[3] Increasingly committed to the causes of socialism and communism, Rothman lost his job and was arrested after promoting his sales of the Daily Worker by chalking on the pavement, which received attention from the press.
[3] While unemployed, with the help of a bicycle salvaged from spare parts, Rothman discovered the nearby wilderness regions of the Peak District and North Wales, ascending Mount Snowdon alone.
[3] The combination of his political activism and interest in the outdoors led him organizing the mass trespass of Kinder Scout in 1932, resulting in his arrest and further employment difficulties.
[3] In 1934, Rothman began working at an aircraft factory owned by Avro in Newton Heath and instantly became an officer of the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU).
Rothman was active in working with Jewish groups in Manchester to oppose the campaigns of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists.