Communism -- Soviet Union; Goldman, Emma, 1869-1940; Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921 -- Personal narratives, American
In Moscow I procured a small room formerly occupied by the daughter of
Peter Kropotkin. From that day on I lived like thousands of other
Russians, carrying water, chopping wood, washing and cooking, all in my
little room. But I felt freer and better for it.
The new economic policy turned Moscow into a vast market place. Trade
became the new religion. Shops and stores sprang up overnight,
mysteriously stacked with delicacies Russia had not seen for years.
Large quantities of butter, cheese, and meat were displayed for sale;
pastry, rare fruit, and sweets of every variety were to be purchased. In
the building of the First House of the Soviet one of the biggest pastry
shops had been opened. Men, women, and children with pinched faces and
hungry eyes stood about gazing into the windows and discussing the great
miracle: what was but yesterday considered a heinous offence was now
flaunted before them in an open and legal manner. I overheard a Red
soldier say: “Is this what we made the Revolution for? For this our
comrades had to die?” The slogan, “Rob the robbers,” was now turned into
“Respect the robbers,” and again was proclaimed the sanctity of private
property.
Russia was thus gradually resurrecting the social conditions that the
great Revolution had come to destroy. But the return to capitalism in no
way changed the Bolshevik attitude toward the Left elements. Bourgeois
ideas and practices were to be encouraged to develop the industrial life
of Russia, but revolutionary tendencies were to be suppressed as
before.
In connection with Kronstadt a general raid on Anarchists took place in
Petrograd and Moscow. The prisons were filled with these victims. Almost
every known Anarchist had been arrested, and the Anarchist book stores
and printing offices of “Golos Truda” in both cities were sealed by the
Tcheka. The Ukrainian Anarchists who had been arrested on the eve of the
Kharkov Conference (though guaranteed immunity by the Bolsheviki under
the Makhno agreement) were brought to Moscow and placed in the Butyrki;
that Romanov dungeon was again serving its old purpose--even holding
some of the revolutionists incarcerated there before. Presently it
became known that the politicals in the Butyrki had been brutally
assaulted by the Tcheka and secretly deported to unknown parts. Moscow
was much agitated by this resurrection of the worst prison methods of
Tsarism. Interpellation on the subject was made in the Moscow Soviet,
the indignation of the deputies being so great that the Tcheka
representative was shouted off the platform. Several Moscow Anarchist
groups sent a vigorous protest to the authorities, which document I
quote in part:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account