Alexander Berkman

infobox Person
name=Alexander Berkman


caption=Alexander Berkman, 1892
birth_name=Ovsei Osipovich Berkman
birth_date=November 21, 1870
birth_place=Vilnius
death_date=June 28, 1936
death_place=France
death_cause=suicide
resting_place=
resting_place_coordinates=
residence=
nationality=
other_names=
known_for=
education=
employer=
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website=
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Alexander Berkman (November 21 1870 – June 28 1936) was a Russian-American writer and a leading member of the anarchist movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the lover and close associate of Emma Goldman, a Lithuanian-born anarchist with whom he collaborated frequently and organized civil rights and anti-war campaigns. In 1892, he attempted to assassinate Henry Clay Frick in retaliation for his involvement with the Homestead Strike: Berkman subsequently served a fourteen-year sentence. During World War I he was deported along with Goldman and other foreign-born American anarchists as a result of the Anarchist Exclusion Act. Continuing to write and speak abroad, Berkman died in France in 1936.

Early years

Berkman was born Ovsei Osipovich Berkman in Vilnius, Lithuania, the son of a wealthy Jewish businessman. He grew up in St Petersburg, Russia where he became known by "Alexander", a name more common in that country; later he was generally known among his friends as "Sasha" (a diminutive Russian name for Alexander). Both his parents died when he was young, and at the age of seventeen he emigrated to the United States. [Berkman, p.iii]

Soon after arriving in the US, Berkman became involved with political activism and became interested in anarchism through his involvement in the campaign to free the men convicted of the 1886 Haymarket bombing. [Berkman, p.iii] Berkman was a typesetter for Johann Most's radical newspaper "Die Freiheit", [Berkman, p.iii] and was inspired by Most's fiery political agitation for revolutionary action, and the concept of propaganda by deed. In New York City, Berkman met and had a romance with Emma Goldman, another Russian immigrant who was working in a clothing factory. Goldman had been pursued romantically by Johann Most, but she soon left him for Berkman. Berkman and Goldman soon became intricately involved in the anarchist movement. They remained close friends and colleagues for the rest of their lives.

The "Attentat"

Although Berkman gradually began to distance himself from Johann Most, he remained fixated on the concept of violent action as a tool for inspiring revolutionary change. In 1892, at age 22, Berkmanndash convinced that a violent act was needed to electrify the anarchist movement, attempted to assassinate Henry Clay Frick, [Avrich (1988), p.200] a wealthy industrialist involved in a bitter dispute with steelworkers in Homestead, Pennsylvania. The Amalgamated Iron and Steel Workers Union had called on its members to strike the Homestead steel plant owned by Frick and Andrew Carnegie. The strikers occupied the factory and locked out the owners. Frick took the controversial decision to hire three hundred strikebreakers from the Pinkerton Detective Agency, brought in on armed barges to expel the strikers and retake control of the factory. Upon landing, the strikers were waiting for them and a day-long battle took place. Ten men were killed and sixty wounded before the governor declared martial law.

Berkman, with the knowledge of his lover Emma Goldman and the assistance of other conspirators, plotted to murder Frick in an "Attentat", or assassination, in retaliation for his role in attempting to break the strike. After gaining entrance to Frick's office, Berkman shot Frick twice in the neck, missing the third shot only after his arm was grabbed by Frick's assistant. Frick and Berkman then grappled on the floor, and Berkman drew a sharpened steel file, stabbing Frick four times in the leg.

Although seriously wounded, Frick survived the attack. Berkman was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to twenty-two years' imprisonment, of which he served fourteen years, many of them in solitary confinement. Though Emma Goldman was aware of the plot and was widely believed to have assisted in its planning stages, the other conspirators refused to give evidence against her, and she was not charged in the indictment for lack of evidence. Berkman's decision to assassinate Frick was criticized by none other than his old mentor Johann Most, who implied that Berkman's act was not only counterproductive but even designed to elicit sympathy for Frick himself. Goldman was enraged at this charge, and famously horsewhipped Most after a lecture at which he refused to recant or apologize. Berkman was released from prison in May 1906.

Upon regaining his freedom, Berkmanndash shattered and physically brokenndash joined Goldman as one of the leading figures of the anarchist movement in the US. Berkman later wrote an account of his prison years in his book "Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist", which he claimed helped him recover from the experience of being a prisoner.

Mother Earth and the Ferrer Center

From 1908 to 1915, Berkman contributed to Goldman's paper "Mother Earth", and founded the Ferrer Center in 1910, [Sanger, p.132] named for the Spanish anarchist Francisco Ferrer and widely known as a meeting place for anarchists. Berkman was infuriated by John D. Rockefeller and his continuing dispute with the United Mine Workers over violent labor strikes in the Colorado mines. Berkman and other anarchists led several protests throughout May and June against John D. Rockefeller Jr., protests that moved from New York City to Rockefeller's home in Tarrytown, New York, and which resulted in the beatings, arrests, and imprisonments of a number of anarchists. The strong police response to the Tarrytown protests led to a bomb plot by several Ferrer Center anarchists.

Rockefeller bombing

In July 1914, three associates of Berkmanndash Charles Berg, Carl Hanson, and I.W.W. member Arthur Caronndash began collecting dynamite they had obtained from Russia, storing it at the apartment of another conspirator, "Mother Earth" editor Louise Berger. Several meetings were held at the Ferrer Center, where the group devised a plan in which Caron, Berg, and Hanson were to plant a bomb at Rockefeller's home in Tarrytown. According to later accounts, Caron, Berg, Hanson, and Berkman met at the Ferrer Center at least twice to discuss the plot. Some sources allege that Berkman was the chief conspirator, the only one of the five who had experience in such an act.Avrich, Paul, "Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America", Princeton: Princeton University Press (1996)ISBN 0691044945] According to Charles Plunkett, another member of the conspiracy, Berkman chose to remain behind the scenes rather than take an active role in the bombing due to his probation for the Homestead assassination attempt. [cite book|first=Paul|last=Avrich|title=The Modern School Movement|location=Princeton|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2005|pages=219] Berkman later denied any involvement or knowledge of the plan.

At 9 a.m. on July 4, Berger left her apartment for the "Mother Earth" offices on 119th Street. Fifteen minutes later a deadly explosion took place, later known as the Lexington Avenue bombing. The bomb had exploded prematurely, shaking the sixth story of Berger's tenement building, wrecking the three upper floors and killing Hanson, Berg, Caron and a woman, Marie Chavez, who had apparently not been involved in the conspiracy. Twenty people were injured, including another I.W.W. member, Mike Murphy, who had been staying in Berger's apartment. Berkman attended the dead men's funerals and helped Murphy leave the city, where he was sought for questioning by the police. [Avrich Paul, "The Anarchist Background", Princeton: Princeton University Press (1991)]

an Francisco and "The Blast"

From 1916 to 1917, Berkman left New York for San Francisco, where he published his own journal, "The Blast". During Berkman's time in San Francisco, the Preparedness Day bombing took place, killing 10 and wounding forty others. [Avrich, Paul, "Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America", Princeton: Princeton University Press (1996), p.35] Berkman was accused of being responsible for the bombing, but was never arrested and charged with the crime. Afterwards, Berkman returned to New York, rejoining Goldman to work on the "Mother Earth Bulletin". The San Francisco District Attorney attempted to have Berkman extradited to San Francisco on conspiracy allegations related to the bombing, but was unsuccessful. During this time, Berkman also lectured and taught, helped organize labor movements, agitated against the ruling class, campaigned for civil rights, and continued to meet with other radical anarchists.

Russian Revolution

The outbreak of the Russian Revolution in March 1917 caused a new outpouring of activity from Berkman, as he continually wrote to friends about the worker revolt. Some of Berkman's colleagues in the anarchist movement decided to leave for Russia straightaway to assist in establishing Russia's revolutionary institutions. Among them was Berkman's close friend Louise Berger; before her departure, Berkman and Goldman gave Berger a manifesto addressed to the people of Russia, asking them to protest the imprisonment of Thomas Mooney and Warren Billings for the Preparedness Day Bombing. [Goldman, Emma, "Living My Life", Alfred A. Knopf, p. 597: "Sasha had conceived the idea of a manifesto to the Russian workers, peasants, and soldiers, and we wrote it just in time to send it with the group...The manifesto was entrusted to Louise Berger and S.F., our closest and most dependable friends".] [Avrich, Paul, "Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America", Princeton: Princeton University Press (1996)]

War opposition

From 1914, Berkman and Goldman opposed the First World War, and from 1917, when the US entered, they campaigned against conscription, which got Berkman a two-year sentence in prison for violation of the Espionage Act. [Zinn, p.292]

Berkman and Goldman were later targeted for their extensive association with radical anarchists, and antiwar statements during the Palmer Raids of 1919. They were deported, ostensibly for violation of anti-anarchist sections of the Alien Act of 1918, [Zinn p.292] along with hundreds of other leftists of Russian origin, to the Soviet Union.

Henry Clay Frick died on December 2, 1919 in Pittsburgh, at the age of seventy. That evening, Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman were attending a farewell banquet in Chicago, their last whirlwind tour before being expelled from the country by federal authorities. At a dinner given in honor of the anarchist movement, a reporter approached Alexander Berkman with news of Frick's death and asked him what he had to say about the man. Referring to his own impending deportation from the U.S., Berkman casually replied that Frick had been "deported by God... I'm glad he left the country before me." [Avrich (1996), p.47] [Goldman, p.709]

Both Goldman and Berkman supported the Bolsheviks when they came to power in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917, doing work collecting material for a Museum of the Revolution. [Avrich (1988), p.205] During the two years they spent there, they gradually became disillusioned as the Communist regime became increasingly repressive. The suppression of the Kronstadt rebellion in March 1921 was the final straw, and Berkman and Goldman moved to Germany.

Final years

In subsequent years, Goldman and Berkman led the libertarian critique of the Soviet Communist Party, denouncing what they saw as the betrayal of the revolution. While they helped persuade the main organizations of the international anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist movement not to participate in the Third International controlled by the Bolsheviks, their impact on the wider world was only partially successful. Producing a constant stream of articles, they tried to get this material published by the left-wing press, but the mainstream socialist and liberal papers and publishers refused to publish anything that would shake confidence in the left-wing Russian government.Fact|date=June 2007 As part of this campaign, Berkman published "The Bolshevik Myth" in 1925, an account of his time in post-revolutionary Russia and his gradual disillusionment with the Bolsheviks. The book is admired both for its literary qualities as well as its documentary value.

Berkman spent his last years in France, eking out a precarious living as an editor and translator. He was not well-received by the French government which, aware of his past, frequently served him with expulsion orders. His main work during this period was "", published in 1929. This book was later published under the name "What is Communist Anarchism?" and finally shortened to "What is Anarchism?". "What is Anarchism?" has become one of the best-known introductions to anarchism in print.

Suffering from poor health, Berkman underwent two unsuccessful operations for a prostate condition. In constant pain, forced to rely on the financial help of friends, and reliant on the care of his companion Emmy Eckstein, Berkman decided to commit suicide. In the early hours of 28 June 1936, unable to endure the physical pain of his ailment, Berkman shot himself with a handgun, but he failed to make a clean job of it. The bullet lodged in his spinal column, paralyzing him. Emma Goldman rushed to Nice to be at his side. He sank into a coma in the afternoon, and died at 10 o'clock that night. Berkman died weeks before the start of the Spanish Revolution, modern history's clearest example of an anarcho-syndicalist revolution. In July 1937, Goldman wrote that seeing his principles in practice in Spain "would have rejuvenated [Berkman] and given him new strength, new hope. If only he had lived a little longer!" [Goldman (1937)]

Bibliography

Books by Berkman

*"Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist". New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association, 1912.
*"The Bolshevik Myth (Diary 1920-1922)". New York: Boni and Liveright, 1925.
*"". New York: Vanguard Press, 1929.
**Also known as "What Is Communist Anarchism?" and "What Is Anarchism?"

Edited collections

*"Life of an Anarchist: The Alexander Berkman Reader". New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1992. ISBN 0941423786.
*"The Blast: Complete Collection of the Incendiary San Francisco Bi-Monthly Anarchist Newspaper". Oakland: AK Press, 2005. ISBN 1904859089.

References

ources

*Avrich, Paul (1980). "The Modern School Movement". Princeton: Princeton University Press.
*Avrich, Paul (1988). "Anarchist Portraits". Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691006091.
*Avrich, Paul (1996). "Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America". Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691044945.
*Berkman, Alexander (2003). "What Is Anarchism?". Oakland: AK Press. ISBN 1902593707.
*Goldman, Emma [1931] (1970). "Living My Life". New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 0486225437.
*Goldman, Emma (1937). "Preface" to Alexander Berkman's "Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism". 2nd ed. New York: Freie Arbeiter Stimme. OCLC|4089944.
*Sanger, Margaret (2003). "The Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger". ed. Esther Katz. Champaign: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 025202737X.
*Zinn, Howard, and Anthony Arnove (2004). "Voices of a People's History of the United States". New York: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1583226281.

Further reading

*cite book |last=Avrich |first=Paul |authorlink=Paul Avrich |title=Anarchist Portraits |year=1988 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=0691006091 |chapter=Alexander Berkman: A Sketch
*cite book |last=Drinnon |first=Richard and Anna Maria, eds. |title=Nowhere At Home: Letters from Exile of Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman |year=1975 |publisher=Schocken Books |location=New York |oclc=1055309
*cite book |last=Glassgold |first=Peter, ed. |title=Anarchy! An Anthology of Emma Goldman's Mother Earth |year=2001 |publisher=Counterpoint |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=1582430403
*cite book |last=Goldman |first=Emma |authorlink=Emma Goldman |title=Living My Life |origyear=1931 |year=1970 |publisher=Dover Publications |location=New York |isbn=0486225437

External links

*
* [http://libcom.org/tags/alexander-berkman Alexander Berkman Archive] at Libcom
* [http://www.spunk.org/library/writers/berkman/ Alexander Berkman Archive] at Spunk Library
* Copies of Berkman's books in PDF format at Anarchy is Order:
** [http://www.anarchyisorder.org/CD%234/Lay-outed%20texts/PDF-versions/Berkman,%20Alexander%20-%20The%20bolshevik%20myth%20(1925).pdf "The Bolshevik Myth" (PDF)]
** [http://www.anarchyisorder.org/CD%234/Lay-outed%20texts/PDF-versions/Berkman,%20Alexander%20-%20Now%20and%20after%20(ABC%20of%20communist%20anarchi.pdf "Now and After:The ABC of Communist Anarchism" (PDF)]
** [http://www.anarchyisorder.org/CD%234/Lay-outed%20texts/PDF-versions/Berkman,%20Alexander%20-%20%20reader.pdf "Alexander Berkman Reader" (PDF)] , a collection of articles and pamphlets
** [http://www.anarchyisorder.org/CD%234/Lay-outed%20texts/PDF-versions/Berkman,%20Alexander%20-%20Reader%20on%20the%20Russian%20Revolution.pdf "Alexander Berkman Reader on the Russian Revolution" (PDF)] , includes "The Bolshevik Myth" and several pamphlets
* Emma Goldman, [http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/goldman/berkman.html "A Sketch of Alexander Berkman"] , 1922.
* Emma Goldman, [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/Writings/Essays/berkman.html "Alexander Berkman's Last Days"] , July 12, 1936.
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