Obituary from the August 2026 issue of the Socialist Standard
My brother David (who was a member of the Socialist Party, London Branch) passed away aged 91 on the 8th of July 2026. Dave was a long time member active as a speaker, correspondent and unofficial security worker from the late fifties.
David spent his early childhood in Whitechapel around the Brick Lane area and carried the roots of the old East End culture until the day he died. The family moved to Adelaide Road in leafy Primrose Hill at the end of the Second World War; we were a bit like the local ‘Beverly Hillbillies’.
David’s dad Jack was a SPGB member as are his brothers Tony, Graham and as was their late sister Sandra. Having experienced the anti-semitism of the post war years David took up boxing and was good enough to be selected to represent the ABA versus the Met Police, which was filmed at the Albert Hall. Dave stopped boxing after being disheartened by the accidental death of a club mate. He later took up Olympic wrestling and in his best year defeated two national champions (Abdul and Joseph).
My brother was widely travelled, serving in the merchant navy in his early twenties, then working in Israel and as a Gastarbeiter in Germany. Dave finally retired to Poland living on his pensions from Germany and the UK. Besides his interest in politics David was quite expert in jazz, sport and history. He was a tall, athletic man with a commanding and knowledgeable presence. David Gluck is survived by his brothers Tony, Graham and Harry and by his daughter Fiona.
Graham Gluck
2 comments:
. . . "unofficial security worker" is, I think, in reference to the fact that occasionally the SPGB had to defend itself physically against political opponents hell bent on violence. This was especially the case at certain outdoor speaking pitches.
Though the SPGB does not advocate political violence to achieve its ends, it has always maintained the position that it should physically defend itself if it is physically attacked.
I remember years ago listening to a taped recording of a talk on the history of the SPGB's Islington Branch where the speaker, Steve Coleman, mentioned that in the early 1980s a popular political sales pitch at Chapel Market in Islington was under consistent physical attack from the local fascists involved with the National Front. I distinctly remember from the talk Steve mentioning that Dave Gluck - who must have been in his mid to late 40s at the time - being up for the branch physically defending itself against the fascists. I'm not sure the rest of the branch agreed with him.
Just had a thought.
Dave Gluck's obituary mentions that he lived in Poland in his retirement years. I wonder of he was the 'D. Szczescie' who penned a couple of articles in the Standard on politics in Poland in the mid-1990s?
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