poland and the ZMKwP wanted organize a mass funeral procession for Charnam, but the authorities had organized an early burial to avoid that the funeral turn into a political protest. The communists organizations then organized a symbolic funeral procession with an empty coffin, which was dispersed by police and 18 people arrested.
Legacy
Charnam would be elevated as a martyr in the Polish communist movement, and songs were written about him.Schatz, Jaff. The Generation: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Communists of Poland. Berkeley [u.a.]: Univ. of California Press, 1991. p. 112Holger Michael. Zwischen Davidstern und Roter Fahne: Juden in Polen im XX. Jahrhundert. Homilius, 2007. p. 52 In 1950 the Biderman textile mill was renamed as the 'Szaja Charnam Mill'. A street in the Bałuty district of Łódź was also named in his honour, but the thoroughfare was later renamed after a local industrialist as part of 'decommunisation' policies under the far-right PiS government. However, the Harnam Folk Dance Ensemble has retained its name.
References
pl:Szymon Harnam