Egon Kisch and Black Australia

Abstract

The tumultuous visit of Egon Kisch to Australia in 1934-1935 was an important chapter of Australian radical history. Kisch was an exiled member of the German Communist Party and a leading figure in the Movement Against War and Fascism (MAWF). A successful mass campaign by the Australian branch of the MAWF defeated attempts by the Australian government to first stop Kisch landing, and then to deport him. Kisch’s tour took place when the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) was establishing itself as a major force on the national political scene and extensive historical writing about the tour has explored it in this context. Little known, however, is the important position of solidarity with Aboriginal struggle that was being developed by the CPA at this time and the prominent role that Aboriginal people played in a major demonstration in Melbourne, supporting Kisch and opposing fascism. Kisch himself also paid the close attention in his writings on Australia to the oppression of Aboriginal people. This chapter will explore the way that connections between Communists and Aboriginal activists deepened and developed through Kisch’s tour. It will also analyse some of the contradictions expressed in Kisch’s writings, which demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of the importance of opposing anti-Aboriginal racism for the Australian working-class movement, while also reproducing some of the paternalistic ideas about Aboriginal people that were hegemonic at the time.