Morris Hillquit

Excerpt 

The days of the actual usefulness of the capitalist class in the social economy of the nation are rapidly passing. And like so many other classes in history under similar conditions, the capitalists have become reactionary, and the regime developed by them has become irrational, unjust, and oppressive.
—Socialism in Theory and Practice, Morris Hillquit, 1909

Which of Morris Hillquit's Works were Burned?

Socialism in Theory and Practice (Der Sozialismus)

Who was Morris Hillquit?

Photo

Morris Hillquit (Photo)

Born in Riga, Morris Hillquit became a prominent theoretician of the socialist movement after immigrating to the United States. The German translation of his work Socialism in Theory and Practice was burned in Nazi Germany in 1933. Photo taken circa 1910–1915.

Credits:

• Library of Congress

• View Archival Details

Morris Hillquit (1869-1933) was born Moses Hilkowitz in Riga, then part of the Russian Empire. At age 17, he immigrated to the United States. He worked for the Socialist Labor Party, co-founded the Socialist Party of America (1901), and helped establish the United Hebrew Trades, a trade union for Jewish garment workers.

Hillquit was a prominent theoretician of the socialist movement in the United States, writing such works as Socialism in the United States and Socialism in Theory and Practice. He opposed US involvement in World War I on the grounds that it would hinder the spread of socialism worldwide. Hillquit ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for Congress and for mayor of New York City. He also served as defense lawyer in espionage cases brought against communists and socialists.

The German translation of Socialism in Theory and Practice was banished and burned, along with works by other socialist authors, in Nazi Germany in 1933.