Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1946-2007 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
6 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Jacob (Jack) Gaster was the twelfth of the thirteen children born to Moses Gaster, the Chief Rabbi of the Sephardic Community of England, and his wife, Leah (daughter of Michael Friedlander, Principal of Jews' College). Rumanian by birth, Moses Gaster was a distinguished scholar and linguist. He was also keenly active in early twentieth century Zionist politics.
Never attracted by Zionism and from 1946, a supporter of a "one state" solution to Israel/Palestine, Gaster still never broke with his father, merely with his father's ideas, becoming acutely aware of working class politics (and conditions of life) during the General Strike in 1926. While his favourite brother, Francis actually worked as a blackleg bus driver, Jack Gaster sided with the strikers. It was at this time that he joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP), then headed by James Maxton. Despite his admiration for Maxton (who remained with the ILP), as a leading member of the Revolutionary Policy Committee (RPC) within the ILP, Jack Gaster led the 1935 "resignation en masse", taking a substantial group within the ILP with him to join the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).
In the immediate post war period, Jack Gaster was elected (as one of just two Communist councillors) to the London County Council (LCC). Representing the working class area of Mile End, Stepney, he immersed himself in the bread and butter issues of housing, employment and transport, while in 1952, (along with seven other representatives of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers) he made an illegal journey at the height of the Korean War to North Korea. The prime mission was to discover if the United Nations was using any biological weapons (germ warfare) against the North Korean civilians. On his return to Britain, Jack Gaster published a 38- page dossier, Korea… I Saw the Truth, indicting Washington not only for their use of germ, but other barbaric forms of warfare in North Korea. Jack Gaster was denounced by the patriotic press and there were serious calls for him to be indicted for treason.
A solicitor by profession, for some sixty years Jack Gaster was deeply involved with the legal aspects of political struggle, representing communists, trades union, civil rights and peace activists and also individuals of the left as different in temperament and ideology as Joe Slovo and Tariq Ali. He was for many years the Communist Party's principle legal adviser. A member of the CPGB until its dissolution, he had no sympathy with those who left the party over Hungary or Czechoslovakia, he viewed the Paris events of 1968 and the New Left as "subjectively progressive and objectively reactionary". He was totally opposed to Revisionism and the destruction of the CPGB seeing with absolute clarity that the fall of the Soviet Union would result not in a "Peace Dividend", but in new and more brutal "Imperialistic" wars.
In the 1990's Jack Gaster joined the Socialist Labour Party (SLP) headed by Arthur Scargill; though in his very ultimate years he was in no political party, he remained a vice-President of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers.
Repository
Archival history
GB 0372 GASTER 1946-2007 Fonds 6 boxes Gaster, Jacob (Jack) (1907-2007) lawyer, civil rights campaigner and communist
Jacob (Jack) Gaster was the twelfth of the thirteen children born to Moses Gaster, the Chief Rabbi of the Sephardic Community of England, and his wife, Leah (daughter of Michael Friedlander, Principal of Jews' College). Rumanian by birth, Moses Gaster was a distinguished scholar and linguist. He was also keenly active in early twentieth century Zionist politics.
Never attracted by Zionism and from 1946, a supporter of a "one state" solution to Israel/Palestine, Gaster still never broke with his father, merely with his father's ideas, becoming acutely aware of working class politics (and conditions of life) during the General Strike in 1926. While his favourite brother, Francis actually worked as a blackleg bus driver, Jack Gaster sided with the strikers. It was at this time that he joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP), then headed by James Maxton. Despite his admiration for Maxton (who remained with the ILP), as a leading member of the Revolutionary Policy Committee (RPC) within the ILP, Jack Gaster led the 1935 "resignation en masse", taking a substantial group within the ILP with him to join the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).
In the immediate post war period, Jack Gaster was elected (as one of just two Communist councillors) to the London County Council (LCC). Representing the working class area of Mile End, Stepney, he immersed himself in the bread and butter issues of housing, employment and transport, while in 1952, (along with seven other representatives of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers) he made an illegal journey at the height of the Korean War to North Korea. The prime mission was to discover if the United Nations was using any biological weapons (germ warfare) against the North Korean civilians. On his return to Britain, Jack Gaster published a 38- page dossier, Korea… I Saw the Truth, indicting Washington not only for their use of germ, but other barbaric forms of warfare in North Korea. Jack Gaster was denounced by the patriotic press and there were serious calls for him to be indicted for treason.
A solicitor by profession, for some sixty years Jack Gaster was deeply involved with the legal aspects of political struggle, representing communists, trades union, civil rights and peace activists and also individuals of the left as different in temperament and ideology as Joe Slovo and Tariq Ali. He was for many years the Communist Party's principle legal adviser. A member of the CPGB until its dissolution, he had no sympathy with those who left the party over Hungary or Czechoslovakia, he viewed the Paris events of 1968 and the New Left as "subjectively progressive and objectively reactionary". He was totally opposed to Revisionism and the destruction of the CPGB seeing with absolute clarity that the fall of the Soviet Union would result not in a "Peace Dividend", but in new and more brutal "Imperialistic" wars.
In the 1990's Jack Gaster joined the Socialist Labour Party (SLP) headed by Arthur Scargill; though in his very ultimate years he was in no political party, he remained a vice-President of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers.
Deposited at Bishopsgate Institute by Lucy Gaster and the Gaster family on 13 June 2007.
Papers of Jack Gaster (1907-2007), including: quarter-inch tape reels featuring music recordings by Rufus John and speeches by George Lansbury, Ramsay MacDonald, Willie Gallacher, James Maxton, etc., n.d.; papers, press cuttings and notes relating to social issues in London and Gaster's service on the London County Council, 1946-1961; press cuttings and miscellaneous notes regarding China, Poland, Guiana, Communism and international affairs, 1953-1982; selection of Communist and peace badges, n.d.; metal paper stamp of the British Soviet Friendly Houses Limited, n.d.; festschrift for Jack Gaster on his 95th birthday and order for memorial service, 2002-2007.
The The Jacob (Jack) Gaster Archive is divided into the following five sections:
GASTER/1: London County Council
GASTER/2: Press Cuttings
GASTER/3: Miscellaneous
GASTER/4: Political Papers
GASTER/5: Personal Papers
Open
Photocopying and digital photography (without flash) is permitted for research purposes on completion of the Library's Copyright Declaration form and with respect to current UK copyright law.
English
Adlib catalogue and handlist available in researcher's area.
Entry compiled by Grace Biggins. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. 23 December 2016. China Collectivism Communism East Asia Eastern Europe Gallacher , Willie , 1881-1965 , communist politician Gaster , Jack (Jacob), 1907-2007 , lawyer, civil rights campaigner and communist Guyana John , Rufus Labour movements Labour relations Lansbury , George , 1859-1940 , Labour politician LCC , London County Council x London County Council Macdonald , James Ramsay , 1866-1937 , statesman Maxton , James , 1885-1946 , socialist politician Peace Poland Political doctrines Socialism South America USSR
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Deposited at Bishopsgate Institute by Lucy Gaster and the Gaster family on 13 June 2007.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers of Jack Gaster (1907-2007), including: quarter-inch tape reels featuring music recordings by Rufus John and speeches by George Lansbury, Ramsay MacDonald, Willie Gallacher, James Maxton, etc., n.d.; papers, press cuttings and notes relating to social issues in London and Gaster's service on the London County Council, 1946-1961; press cuttings and miscellaneous notes regarding China, Poland, Guiana, Communism and international affairs, 1953-1982; selection of Communist and peace badges, n.d.; metal paper stamp of the British Soviet Friendly Houses Limited, n.d.; festschrift for Jack Gaster on his 95th birthday and order for memorial service, 2002-2007.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The The Jacob (Jack) Gaster Archive is divided into the following five sections:
GASTER/1: London County Council
GASTER/2: Press Cuttings
GASTER/3: Miscellaneous
GASTER/4: Political Papers
GASTER/5: Personal Papers
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
Photocopying and digital photography (without flash) is permitted for research purposes on completion of the Library's Copyright Declaration form and with respect to current UK copyright law.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Adlib catalogue and handlist available in researcher's area.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English