WE BEAT BACK THE FASCISTS
SYNOPSIS
The story of a successful American family which questioned the promises of democracy.
As America emerged victorious from WWII, many chose collective strategies to achieve social welfare, similar to those that helped the country survive The Great Depression. Fear of Communist domination was a way of life. In the Summer of 1949, a concert was planned in rural upstate NY to encourage a different direction. The local population’s response was fierce. The lead performer was lynched in effigy and the concertgoers were beaten. A new concert was rescheduled, aided by the strength of organized labor. The second concert saw a foiled assassination, while union men protected the audience. The conflict foreshadows and stands as a lesson to our current bifurcated interpretation of the news. They Beat Back The Fascists is a completed 59545-word historical novel set in Post Cold War America. Judith Grusman is a dedicated teacher who believes in social justice. She is unafraid of the political conflicts that form around her, as the country descends into hysteria.
THE PEEKSKILL RIOTS
Insurgency. Racial divide. Police collusion. Divided loyalties. Nuclear hysteria. As the facade of a sleepy affluent town is peeled back, a history is revealed that is little told and long forgotten.
Judith Grusman is drawn into the events of Peekskill, as she witnesses a country divided by nuclear hysteria and racism. Judith’s journey, from rural Jewish-American school teacher, to participant in the bloody violence of Peekskill, is told in “They Beat Back The Fascists.” The history of The Cold War and The American Labor Movement is weaved into the story, as the reader learns of the seminal but misguided Civil Rights leader Paul Robeson, and his pivotal performance at Peekskill.
The Peekskill riots of 1949 foreshadow America of today. The similarities are striking and scary. Forces representing a deeply divided country violently confronted each other, while opinions were shaped by sensationalized media sources, whose divergent messaging fed different interpretations of the events.
THE FIRST AMENDMENT
The events of Peekskill in 1949 foreshadow today’s riots of Charlottesville and the killing of African-Americans like George Floyd, at the hands of the police. The story relates the lynching and attempted assassination of Paul Robeson, occurring during the same week as The Soviets tested their first atomic weapon. This is exacerbated by American hysteria over Communist spies and displaced loyalties.
“To what extent are our civil liberties protected?” “What role do we have as citizens for the collective good?” The people who came to Peekskill in 1949 were asking those same questions.
America of 1949 was a world of fear: This fear was exacerbated by those who sought to divide. The dividers chose to use other people to suit their own purpose. And in so doing, they suppressed liberty and free expression. In their defense, they felt justified in their actions, because they felt they were protecting the American way.
THE EVENT
Boyd’s klansman decided to go one step further than the rest of the townspeople. To them, the coming of the concert was a continuation of a war that had been raging for decades. This was an existential war. They felt threatened by intermingling with Blacks and economic manipulation by Jews. The Klansmen were armed with weapons. They built a full-size figure of Paul Robeson: They tied the wrists and ankles with ropes to keep the paper inside, taking some old newspapers and stuffing them into clothing. They made the head from a potato sack, painted black and stuffed it with paper. In the back of one of the klansman's trucks lay an eight-foot-high wooden cross and a can of kerosene. In their cars and trucks, each klansman carried their own weapons. Page 159
THE SPIES
Fulmer looked around and saw that all was clear. He placed his envelope on the shelf behind the aspirin bottles and walked out of the store. The contact walked down the aisle, less than 30 seconds later. He picked up the envelope and also left the store.
It was all done. One of America’s greatest secrets had now been stolen by the Soviets and would be used to create a proximity fuse for their own atomic bomb. It would be capable of exploding hundreds of feet over the target site and cause massive radiation fallout. The Cold War had now turned nuclear. Page 59
THE PEOPLE
They all saw the protest signs with Robeson’s name carried by people marching from the town. As they approached the gate, they saw people screaming. Robeson did not have to say anything. He felt brave and ready to stand up for what he thought was right. Robeson intended to enter the concert grounds and stand on the stage to rally the audience. He could not have expected what was to come. Page 169
THE HISTORY
But Berel remained a Communist. It was difficult for him to grasp the positive aspects of American hegemony, which now existed since the country’s triumphant emergence from World War II. To Berel, the re-industrialization of America meant repression of the American worker. Berel and Hal spoke about the International Monetary Fund, which claimed to be exporting “democracy” to the Third World. Seemingly, it was rebuilding Europe with great economic promise. But according to Berel, this posed tremendous risk and oppression for the working class. Page 145