The Makhnovists on the National and Jewish Questions
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1919

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Author : Peter Arshinov

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Composed of the poorest peasants, who were united by the fact that they all 
worked with their own hands, the Makhnovist movement was founded on the deep 
feeling of fraternity which characterizes only the most oppressed. During its 
entire history it did not for an instant appeal to national sentiments. The 
whole struggle of the Makhnovists against the Bolsheviks was conducted solely in 
the name of the rights and interests of the workers. Denikin's troops, the 
Austro-Germans, Petliura, the French troops in Berdyansk Wrangel - were all 
treated by the Makhnovists as enemies of the workers. Each one of these 
invasions represented for them essentially a threat to the workers, and the 
Makhnovists had no interest in the national flag under which they marched.
In the 'Declaration' published by the Revolutionary Military Council of the 
army in October, 1919, in the section dealing with the national question, the 
Makhnovists stated:

  "When speaking of Ukrainian independence, we do not mean national 
  independence in Petliura's sense but the social independence of workers and 
  peasants We declare that Ukrainian, and all other, working people have the 
  right to self-determination not as an ''independent nation'' but as 
  ''independent workers''"
On the question of the language to be taught in schools, the Makhnovists 
wrote the following:

  "The cultural-educational section of the Makhnovist army constantly 
  receives questions from school teach ers asking about the language in which 
  instruction should be given in the schools, now that Denikin's troops have 
  been expelled. The revolutionary insurgents, holding to the principles of true 
  socialism, cannot in any field or by any measure do violence to the natural 
  desires and needs of the Ukrainian people. This is why the question of the 
  language to be taught in the schools cannot be solved by our army, but can 
  only be decided by the people themselves, by parents, teachers and students It 
  goes without saying that all the orders of Denikin's so-called ''Special 
  Bureau'' as well as General Mai-Maevsky's order No. 22, which forbids the use 
  of the mother tongue in the schools, are null and void, having been forcibly 
  imposed on the schools. In the interest of the greatest intellectual 
  development of the people, the language of instruction should be that toward 
  which the local population naturally tends, and this is why the population, 
  the students, the teachers and the parents, and not authorities or the army, 
  should freely and independently resolve this question."
  
    (Signed)Cultural-Educational Section of theMakhnovist 
    Insurgent Army(Put' k Svobode No. 10, October 18, 
  1919.)
Thus we see that national prejudices had no place in the Makhnovshchina. 
There was also no place in the movement for religious prejudices. As a 
revolutionary movement of the poorest classes of the city and the country, the 
Makhnovshchina was a principled adversary of all religion and of every god. 
Among modern social movements, the Makhnovshchina was one of the few in which an 
individual had absolutely no interest in his own or his neighbor's religion or 
nationality, in which he respected only the labor and the freedom of the 
worker.
This did not keep the movement's opponents from seeking to discredit it in 
this field. In the Russian press as well as abroad, the Makhnovshchina was often 
pictured as a very restricted guerrilla movement, foreign to ideas of 
brotherhood and international solidarity, and even tainted with anti-Semitism. 
Nothing could be more criminal than such slanders. In order to shed light on 
this question, ee will cite here certain documented facts which relate to this 
subject
An important role was played in the Makhnovist army by revolutionaries of 
Jewish origin, many of whom had been sentenced to forced labor for participation 
in the 1905 revolution, or else had been obliged to emigrate to Western Europe 
or America. Among others, we can mention:
Kogan - vice-president of the central organ of the movement, the 
Regional Revolutionary Military Council of Gulyai-Polye. Kogan was a worker who, 
for reasons of principle, had left his factory well before the revolution of 
1917, and had gone to do agricultural work in a poor Jewish agricultural colony. 
Wounded at the battle of Peregonovka, near Uman, against the Denikinists, he was 
seized by them at the hospital at Uman where he was being treated, and, 
according to witnesses, the Denikinists killed him with sabers 
L. Zin'kovsky (Zadov) - head of the army's counter espionage section, 
and later commander of a special cavalry regiment. A worker who before the 1917 
revolution was condemned to ten years of forced labor for political activities. 
One of the most active militants of the revolutionary insurrection.
Elena Keller - secretary of the army's cultural and educational 
section. A worker who took part in the syndicalist movement in America. One of 
the organizers of the "Nabat" Confederation.
Iosif Emigrant (Gotman) - Member of the army's cultural and 
educational section. A worker who took an active part in the Ukrainian anarchist 
movement. One of the organizers of the "Nabat" Confederation, and later a member 
of its secretariat.
Ya. Alyi (Sukhovol'sky) - worker, and member of the army's cultural 
and educational section. In the Czarist period he was condemned to forced labor 
for political activity. One of the organizers of the ""Nabat" 
Confederation and a member of its secretariat.
We could add many more names to the long list of Jewish revolutionaries who 
took part in different areas of the Makhnovist movement, but we will not do 
this, because it would endanger their security.
At the heart of the revolutionary insurrection, the Jewish working population 
was among brothers. The Jewish agricultural colonies scattered throughout the 
districts of Mariupol, Berdyansk, Aleksandrovsk and elsewhere, actively 
participated in the regional assemblies of peasants, workers and insurgents; 
they sent delegates there, and also to the regional Revolutionary Military 
Council.
Following certain anti-Semitic incidents which occurred in the region in 
February, 1919, Makhno proposed to all the Jewish colonies that they organize 
their self-defense and he furnished the necessary guns and ammunition to all 
these colonies. At the same time Makhno organized a series of meetings in the 
region where he appealed to the masses to struggle against anti-Semitism.
The Jewish working population, in turn, expressed profound solidarity and 
revolutionary brotherhood toward the revolutionary insurrection. In answer to 
the call made by the Revolutionary Military Council to furnish voluntary 
combatants to the Makhnovist insurgent army, the Jewish colonies sent from their 
midst a large number of volunteers.
In the army of the Makhnovist insurgents there was an exclusively Jewish 
artillery battery which was covered by an infantry detachment, also made up of 
Jews. This battery, commanded by the Jewish insurgent Shneider, heroically 
defended Gulyai-Polye from Denikin's troops in June, 1919, and the entire 
battery perished there, down to the last man and the last shell.
In the extremely rapid succession of events after the uprising of 1918-19, 
there were obviously individuals who were hostile to Jews, but these individuals 
were not the products of the insurrection; they were products of Russian life. 
These individuals did not have any importance in the movement as a whole. If 
people of this type took part in acts directed against Jews, they were quickly 
and severely punished by the revolutionary insurgents.
We described earlier the speed and determination with which the Makhnovists 
executed Grigor'ev and his staff, and we mentioned that one of the main reasons 
for this execution was their participation in pogroms of Jews.
We can mention other events of this nature with which we are familiar.
On May 12, 1919, several Jewish families - 20 people in all - were killed in 
the Jewish agricultural colony of Gor'kaya, near Aleksandrovsk. The Makhnovist 
staff immediately set up a special commission to investigate this event. This 
commission discovered that the murders had been committed by seven peasants of 
the neighboring village of Uspenovka. These peasants were not part of the 
insurrectionary army. However, the Makhnovists felt it was impossible to leave 
this crime unpunished, and they shot the murderers. It was later established 
that this event and other attempts of this nature had been carried out at the 
instigation of Denikin's agents, who had managed to infiltrate the region and 
had sought by these means to prepare an atmosphere favorable for the entry of 
Denikin's troops into the Ukraine.
On May 4th or 5th, 1919, Makhno and a few com manders hurriedly left the 
front and went to Gulyai-Polye, where they were awaited by the Extraordinary 
Plenipotentiary of the Republic, L. Kamenev, who had arrived from Khar'kov with 
other representatives of the Soviet government. At the Verkhnii Tokmak station, 
Makhno saw a poster with the words: "Death to Jews, Save the Revolution, Long 
Live Batko Makhno."
"Who put up that poster?" Makhno asked.
He learned that the poster had been put up by an insurgent whom Makhno knew 
personally, a soldier who had taken part in the battle against Denikin's troops, 
a person who was in general decent. He presented himself immediately and was 
shot on the spot.
Makhno continued the journey to Gulyai-Polye. During the rest of the day and 
during his negotiations with the Plenipotentiary of the Republic, he could not 
free himself from the influence of this event. He realized that the insurgent 
had been cruelly dealt with, but he also knew that in conditions of war and in 
view of Denikin's advance, such posters could represent an enormous danger for 
the Jewish population and for the entire revolution if one did not oppose them 
quickly and resolutely.
When the insurrectionary army retreated toward Uman in the summer of 1919, 
there were several cases when insurgents plundered Jewish homes. When the 
insurrectionary army examined these cases, it was learned that one group of four 
or five men was involved in all these incidents - men who had earlier belonged 
to Grigor'ev's detachments and who had been incorporated into the Makhnovist 
army after Grigor'ev was shot. This group was disarmed and discharged 
immediately. Following this, all the combatants who had served under Grigor'ev 
were discharged from the Makhnovist army as an unreliable element whose 
reeducation was not possible in view of the unfavorable conditions and the lack 
of time. Thus we see how the Makhnovists viewed anti-Semitism. Outbursts of 
anti-Semitism in various parts of the Ukraine had no relation to the 
Makhnovshchina. 
Wherever the Jewish population was in contact with the Makhnovists, it found 
in them its best protectors against anti-Semitic incidents. The Jewish 
population of Gulyai Polye, Aleksandrovsk, Berdyansk, Mariupol', as well as all 
the Jewish agricultural colonies scattered throughout the Donets region, can 
themselves corroborate the fact that they always found the Makhnovists to be 
true revolutionary friends, and that due to the severe and decisive measures of 
the Makhno vists, the anti-Semitic leanings of the counter-revolutionary forces 
in this region were promptly squashed.
Anti-Semitism exists in Russia as well as in many other countries. In Russia, 
and to some extent in the Ukraine, it is not a result of the revolutionary epoch 
or of the insurrectionary movement, but is on the contrary a vestige of the 
past. The Makhnovists always fought it resolutely in words as well as deeds. 
During the entire period of the movement, they issued numerous publications 
calling on the masses to struggle against this evil. It can firmly be stated 
that in the struggle against anti-Semitism in the Ukraine and beyond its 
borders, their accomplishment was enormous. We have at hand an appeal published 
by Makhnovists together with anarchists referring to an anti-Semitic incident 
which took place in the spring of 1919 - an incident which was undoubtedly 
linked to the beginning of Denikin's general offensive against the revolution. 
Here is an abridged version of the text:


WORKERS, PEASANTS AND INSURGENTSFOR THE OPPRESSED,AGAINST THE 
OPPRESSORS - ALWAYS!

  During the painful days of reaction, when the situation of the Ukrainian 
  peasants was especially difficult and seemed hopeless, you were the first to 
  rise as fearless and unconquerable fighters for the great cause of the 
  liberation of the working masses. . . This was the most beautiful and joyful 
  moment in the history of our revolution. You marched against the enemy with 
  weapons in your hands as conscious revolutionaries, guided by the great idea 
  of freedom and equality. . . But harmful and criminal elements succeeded in 
  insinuating themselves into your ranks. And the revolutionary songs, songs of 
  brotherhood and of the approaching liberation of the workers, began to be 
  disrupted by the harrowing cries of poor Jews who were being tormented to 
  death. . . On the clear and splendid foundation of the revolution appeared in 
  delible dark blots caused by the parched blood of poor Jewish martyrs who now, 
  as before, continue to be innocent victims of the criminal reaction, of the 
  class struggle.... Shameful acts are being carried out. Anti-Semitic pogroms 
  are taking place.
  Peasants, workers and insurgents! You know that the workers of all 
  nationalities - Russians, Jews, Poles Germans, Armenians, etc. - are equally 
  imprisoned in the abyss of poverty. You know that thousands of Jewish girls, 
  daughters of the people, are sold and dishonored by capital, the same as women 
  of other nationalities. You know how many honest and valiant revolutionary 
  Jewish fighters have given their lives for freedom in Russia during our whole 
  liberation movement. . . The revolution and the honor of workers obliges all 
  of us to declare as loudly as possible that we make war on the same enemies: 
  on capital and authority, which oppress all workers equally, whether they be 
  Russian, Polish, Jewish, etc. We must proclaim everywhere that our enemies are 
  exploiters and oppressors of various nationalities: the Russian manufacturer, 
  the German iron magnate, the Jewish banker, the Polish aristocrat. . . The 
  bourgeoisie of all countries and all nationalities is united in a bitter 
  struggle against the revolution, against the laboring masses of the whole 
  world and of all nationalities.
  Peasants, workers and insurgents! At this moment when the international 
  enemy - the bourgeoisie of all countries - hurries to the Russian revolution 
  to create nationalist hatred among the mass of workers in order to distort the 
  revolution and to shake the very foundation of our class struggle - the 
  solidarity and unity of all workers - you must move against conscious and 
  unconscious counter-revolutionaries who endanger the emancipation of the 
  working people from capital and authority. Your revolutionary duty is to 
  stifle all nationalist persecution by dealing ruthlessly with all instigators 
  of anti-Semitic pogroms.
  The path toward the emancipation of the workers can be reached by the union 
  of all the workers of the world.
  Long live the workers' international!Long live the free and stateless 
  anarchist commune!
  
    (signed)Executive Committee of the Revolutionary Military Council 
    of the Gulyai-Polye region."Nabat" Anarchist Group in Gulyai 
    Polye.Commander of the Makhnovist Insurrectionary Army, Batko 
    Makhno.Chief of Staff of the Makhnovist Insurrectionary Army, B. 
    Veretel'nikov.
    Village of Gulyai-Polye May 1919.

 
Appendix to Chapter 10
Order No. 1
[This order was published at the time of the unification and organization of 
all the insurrectionary forces into a single army; when, after the forced 
retreat from the region of Gulyai-Polye, the detachments who had served under 
Grigor'ev and the Red Army troops who had come from Novy Bug to join the 
Makhnovists were incorporated into the insurrectionary army in the region of 
Elisavetgrad Pomoshchnaya.]

  From the Commander of the Ukrainian Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army, 
  Batko Makhno. To all the commanders of the infantry: corps, brigades, 
  regiments, batallions, companies, platoons, and sections; cavalry: brigades, 
  regiments, squadrons, and platoons; artillery: divisions, bat teries. To all 
  heads of staffs, garrisons. To all revolutionary insurgents without 
  exception.
  1. The goal of our revolutionary army, and of every insurgent participating 
  in it, is an honorable struggle for the full liberation of the Ukrainian 
  workers from all oppression. This is why every insurgent should constantly 
  keep in mind that there is no place among us for those who, under the cover of 
  the revolutionary insurrection, seek to satisfy their desires for personal 
  profit, violence and plunder at the expense of the peaceful Jewish 
  population.
  2. Every revolutionary insurgent should remember that his personal enemies 
  as well as the enemies of all the people are the rich bourgeoisie, regardless 
  of whether they be Russian, or Jewish, or Ukrainian. The enemies of the 
  working people are also those who protect the unjust bourgeois regime, i.e., 
  the Soviet Commissars, the members of repressive expeditionary corps, the 
  Extraordinary Commissions which go through the cities and villages torturing 
  the working people who refuse to submit to their arbitrary dictatorship. Every 
  insurgent should arrest and send to the army staff all representatives of such 
  expeditionary corps, Extraordinary Commissions and other institutions which 
  oppress and subjugate the people; if they resist, they should be shot on the 
  spot. As for any violence done to peaceful workers of whatever nationality - 
  such acts are unworthy of any revolutionary insurgent, and the perpetrator of 
  such acts will be punished by death.
  3. All acts of individual requisition or confiscation as well as any 
  exchange of horses or vehicles with the peasants without written authorization 
  from the supply commander will be severely punished. Every insurgent should 
  realize that requisitions of this type would only attract to the ranks of the 
  insurrectionary army hooligans of the worst type, individuals thirsting for 
  wealth and eager to carry out shameful acts which distort our liberatory 
  revolutionary movement under the very cover of the revolutionary 
  insurrection.
  I appeal to all insurgent militants to take it upon themselves to protect 
  the honor of our truly revolu tionary insurrectionary army by opposing every 
  unjust act either among ourselves or among the working people whom we are
  defending.[ i.e. to struggle against injustice in the insurgents' own 
  environment and in the insurgents' relations to the environment of the working 
  people - P.A.] We cannot practice injustice among ourselves. We cannot 
  mistreat even one son or daughter of the working people for whom we are 
  fighting. And every insurgent who takes part in such an act covers himself 
  with shame and brings upon himself the punishment of the popular revolutionary 
  army. 
  4. In the interests of the revolution and of a just struggle for our ideals 
  it is necessary to maintain the most rigorous fraternal discipline in our 
  ranks. The greatest respect and obedience in military matters toward your 
  chosen commanders are absolutely indis pensable. This is required by the 
  importance of the cause which has fallen to us to defend, which we will 
  honorably carry to its conclusion, but which we will lose if we do not 
  maintain discipline among ourselves. This is why I require the commanders and 
  the insurgents to maintain strict discipline among themselves and in all their 
  actions.
  5. Drunkenness is to be considered a crime. It is a still greater crime for 
  a revolutionary insurgent to show himself drunk in the street.
  6. Every insurgent traveling from one village to another should be ready 
  for combat. The relations with the peaceful population in the villages and on 
  the roads should be above all amicable and comradely. Remember, comrade 
  commanders and insurgents, that we are the sons of the great working people, 
  that all the workers are our brothers and our sisters. The cause for which we 
  fight is a great one, which demands that we be untiring, generous, full of 
  brotherly love and revolutionary honor. That is why I call on all 
  revolutionary insurgents to be real friends of the people and true sons of the 
  revolution. This is the source of our power and the guarantee of our victory. 
  (signed)
  
    Commander of the Ukrainian Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army, Batko 
    Makhno.Hamlet of Dobrovelichkovka,government of Kherson.August 
    5, 1919.


(Source: Text from The Struggle collection.)


     From : NestorMakhno.info

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     The Makhnovists on the National and Jewish Questions -- Publication : September 05, 1919

     The Makhnovists on the National and Jewish Questions -- Added : March 29, 2021

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