SOLLY KAYE (1913 - 2005)
An Appreciation by Wolf Wayne
From Green Socialist July 2005
Solly Kaye, who died on the 1st of May aged 91, was a devoted socialist and a long-standing member of the Communist Party. Solly was an example of a kindly, principled, and courageous communist who shared a common touch with people with whom he lived and worked.
His father died when he was five and his mother struggled to raise him and his three siblings at a time when there was no semblance of a welfare state. He went to work at the age of 14 to help family finances and found himself in the bad conditions, which were widespread in the twenties and thirties, of the woodwork and furrier trades in the East End of London. At this time he was able to indulge his passion for painting and woodcarving when he joined classes at the Bethnal Green Men's Institute. One of his paintings was sold for two guineas, which was no small sum in those days.
The social and political conditions of the time gave birth to the formation of a strong anti-fascist movement and Solly was drawn into that struggle. In 1936, as a member of the Communist Party, he took part in the historic Battle of Cable Street, which defeated Oswald Mosley's attempt to march through the Jewish East End.
After the war Solly became more active in East End politics. He was a key figure in the AntiVice Committee and in the struggle for decent housing, including activity in the Squatters campaign. In 1960 he was elected to Stepney Borough Council and served as a Communist councillor for 15 years. His campaigns against the rapacious slum landlords of the area and his passionate oratory earned the respect of many and disparate members of the community. On one occasion, when a large block of tenements was up for auction, Solly donned a suit and attended as a 'city gent'. When the sale of the tenements was reached, Solly stood up and warned, "If any of you buys this property, you will get more trouble than you bargain for, not only from me, but from all the tenants and all the people that I represent." He was thrown out of the sale, but nobody bought that property!
His oratory inspired thousands to get involved in struggle. Over the years he raised thousands of pounds for the Daily Worker and then the Morning Star Communist daily newspapers at the annual rallies. At election times he would be in Trafalgar Square making the financial appeal. Solly's passionate advocacy brought the cash flowing in. The Reverend Kenneth Leech, an old friend from St Botolph's Church in Stepney, said at that time "he was a charismatic orator whose election meetings resembled old-fashioned revival meetings though without any reference to God".
He was a full-time worker for the CP and on its London District Committee. Eventually, because of his wife Margaret's poor health, he resigned his full time position and at an advanced age (shedding ten years on his application) he became a woodwork teacher at a comprehensive school in North London.
He used his artistic skills in designing leaflets for a series of lectures run by the Green Socialist Alliance. He was one of the first members of the GSN and later a supporter of the AGS. Just before he died he sent a donation to the general election fund of the AGS.
We remember Solly as a lovely human and humorous being who was a great raconteur, with a fund of jokes which seemed inexhaustible; he was always great company. His greatest joy was his family. He has left behind a wonderfully supportive wife, three children and partners and adoring grandchildren.
Hundreds attended his funeral to say a last farewell to a comrade who never faltered in his work for a new world. He was unique, is sorely missed and will never be forgotten.
When four score years and ten have passed
With wrinkles deep upon his brow
He smiles for time is moving fast
What matters most is now!
Words by Solly
Wolf Wayne
Founding member of the Green Socialist Network and the Alliance for Green Socialism
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