Senator McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee
External video
The Investigation of William Mandel by Sen. Joseph McCarthy on YouTube, Radical Films
Considered a leading Sovietologist during the 1940s and 1950s, Mandel was a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, but lost his position there due to the political pressures of the McCarthy era. He is perhaps best known for standing up to Senator Joseph McCarthy during a televised 1953 Senate committee hearing[2] in which Mandel pointedly told the senator, "This is a book-burning! You lack only the tinder to set fire to the books as Hitler did twenty years ago, and I am going to get that across to the American people!"[3]
In 1960, Mandel was again subpoenaed, this time by the House Un-American Activities Committee. He testified on May 13 in a hearing held at the San Francisco City Hall. Outside the hearing, hundreds of protesting Bay Area college students were blasted with firehoses and dragged down the marble steps by police officers, leaving some seriously injured.[4] Newsreel cameras recorded Mandel's scathing response to the question posed by Lead Counsel Richard Arens, "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?":
Honorable beaters of children, sadists, uniformed and in plain clothes, distinguished Dixiecrat wearing the clothing of a gentleman, eminent Republican who opposes an accommodation with the one country with which we must live at peace in order for us and all our children to survive. My boy of fifteen left this room a few minutes ago in sound health and not jailed, solely because I asked him to be in here to learn something about the procedures of the United States government and one of its committees. Had he been outside where a son of a friend of mine had his head split by these goons operating under your orders, my boy today might have paid the penalty of permanent injury or a police record for desiring to come here and hear how this committee operates. If you think that I am going to cooperate with this collection of Judases, of men who sit there in violation of the United States Constitution, if you think I will cooperate with you in any way, you are insane![5]
Mandel "spent the remainder of his testimony respectfully telling his inquisitors to go to hell."[6]
Recordings of the hearing were aired repeatedly on KPFA and other Pacifica Radio stations in subsequent years, and "literally represented the final hours of the 1950s" for young people who had come of age in the McCarthy era.[6] Scenes from the hearings and protest were later featured in the award-winning 1990 documentary, Berkeley in the Sixties.
Broadcaster and activist
Mandel began his career as a broadcaster in 1958, with a 15-minute-long weekly broadcast on Pacifica Radio station KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California . Within 6 months he was asked to expand to a half-hour; over a 32-year run, he went to an hour-long weekly program, then back to the half-hour format. Originally called Soviet Press and Periodicals, the program stayed on the air under various names until 1995, when it was abruptly cancelled by KPFA's national parent organization Pacifica Foundation—which eventually acknowledged that its dismissal first of Rolling Stone co-founder and renowned jazz critic Ralph Gleason and then Mandel was solely out of fear that the federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting would cut funding to Pacifica if "leftist" commentators were retained.
Mandel appears in the documentary film KPFA On the Air (Independent Television Service, 2000). Subsequently, Mandel hosted a weekly show on Free Radio Berkeley.[7]
In his book, In Battle for Peace, the noted Black American scholar and activist Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois referred to William Mandel's "defense" of him when Du Bois was "under federal indictment for heading the circulation of a peace petition".[8]
Mandel's radio program on KPFA was, during its later decades, titled The Soviet Union: a closer look Until the early 1970s, Mandel was a vocal supporter of the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia on this program. During the 1970s and 1980s he vigorously denied the existence of state-directed anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union, disputing from personal experience and decades of scholarly research the testimonies of bitterly anti-communist Soviet emigres in the Bay Area and dissidents like Nobel prize winner Joseph Brodsky; his common refrain during KPFA broadcasts was "the Soviet Union is 100 races living together in harmony". Mandel's denial of Soviet governmental anti-Semitism was maintained as late as his 1985 book "Soviet but not Russian: The Other Peoples of the Soviet Union" which stated that at most 10% of Soviet Jews would want to leave the Soviet Union. Approximately 290,000 Jews left the Soviet Union from 1970 to 1988, when emigration was restricted; over 224,000 left in 1990 alone, the first full year when emigration was liberalized.[10]
In 1992 he served as the consulting editor to the production of "The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union Trading Cards: From Lenin to Yeltsin," a history of the USSR in the form of a series of baseball cards, written by David Thorpe and illustrated by Greg Copeland.[12]
Soviet But Not Russian: The ‘Other’ Peoples of the Soviet Union, Palo Alto, Calif.: University of Alberta Press and Ramparts Press, 1985, ISBN9780878670956
Saying No To Power, Berkeley: Creative Arts Book Company, 1999, ISBN9780887392863
References
^"A Tribute to Tanya Mandel". Retrieved November 26, 2016.
^Victor Navasky, Naming Names (New York: Viking, 1980), p. 118
^"The Sixties: House Un-American Activities Committee". PBS.
^U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities, The Northern California District of the Communist Party: Structure, Objectives, Leadership (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1960), 2066.
^ abMatthew Lasar, Pacifica Radio: The Rise of an Alternative Network (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999), 186.
^Selna, Robert (July 26, 1998). "No Longer on the Left of Your Dial: Bill Mandel. Berkeley Radio Legend Still Fighting for Free Speech". San Francisco Examiner. p. D-1.
^Bill Mandel, Saying No To Power (Berkeley: Creative Arts, 1999), 204-205.
^"Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" January 30, 1968 New York Post
^Norwood, S. H. (2013). Anti-Semitism and the American Far Left. Cambridge University Press. p. 189. ISBN9781107036017.
^Mandel, William. The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union / author, Dave Thorpe; illustrator, Greg Copeland; consulting editor, William Mandel; photo research, D. Kingsley Hahn; cover design, Quinn Supplee, Chris Pitzer; editor, Catherine Yronwode. -- Forestville, Calif. : Eclipse Enterprises, 1992. cited at http://comics.lib.msu.edu/rri/mrri/manc.htm
^"William Mandel 1917-2016". November 25, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
External links
. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015.
William Mandel talks to John Whiting about his life and work, included in MY KPFA: A Historical Footnote (Seventy-five hours of programs and interviews from the 1960s)
January 31, 2023
william, mandel, william, marx, mandel, june, 1917, november, 2016, american, broadcast, journalist, left, wing, political, activist, author, best, known, soviet, affairs, analyst, born, york, city, william, bill, mandelbornwilliam, marx, mandeljune, 1917new, . William Marx Mandel June 4 1917 November 24 2016 was an American broadcast journalist left wing political activist and author best known as a Soviet affairs analyst He was born in New York City William Bill MandelBornWilliam Marx MandelJune 4 1917New York City New York U S DiedNovember 24 2016 aged 99 Kensington California U S Resting placeKensington Ca ash scattering NationalityAmericanOccupationsAuthor broadcast journalist political activistEmployer s Self pro bono at KQED TV KPFA RadioKnown forSoviet affairs expert analyst amp educator political activistSpouseTanya Millstein Mandel 1917 2001 1 ChildrenPhyllis Robert and DavidParent s Max Mandel born Mordka Gimpel Mandelman civil engineer Dora Schachter MandelRelativesEugene Victor Mandel brother electrucal engineer teacher Contents 1 Senator McCarthy and the House Un American Activities Committee 2 Broadcaster and activist 3 Writings 3 1 Books 4 References 5 External linksSenator McCarthy and the House Un American Activities Committee EditExternal video The Investigation of William Mandel by Sen Joseph McCarthy on YouTube Radical FilmsConsidered a leading Sovietologist during the 1940s and 1950s Mandel was a fellow at Stanford University s Hoover Institution but lost his position there due to the political pressures of the McCarthy era He is perhaps best known for standing up to Senator Joseph McCarthy during a televised 1953 Senate committee hearing 2 in which Mandel pointedly told the senator This is a book burning You lack only the tinder to set fire to the books as Hitler did twenty years ago and I am going to get that across to the American people 3 In 1960 Mandel was again subpoenaed this time by the House Un American Activities Committee He testified on May 13 in a hearing held at the San Francisco City Hall Outside the hearing hundreds of protesting Bay Area college students were blasted with firehoses and dragged down the marble steps by police officers leaving some seriously injured 4 Newsreel cameras recorded Mandel s scathing response to the question posed by Lead Counsel Richard Arens Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party Honorable beaters of children sadists uniformed and in plain clothes distinguished Dixiecrat wearing the clothing of a gentleman eminent Republican who opposes an accommodation with the one country with which we must live at peace in order for us and all our children to survive My boy of fifteen left this room a few minutes ago in sound health and not jailed solely because I asked him to be in here to learn something about the procedures of the United States government and one of its committees Had he been outside where a son of a friend of mine had his head split by these goons operating under your orders my boy today might have paid the penalty of permanent injury or a police record for desiring to come here and hear how this committee operates If you think that I am going to cooperate with this collection of Judases of men who sit there in violation of the United States Constitution if you think I will cooperate with you in any way you are insane 5 Mandel spent the remainder of his testimony respectfully telling his inquisitors to go to hell 6 Recordings of the hearing were aired repeatedly on KPFA and other Pacifica Radio stations in subsequent years and literally represented the final hours of the 1950s for young people who had come of age in the McCarthy era 6 Scenes from the hearings and protest were later featured in the award winning 1990 documentary Berkeley in the Sixties Broadcaster and activist EditMandel began his career as a broadcaster in 1958 with a 15 minute long weekly broadcast on Pacifica Radio station KPFA FM in Berkeley California Within 6 months he was asked to expand to a half hour over a 32 year run he went to an hour long weekly program then back to the half hour format Originally called Soviet Press and Periodicals the program stayed on the air under various names until 1995 when it was abruptly cancelled by KPFA s national parent organization Pacifica Foundation which eventually acknowledged that its dismissal first of Rolling Stone co founder and renowned jazz critic Ralph Gleason and then Mandel was solely out of fear that the federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting would cut funding to Pacifica if leftist commentators were retained Mandel appears in the documentary film KPFA On the Air Independent Television Service 2000 Subsequently Mandel hosted a weekly show on Free Radio Berkeley 7 In his book In Battle for Peace the noted Black American scholar and activist Dr W E B Du Bois referred to William Mandel s defense of him when Du Bois was under federal indictment for heading the circulation of a peace petition 8 Mandel was the only non student asked by its founders to sit on the Steering Committee of the Free Speech Movement in Berkeley California in the early 1960s In 1968 he signed the Writers and Editors War Tax Protest pledge vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War 9 Mandel s radio program on KPFA was during its later decades titled The Soviet Union a closer look Until the early 1970s Mandel was a vocal supporter of the 1968 Soviet led invasion of Czechoslovakia on this program During the 1970s and 1980s he vigorously denied the existence of state directed anti Semitism in the Soviet Union disputing from personal experience and decades of scholarly research the testimonies of bitterly anti communist Soviet emigres in the Bay Area and dissidents like Nobel prize winner Joseph Brodsky his common refrain during KPFA broadcasts was the Soviet Union is 100 races living together in harmony Mandel s denial of Soviet governmental anti Semitism was maintained as late as his 1985 book Soviet but not Russian The Other Peoples of the Soviet Union which stated that at most 10 of Soviet Jews would want to leave the Soviet Union Approximately 290 000 Jews left the Soviet Union from 1970 to 1988 when emigration was restricted over 224 000 left in 1990 alone the first full year when emigration was liberalized 10 In January 1982 Mandel wrote an article in the Stanford Daily supporting the coup of Polish General W Jaruzelski which imposed martial law as an attempt to crush the Solidarity trade union 11 In 1992 he served as the consulting editor to the production of The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union Trading Cards From Lenin to Yeltsin a history of the USSR in the form of a series of baseball cards written by David Thorpe and illustrated by Greg Copeland 12 Mandel died on Thanksgiving Day November 24 2016 at the age of 99 at his home in Kensington California 13 Writings EditThe introduction to Mandel s autobiography Saying No To Power was written by the left wing historian and author Howard Zinn The book was praised by among others author and senior editor of The Black Scholar Robert L Allen musician and activist Pete Seeger and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti The Hoover Institution Archives Wisconsin Historical Society and the Bancroft Library at the University of California have collections of Mandel s papers Books Edit The Soviet Far East and Central Asia Institute of Pacific Relations 1944 A Guide to the Soviet Union The Dial Press 1946 Soviet Marxism and Social Science reprint Ramparts Press 1984 ISBN 9780878670970 Russia Re Examined 1967 Soviet Women Anchor Books 1975 ISBN 9780385032551 Soviet But Not Russian The Other Peoples of the Soviet Union Palo Alto Calif University of Alberta Press and Ramparts Press 1985 ISBN 9780878670956 Saying No To Power Berkeley Creative Arts Book Company 1999 ISBN 9780887392863References Edit A Tribute to Tanya Mandel Retrieved November 26 2016 Victor Navasky Naming Names New York Viking 1980 p 118 Quote taken from billmandel net The Sixties House Un American Activities Committee PBS U S House of Representatives Committee on Un American Activities The Northern California District of the Communist Party Structure Objectives Leadership Washington D C U S Government Printing Office 1960 2066 a b Matthew Lasar Pacifica Radio The Rise of an Alternative Network Philadelphia Temple University Press 1999 186 Selna Robert July 26 1998 No Longer on the Left of Your Dial Bill Mandel Berkeley Radio Legend Still Fighting for Free Speech San Francisco Examiner p D 1 Bill Mandel Saying No To Power Berkeley Creative Arts 1999 204 205 Writers and Editors War Tax Protest January 30 1968 New York Post Norwood S H 2013 Anti Semitism and the American Far Left Cambridge University Press p 189 ISBN 9781107036017 William Mandel Pundits Wrong No Danger of Soviet Intervention in Poland Stanford Daily Jan 20 1982 http stanforddailyarchive com cgi bin stanford a d amp d stanford19820120 01 2 22 amp e en 20 1 txt txIN Mandel William The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union author Dave Thorpe illustrator Greg Copeland consulting editor William Mandel photo research D Kingsley Hahn cover design Quinn Supplee Chris Pitzer editor Catherine Yronwode Forestville Calif Eclipse Enterprises 1992 cited at http comics lib msu edu rri mrri manc htm William Mandel 1917 2016 November 25 2016 Retrieved November 25 2016 External links Edit Official website Archived from the original on September 9 2015 William Mandel talks to John Whiting about his life and work included in MY KPFA A Historical Footnote Seventy five hours of programs and interviews from the 1960s Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title William Mandel amp oldid 1128982544, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
