Steve Silver
@steve1silver.bsky.social
Steve Silver | Former Editor, Searchlight magazine. Insights on the fight against antisemitism, racism, and fascism, documenting the stories and struggles that shaped our movement. https://leadenskies.substack.com/
On 29 March 1919, Lenin recorded a speech against antisemitism. My latest article on Substack examines early Soviet sound propaganda, Civil War violence, and how the state executed its own soldiers to stop anti-Jewish terror. Read the full piece below. 👇 leadenskies.substack.com/p/lenins-voi...
Lenin’s Voice on Wax: Pogroms, Propaganda, and Red Army Discipline
“Anti-Semitism means spreading enmity towards the Jews.
leadenskies.substack.com
In 1902, James Connolly reached out to a Yiddish-speaking Marxist network in Whitechapel to help him connect with immigrant voters in Dublin. My latest article looks at the activists who fought the jingoism and antisemitism of the early British left. leadenskies.substack.com/p/yiddish-ma...
Yiddish, Marx, Connolly and British Communism
The internationalist backbone of British socialism was partly forged in the sweatshops and print rooms of London’s East End at the turn of the 20th century.
leadenskies.substack.com
Exposing a conspiracy theory as fake doesn't kill it if the underlying myth has broken free from the page. My new essay looks at The Protocols not just as a hateful hoax, but as an elastic, shape-shifting virus that still haunts modern politics. leadenskies.substack.com/p/protocols-...
Forged in Counter-revolution: The World’s Greatest Conspiracy Theory
On the Easter weekend of 1903, the streets of Kishinev, a provincial trading hub on the southwestern fringe of the Russian Empire, ran with blood.
leadenskies.substack.com
Why is the Left failing to confront modern antisemitism? It comes down to a stubborn refusal to see the reality of the threat. It’s time for less theory and more solidarity. My latest piece: leadenskies.substack.com/p/ideologica... #Antisemitism #antiracism #UKPolitics
In 1929, the Comintern called a pogrom in Hebron a "revolutionary movement." In 1939, they admitted their error and called the Mufti an "agent of German fascism." Today’s ultra-left is stuck in 1929. Part 3 of my series is live. leadenskies.substack.com/p/nazi-roots... #LabourHistory #October7
Agents of Fascism: The Rejected Script the Ultra-Left Is Still Following
Why does the ultra-left excuse the slaughter of civilians? The answer lies in a century-old script. Tracing the 1929 'Hebron alibi' to October 7th, and the warning the Comintern gave — and then ignore...
leadenskies.substack.com
In 1955, a wanted Nazi collaborator appeared at the Bandung Conference to help birth the post-colonial world. Read how sectarian hatred was rebranded as anti-imperialism—from Cairo to the Soviet bloc and the UN. leadenskies.substack.com/p/nazi-roots... #History #AntiFascism
“The Nazis did not gas enough Jews.” In 1957, Ludwig Zind’s rant in a bar sparked a national crisis in West Germany. It led to a Nazi safehouse in Cairo, and a a 12-year flight from justice. The full account of the Zind scandal: leadenskies.substack.com/p/ludwig-zin...
In 1956, a journalist found Johann von Leers — one of Goebbels’ top SS ideologues — working inside the Egyptian government. He wasn't just hiding; he was recasting 1930s hate for a new era. leadenskies.substack.com/p/nazi-roots...
The Cairo Connection: Johann von Leers and the Rebirth of Nazi Propaganda
How an SS ideologue rebuilt the infrastructure of antisemitism from the ruins of the Third Reich
leadenskies.substack.com
My article in today's Morning Star morningstaronline.co.uk/article/figh...
The fight against Holocaust denial is a fight against fascism
THE greatest barrier to a fascist revival after the second world war was the public revelation of its crimes.While these events remained in living memory, the stark facts and evidence made it nearly i...
morningstaronline.co.uk
HMD 2026: A 60% collapse in UK schools marking the day. A cynical "Chikli Doctrine" laundering the far-right in Israel. The "Double Genocide" whitewash in Europe. The battle for truth is more urgent than ever. Read more here: leadenskies.substack.com/p/holocaust-...
Holocaust Memorial Day: The path of least resistance and the betrayal of truth
From a 60% collapse in UK school participation to the cynical far-right alliances of the 'Chikli Doctrine,' the 25th anniversary of Holocaust Memorial Day faces an unprecedented assault on historical ...
leadenskies.substack.com
For Gerry Gable, the street fight was only half the battle. He taught us that the real damage was done via intelligence gathering. A tribute to the man who spent 60 years undermining the enemy from the inside out. leadenskies.substack.com/p/gerry-gabl... #GerryGable #Searchlight #AntiFascism
Last Thoughts on Gerry Gable and his War Against the Fascists
Gerry Gable, the most tenacious post-war anti-fascist Britain ever produced, had been ill for some time when he finally passed away on Saturday, January 3, 2026.
leadenskies.substack.com
The British Left has evicted the working class. The industrial furnace has been replaced by identity politics— a lifestyle accessory for a caste of ultra-left politicos. Read more: leadenskies.substack.com/p/the-rise-o... #Labour #UKPolitics #ClassPolitics
The Rise of Identity Politics, the Parasitic Left, and the “Socialism of Fools”
The British Left — if you can call it ‘left’ nowadays — has essentially evicted the working class.
leadenskies.substack.com
The Yiddish East End didn't vanish overnight; it moved. 📦 My latest for Leaden Skies looks at the "North-West corridor" migration and the disappearing world of Yinglish—a hybrid tongue of market slang and suburban soul. leadenskies.substack.com/p/the-disapp... #Nostalgia #London #Jewish
The Disappearing Yinglish World
Yiddish as a first language was already largely gone by the time the majority of the Jewish population migrated out of the East End of London in the decades following the Second World War.
leadenskies.substack.com
"Work was a mugs game." My Grandad lived by that rule - even when it landed him two years in jail for a botched post office robbery. From "poyer" to prison, and his biggest lie of all. ⬇️ Full story: open.substack.com/pub/leadensk... #JewishHistory #TrueCrime #LondonHistory
Grandad was a Post Office Robber: The Story of Harry Silver
Harry Silver – my grandfather – walked into a trap when he attempted to rob Harrow Post Office in the spring of 1955.
open.substack.com
Maccabi: The name, the hammer, the hooligans. Maccabi Tel Aviv, carry a name symbolising militant Jewish defence. Read my latest Substack article here. #MaccabiTelAviv #FanBan #AstonVilla #SportsSecurity #Antisemitism open.substack.com/pub/leadensk...
Maccabi: The name, the hammer, the hooligans
The controversy surrounding tonight’s Aston Villa vs.
open.substack.com
Mike Cohen: The Jewish anti-fascist whose camera was his gun. 📸 The 62 Group activist & co-founder of Searchlight, who fought fascism not just with his fists, but with a lens. open.substack.com/pub/leadensk... #AntiFascism #UKHistory #Searchlight #MikeCohen #JewishActivism #Socialism
Mike Cohen: The anti-fascist whose camera was his gun
Mike Cohen was one of Britain’s great Jewish anti-fascists, whose significant contribution to the movement came through his camera lens.
open.substack.com
A fragile dawn: The war may be ending, but the storm clouds of political failure & rising #Antisemitism are just beginning to clear. Read more: open.substack.com/pub/leadensk... #Geopolitics #IsraelPalestine #UKPolitics #AntiZionism
A fragile dawn: The war’s end and the aftermath
The hope for peace and the challenge of statehood
open.substack.com
The Left has a choice: fight the anti-Nazi battles of the past, or fight for a concrete vision of a better Britain rooted in the rebuilding of the NHS & social housing. My view on the challenge ahead. open.substack.com/pub/leadensk... #UKPolitics #PoliticalStrategy
From slogans to solutions: The left’s new anti-racist challenge
For decades, the playbook for fighting a racist movement with anti-immigration at the fore was simple: expose it as a fringe ideology led by figures with ties to Nazism.
open.substack.com
My latest article on the surprising historical ties between Irish and Jewish nationalism, and what the band Kneecap's current controversy reveals about their own history. #Kneecap #IrishNationalism #Zionism #History #Politics #Language tinyurl.com/2tha82t7
The shared roots of two nationalisms: What Kneecap forgets about its own history
The Irish hip-hop group Kneecap went from having a dedicated cult following to global notoriety after their provocative comments and actions, including their controversial “Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah” cha...
tinyurl.com
The Age of Unreason is here. My latest article explores how identity politics and misinformation are eroding our shared reality. bit.ly/4mbDUbG #Culture #Politics #Enlightenment #Antisemitism
The decay of reason in the digital age
How social media, identity politics, and conspiracy theories are eroding the foundational principles of the Enlightenment
bit.ly
Meir Vilner: The communist who signed Israel’s independence declaration. My latest article on Substack tinyurl.com/meirvilner #Israel #Zionism #Communism
Meir Vilner: The communist who signed Israel’s independence declaration
Meir Vilner (born Ber Kovner, 1918-2003) was an important figure in the complex world of Israeli politics, he infuriated the country’s right-wing and narrowly survived an assassination attempt as a re...
tinyurl.com
The unlikely leader: Rudolf Rocker and London's Jewish Anarchists. He led Jewish workers against sweatshops and built inter-communal solidarity, leaving an often overlooked legacy. #anarchism #antisemitism #rudolfrocker leadenskies.substack.com/p/the-unlike...
The unlikely leader: Rudolf Rocker and London's Jewish Anarchists
He led Jewish workers against sweatshops and built inter-communal solidarity, leaving an often overlooked legacy
leadenskies.substack.com
The Black Book of Soviet Jewry highlights the suffering of Soviet Jewry under the Nazi occupation during the Second World War. It was a tragically suppressed. Read my latest Substack here: leadenskies.substack.com/p/the-black-... #Nazis #Holocaust
The Black Book of Soviet Jewry
Eyewitness to annihilation: The Black Book's enduring power
leadenskies.substack.com
Leopold Trepper: The anti-Nazi spy who defied all odds. From socialist-Zionist to Soviet master spy he commanded one of WWII's most effective anti-fascist networks. My latest article on Substack: #leopoldtrepper #redorchestra #antifascist #antinazi leadenskies.substack.com/p/leopold-tr...
Leopold Trepper: The anti-Nazi spy who defied all odds
From socialist-Zionist to Soviet master spy he commanded one of WWII's most effective anti-fascist networks
leadenskies.substack.com
Henri Curiel: The unsolved assassination of a Jewish revolutionary. From Cairo exile to Parisian target, his life was a nexus of liberation movements and Cold War shadows My latest article on Substack #antiimperialism #antifascism open.substack.com/pub/leadensk...
Henri Curiel: The unsolved assassination of a Jewish revolutionary
From Cairo exile to Parisian target, his life was a nexus of liberation movements and Cold War shadows
open.substack.com
"It took some serious guts to infiltrate, expose, and then carry on campaigning against the Ku Klux Klan in the USA in the 1940s..." My latest article on Substack is about Stetson Kennedy and can be found here leadenskies.substack.com/p/stetson-ke... #StetsonKennedy #antifascist
Stetson Kennedy: The man who unmasked the Klan
It took some serious guts to infiltrate, expose, and then carry on campaigning against the Ku Klux Klan in the USA in the 1940s when racial segregation was still commonplace.
leadenskies.substack.com
How antisemitism killed my lecturer: My latest Substack on how antisemitism led to the death of university lecturer Dr Laurinda Stryker bit.ly/4kryrNj #antisemitism
How antisemitism killed my lecturer
Dr Laurinda Stryker was never fully comfortable in Brighton, teaching history at a south coast British university in the 1990s.
bit.ly
VE Day: Celebrating the victory of a people's war against fascism. An anti-fascist perspective. leadenskies.substack.com/p/ve-day-80t... #VEDay #VEDay80
VE Day 80th anniversary
Celebrating the victory of a people’s war against fascism
leadenskies.substack.com
The visit of two great Soviet Jews to Britain and the tragic aftermath. My latest article on the 1943 trip by Itzik Feffer and Solomon Mikhoels. #Mikhoels #Feffer #antifascism #antisemitism tinyurl.com/3j27r2jk
The visit of two great Soviet Jews to Britain and the tragic aftermath
The Soviet writer Itzik Feffer’s Yiddish poem “Ikh Bin a Yid” – I am a Jew – is a rousing ode to Jewish survival throughout history.
tinyurl.com
On 6 April 1989 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s motorcade of seven armoured Zil limousines arrived in Watford Business Park as part of a two-day trade trip to Margaret Thatcher’s Britain. My latest article on Substack. #Gorbachev #Watford #Communism #CPGB open.substack.com/pub/leadensk...
Gorbachev, Watford and Eurocommunism
On 6 April 1989 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s motorcade of seven armoured Zil limousines arrived in Watford Business Park as part of a two-day trade trip to Margaret Thatcher’s Britain.
open.substack.com