Louis Weinstock was born near
Tokaj, in a Jewish family. Weinstock originally worked as a painter before he lost his job in the
Great Depression and became involved in union organizing. Weinstock became the secretary of the New York branch of the
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, where his leftist politics angered union leadership. In 1932, Weinstock became head of the
AFL Trade Union Committee for Unemployment Insurance and Relief. In this position, he helped convince the AFL to support unemployment compensation for its members. In July 1946, Weinstock became a member of the
Communist Party national board. Weinstock later served as the business manager of the
Daily Worker.In 1951,
Mátyás Rákosi told
Joseph Starobin that Weinstock was an
FBI informant but American leaders in the Party did not believe the accusation. Weinstock was indicted under the
Smith Act on June 20, 1950, along with twenty other leaders in the Party. Following his
arrest, a group of 40 trade union leaders formed the Trade Union Committee to Defend Louis Weinstock to support his legal defense. On February 3, 1953, Weinstock was found guilty of violating the Smith Act and sentenced to three years in prison. While in prison, Weinstock became friends with fellow inmate
Dashiell Hammett and he later attended Hammett's funeral in 1961. In August 1959, Weinstock was subpoenaed to testify in front of the
House Un-American Activities Committee with 10 other teachers from the Faculty of Social Science, as part of the Committee's investigation into Communist teachers. Weinstock died on heart failure in 1994, in
Redlands, California. == References ==