Sara Szweber

Sara Szweber (; born Pesl Katelianska ) (born circa 1875 in Brest Litovsk, died 1966 in New York City) was one of the leaders of the Bund and a trade unionist in Russia, Poland, and later in the United States. She was one of the few women that held leadership positions and went on a hunger strike. Possibly because of the hunger strike, she contracted tuberculosis and was therefore released on bail. She took that opportunity to escape to Galicia where she later met her future husband, Elijahu Szweber, an activist who promoted the use of Yiddish. They lived there until the break out of World War I.

In 1918, Sara moved to Warsaw where she worked as a trade union official in the local garment worker's union. Later, together with the Bundist Victor Alter she headed a one hundred thousand strong labor union which joined Polish and Jewish workers, the Landrat. According to Szweber, the activities of the Landrat were hampered by splits within the party which were being organized by Communist party members in the 1920s and '30s. While in Warsaw Szweber became one of the members of Bund's Central Committee. In 1938 she was elected to the Warsaw City Council, together with sixteen other Bund members.

After the Nazi invasion of Poland, Szweber initially escaped to the east, making her way back to her home town of Brest (which had been occupied by the Soviet Union). However, because she was a notable member of the Bund she was in danger of arrest by the NKVD. She managed to escape the Soviets via Vilna, eventually making her way to the United States.

In New York she once again worked as a dressmaker and remained active in the Bund émigré community. At the age of 90, she took part in Bund's fourth World Congress.