Career John L. Spivak

spivak landed first job police reporter new haven union. moved new york worked @ morning sun, evening graphic, , call, paper of american socialist party. first major story came when covered battle of matewan in west virginia. served briefly reporter , bureau chief in berlin , moscow international news service. upon return united states, became feature writer leftist newspapers , magazines such communist party usa s daily worker, ken, , new masses.

in 1930, in case known whalen papers, spivak used position journalist on behalf of soviet union. when documents detailing soviet propaganada efforts came possession of new york city police department, spivak demonstrated forgeries. years later did transpire documents supplied soviets spivak, alert scheme, discredit them , thereby undermine congressional efforts investigate communist propaganda in united states.

spivak traveled throughout south in 1930s interviewing prison camp officials , photographing camp practices , punishment records. novel, georgia nigger, depicting brutality of peonage labor , chain gangs, serialized several newspapers, including daily worker , des moines tribune. after appeared in 1932, academic study called second uncle tom s cabin, indictment of peonage , convict-labor in georgia, powerful enough put shame rhapsodists of folk negro s happy state. reviewer thought posed moral challenge disliked exaggerations , author s superciliousness. book carried appendix photographs , documents designed document novel s descriptions of torture. novel, wrote 1 reviewer, in addition dramatic force of interesting , well-told story, has weight , authority of sociological investigation. few weeks after book appeared, spivak testified other experts on georgia penal system in successful attempt persuade new jersey governor a. harry moore refuse extradite fugitive georgia chain gang.

in 1934, of spivak s new masses articles on anti-semitism in u.s. reprinted 93-page pamphlet called plotting america s pogroms.

his 1935 exposé in communist party s new masses charged congressional committee deliberately suppressing evidence of offer made retired marine general smedley d. butler wall street financiers (the business plot) lead military coup against u.s. government , replace fascist regime. butler supposedly, offered $3,000,000 organize fascist army promise of $300,000,000 more if became necessary. spivak argued plot part of conspiracy of jewish financiers working fascist groups , referring felix warburg, mccormack–dickstein committee, , members of american jewish committee in collusion j. p. morgan. hans schmidt concludes while spivak made cogent argument taking suppressed testimony seriously, embellished article overblown claims regarding jewish financiers, schmidt dismisses guilt association not supported evidence of butler-macguire conversations themselves.

most of spivak s work dedicated supporting communism, exposing capitalism, fascism , underground nazi spy groups in central america, europe, , u.s. in march 1935, last issue of american spectator gave award best reporting spivak articles in new masses on nazi , anti-semitic activity in u.s.

spivak announced thesis of america faces barricades (1935) in preface: think capitalist system in country still has distance go before falls....we in period of great unrest, organized , unorganized revolts , bloodshed; period, think, continue until present economic system has been changed. time provided readers brief description of : misleadingly titled collection of sober reports on conditions , states of mind among unemployed, california migratory workers, southern sharecroppers , other distressed groups, written 1 of ablest of u.s. radical journalists. review said spivak used first-class reporter, , while granting 1 not doubt mr. spivak s facts, said pattern seems overdrawn. more appreciative reviewer found spivak natively fair-minded , realistic, doubted conclusions, assessment of threat of domestic nazism , anti-semitism: [he] seems take fools seriously. mr. spivak in danger of being credulous of claims of counter-revolution of our eminent citizens of claims of revolution.

spivak toured parts of europe , produced portrait of continent in europe under terror (1936). time found interesting enough summarize @ length, country country: italy s tyrants, suggests spivak, clowns, people poltroons. ; germany s tyrants spivak describes super-efficient grafting gangsters, people dolts. ; poland s tyrants, according spivak, amiable, intelligent playboys, people hopeless serfs. in sum:

europe under terror, peasants potatoes, must taken little salt. readers considerably baffled know how u.s. investigator, speaks english , german, managed evoke such dangerous confidences illiterate classes in italy, poland , czechoslovakia through interpreters. author spivak shade ready forecast collapse of tyrannies, overestimate potency of rebellious spirit. book valuable document of kind emerges censored murk of dictatorship.

british diplomat turned academic e.h. carr found ambitious , partly interesting, , wished spivak had covered harder study regions. columbia university soviet specialist michael t. florinsky dissected spivak s reporting. noted spivak s style appealed both new masses , william randolph hearst s new york journal because work lacked attributes of high-class journalism : objectivity, accuracy, comprehensiveness, , sense of proportion. found nothing new rulers except fantastic stories german , italian spy system, yet moved spivak s real feeling underdog. cited statements in flagrant contradiction ascertainable facts, complete misunderstanding of german agricultural policy, , tale of nazi officials trying smuggle german marks abroad not convertible other currency. summarized:

these , other gross distortions of facts particularly regrettable because make difficult accept on face value mr. spivak s evidence on development of revolutionary movement in countries visited, evidence cannot checked sources. obtained him in germany, poland , austria under conditions romantic , melodramatic put hollywood shame. according mr. spivak, leaders of secret anti-fascist organizations sought meet him, although not personal freedom , perhaps lives, also, extent, success of movement itself, @ stake. respect mr. spivak s abilities, risks taken these german, polish , austrian revolutionaries seems utterly unreasonable , destinies of anti-fascist movement put in rather reckless hands. 1 should not, however, overestimate fascist opponents. under fire of innocuous , rather naive questions of impetuous , fearless american journalist, high fascist officials in rome turned white, green, gray , red, , collapsed in utter confusion , helplessness. no wonder mr. spivak foresees momentous changes in near future.

another new york times reviewer described clever attempt pick out threads of fear, misery , venality in texture of central europe today, not scholar s fine point blunt stub of partisan. mr. spivak artist in black , white , can t bothered intermediary shades of color....if, in opinion, striking contrasts , brilliant writing can compensate oversimplification , ingenuousness, mr. spivak man money.

under sponsorship of new masses, spivak toured united states in 1936 delivering lecture on dangers of fascism called saw.

in october 1937, spivak testified before massachusetts legislative commission investigating communist, fascist, , nazi activities, describing nationwide nazi propaganda network , accusing 2 employees of henry ford, among others, of distributing nazi propaganda. identified witness distributor of nazi propaganda, in turn said spivak being paid communist party.

in sort of sequel secret armies, honorable spy (1939) described smuggling , war preparations on part of west coast japanese in collusion nazis, hiding weapons in mexico, , spying on american defense installations telescopic lenses. 1 review followed summation of charges evaluation: how of mr. spivak sees , hears true, not know. trust mr. hoover s f.b.i. officials. mexican government, sharply these activities.

in 1940, arrested criminal libel because of charges made in secret armies investigator house un-american activities committee , german instructor @ wichita state university nazi agents.

spivak investigated financial activities of charles e. coughlin, catholic radio priest founded national shrine of little flower in royal oak, michigan. 1 author described spivak s combination of documentation , advocacy in shrine of silver dollar (1940) in nature of investigative reporting. review of historical literature on coughlin places sympathetic biography @ 1 end of scale , spivak s rabid study @ other, calling shrine primary document of brown scare, is, unwarranted , hysterical fear of right-wing overthrow of federal government.