A-Infos (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #3-26 - A memorial tribute to Vsevolod Eichenbaum Volin (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The biographies of Mollie Steimer (1897-1980) and Volin (1882-1945) 
crossed paths several times: anarchists expelled from Bolshevik Russia, 
the two met first in Berlin and then in Paris, where they spearheaded 
solidarity initiatives for persecuted anarchists in Russia, Italy, 
Spain, Portugal, and Bulgaria. Unlike Volin, who chose to remain in 
Europe during the Second World War, Mollie Steimer moved to Mexico with 
her companion Senya Fleshin, who during the long years of exile had 
revealed a remarkable talent for photography. There she learned of 
Volin's death, which had occurred on September 18, 1945, in Paris. In 
memory of Volin, she wrote the moving text, which is presented below, 
translated into Italian for the first time. The publishing house Zero in 
Condotta recently published a new Italian translation of Volin's The 
Unknown Revolution, which, according to Steimer, is a fundamental work 
for (re)discovering the role of anarchists in the Russian Revolution.

There is a moving and pure quality in the lives of great Russian 
revolutionary figures, such as Kropotkin, Perovskaya[Sofia Lvovna 
Perovskaya, executed in 1881 for her part in the assassination of Tsar 
Alexander II, Translator's note], and others, that inspires love and 
respect. The very act of voluntarily giving up an easy, comfortable, and 
pleasant life to embrace a risky and difficult one is already a 
testament to high moral character. Leaving such a comfortable life for 
one of harsh, incessant struggle and sacrifice in defense of a higher 
conception of justice is the mark of a true personality, of a superior 
human being. Vsevolod Eikhenbaum (Volin) was such a person.

If such an attitude is not merely an appearance or a false 
representation, but expresses profound feelings; if one faces the most 
terrible trials for the liberation of the most oppressed class; if one 
endures deportation, torment, and misfortune without losing one's 
resolve; if, in the most difficult and dangerous situations, the 
individual maintains his convictions and the desire to continue the 
struggle; if the dark grip of poverty envelops his home, his six 
children, and his companion, who met a sad death, and he does not waver 
in the defense of his ideals, always remaining on the front lines, never 
abandoning the fight until death has stopped his heart and closed his 
eyes, one can say that this is the sublime in the purest sense of the 
word. Such was Voline's life.

How do these rare individuals come into being? It's difficult to say. 
They cannot be understood by studying ordinary human beings. They live 
separate, exceptional lives, untouched by the passions and desires of 
the majority, their goals, interests, and concerns. To understand such a 
person, it is necessary to consider them from two perspectives: the 
intimate, internal perspective, and the external. The first tells us 
about their psychology, their sensibilities, their passions and 
feelings; the second shows their response to the world around them, to 
the social scene, to human suffering, to universal injustice, to the 
constant misfortune of the working class. Both aspects merge within the 
individual, creating the personality of the fighter, the revolutionary. 
In Voline's case, there was an indomitable spirit, a great emotional 
drive, a profound love for humanity, a strong desire to transcend, an 
inexhaustible readiness to fight. All this in the service of the eternal 
cause symbolized by Prometheus in his struggle against titans and gods 
in defense of humanity's freedom. This was the path Volin voluntarily 
chose. His fruitful life is comparable to that of the most devoted, 
purest fighters of the international revolutionary movement of all times 
and all countries.

Volin's background

Vsevolod Eikhenbaum Volin was born in Voronezh, Russia, in August 1882. 
His parents were doctors who lived a comfortable life. The famous 
mathematician and poet Eikhenbaum was his grandfather, and Boris 
Eikhenbaum, the great Russian literary critic, was his only brother. 
Vsevolod graduated from Voronezh Lyceum and enrolled at St. Petersburg 
University. He did well in his studies, but over time he lost interest 
in his chosen profession because it was unhelpful to help the suffering 
Russian people. He dropped out when he was nearing the end of his course 
to become a lawyer. His parents tried desperately to change his mind, 
but his decision was irrevocable: he separated from them and joined the 
Socialist Revolutionary Party.

His greatest desire was to raise the people to a higher level of living 
and culture. He organized workers' and peasants' clubs, devoting all his 
time and energy to them. He created libraries, organized schools, and 
instituted a special adult education program to achieve this goal. One 
of his most significant activities was direct and personal propaganda. 
He held hundreds of lectures, edited periodicals, and published hundreds 
of leaflets. When asked he should write something important, like a 
book, he replied that the daily struggle came first, and that only after 
he was over 70 would he dedicate himself to writing something serious.

He never wanted to accept money from his parents, preferring to earn a 
living by giving private lessons. His attitude towards this became 
definitively clear when he refused to inherit a large sum left to him by 
his parents upon their death. Volin donated the entire sum to the 
movement to be used for the revolutionary struggle. Long discussions 
with some of his comrades did not change his mind. His response was 
always the same: "It's not mine. It doesn't belong to me." However, 
someone familiar with the difficult situation Volin's family faced 
managed to give his wife 7,000 rubles, which were welcomed into their 
home, as bare as water in a drought.

His militancy in the movement

Voline was a militant and committed member of the revolutionary movement 
for many long years. His activity and dynamism knew no respite. He 
forgot to take care of his most basic needs in the frenzy of struggle. 
He could never say no to the demands of the movement. Friends, family, 
and work-everything was put aside to fulfill the task assigned to him.
He actively participated in the revolutionary movement of 1905. He was 
one of the organizers and a member of the Workers' and Peasants' Soviet. 
That same year, while taking part in the Kronstadt uprising, he was 
arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Thanks to the 
influence and efforts of his family, his prison sentence was commuted, 
and he was sent into exile in the remote and inhospitable regions of 
Siberia. After a series of incidents, he managed to escape to France. 
Undoubtedly thanks to his varied experiences, during his time in France 
he came to the conclusion that the state could never guarantee freedom 
and well-being to the people. He declared himself an anarchist. From 
that moment on he devoted all his enthusiasm and knowledge to this 
movement that he loved and for which he worked for the rest of his life.

This evolution is understandable given his temperament and sensitivity. 
He detested social conventions and fought against them; he tolerated no 
injustice; when Voline spoke of the people, he didn't limit himself to 
artificial and soulless slogans: he loved the people, the suffering 
masses who earned their bread by the sweat of their brow. Like Pushkin, 
Nekrasov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and others, he intensely loved the 
Russian people and fought for their liberation. The people were his 
primary concern, his concerns, his hopes. When the First World War broke 
out, he sided against it and was expelled from France. He managed, with 
great difficulty, to reach the United States, where he joined the 
Russian anarcho-syndicalists, helping them with their newspapers, giving 
lectures, and organizing meetings. But he didn't stay there long. As 
soon as the Russian Revolution broke out in 1917, he was among the first 
to return to his country. Together with other comrades, he wasted no 
time in organizing the Anarcho-Syndicalist Propaganda Union. During this 
period, he developed an extraordinary level of activity. He edited the 
newspaper "Golos Truda"[The Voice of Labor], conducted an intense 
propaganda campaign, and actively participated in revolutionary 
activities. In short, he lived through the October Revolution.

Voline vehemently opposed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk[March 3, 1918, 
Translator's note]and fought against the Bolshevik position. The 
anarchist movement protested this treaty and called on the people to 
fight against the Austro-German invasion of Ukraine and White 
Russia[Unlike Lenin, who was willing to quickly conclude a harsh peace 
with Germany with the aim of consolidating the Bolsheviks' newly gained 
power in the country, in February/March 1918 Voline and the rest of the 
Russian anarchist movement advocated transforming the war against the 
Central Powers into guerrilla warfare to contaminate the opposing front 
and further broaden the revolutionary process, Translator's note]. When 
Voline finished drafting this manifesto, he resigned as editor of the 
newspaper, declaring: "When I call on the masses to fight, I must march 
with them." And he went to the front.

Volin and Makhnovshchyna

Several months after his departure, his comrades asked him to return to 
organize the Ukrainian Confederation of Nabat. This movement aimed to 
unite the various tendencies among anarchists to create a combative and 
creative organization. Voline returned promptly and placed himself at 
the forefront of Nabat, once again devoting himself very actively to 
propaganda. During this period, the counterrevolution was gaining great 
strength in Ukraine, and the peasant army led by Makhno was fighting 
desperately against the reaction. At that time, a congress of the 
Confederation was held in Elisavetgrad[now Kropyvnytskyi, Translator's 
note: Volin attended it]. When he and a group of comrades were returning 
from the meeting, they were captured by a counterrevolutionary band. 
They were on the verge of execution when Makhno's army arrived and 
rescued them. Although well-known, this was the first time Voline had 
established contact with the fighters, with the peasant army.

He immediately recognized the courage and idealism of Makhno's movement. 
He joined them and did everything possible to educate them and make them 
worthy of the ideal they represented and of their comrades engaged in 
the struggle. He was an active fighter against Denikin's gangs. As soon 
as the counterrevolutionary forces were exterminated, the Bolsheviks 
arrested the most active figures in Makhno's movement, including Voline, 
who was sentenced to death. However, thanks to the intervention of some 
elderly immigrants who were part of the Russian government, Lenin 
ordered that he not be executed.

Volin was taken to prison in Moscow, where he remained until Nestor 
Makhno reached an agreement with the Bolsheviks for a joint struggle 
against Wrangel's White armies, on the condition that Volin and his 
comrades be released from prison and granted permission to hold a 
congress of Russian anarchists in Kharkiv. Volin was released after the 
terms and conditions were accepted and signed by both parties. He 
organized the congress along with other comrades. The congress began. 
However, the second Bolshevik betrayal occurred immediately. The 
permission to hold the congress was nothing but a crude lie. As soon as 
the counterrevolutionary movement was crushed, all those who had 
participated in the anarchist congress, including Volin, were arrested. 
Volin was again taken to a Moscow prison, where he declared a hunger 
strike along with other comrades.

Shortly thereafter, an international congress of the Profintern (the 
Communist International of Labour Unions) was held in Moscow. Some 
foreign delegates, particularly anarcho-syndicalists, protested the 
persecution of undisputed revolutionaries like Voline and other 
imprisoned comrades. Thanks to their intervention, the latter were 
released from prison and expelled from Russia, their home country.

Volin's return to France

After his expulsion, Voline settled in Berlin. There he continued his 
life's work. He edited the Anarchist Messenger and published a large 
number of articles in the libertarian press. However, his financial 
situation was precarious. Some comrades believed he would have better 
luck in France. In 1925, he obtained permission to return to France. 
After settling in Paris, he resumed publication of the Anarchist 
Messenger , collaborated with several French newspapers, gave lectures, 
and did everything possible to support the movement and the comrades who 
needed his help.

When World War II broke out, he was in Marseille. He refused to get 
involved in capitalist wars. He had a personal theory to support this 
position. His reasoning was this: "The destructive course of the power 
system began in 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War. This 
destructive period can last for decades; each new war will be worse and 
more terrible than the previous one. This is so and will be so, because 
the privileged classes will employ ever greater forces to protect their 
privileges. Therefore, no matter how critical the situation, the 
constructive forces of the new society must have nothing to do with such 
wars other than to continue to prepare the masses by pointing out the 
great changes that must be made in society: to prepare them for the 
social revolution, to show that the earth's riches should be organized 
for the benefit of all humanity, to point the way to creating a 
healthier and better world." This was why he felt he had no involvement 
in World War II.

As one can easily imagine, it was extremely difficult for a foreigner to 
maintain such a position. Volin was the object of deep hatred. He was 
relentlessly persecuted by the police. He could not find work, had no 
home, and often had nothing to eat. However, in these moments of 
poverty, Volin took advantage of his enforced idleness to spend time in 
the library and write his History of the Russian Revolution (later 
published as The Unknown Revolution ).

Fortunately, before leaving France for Mexico, my companion 
Senya[Fleshin, Translator's note]and I stayed briefly in Marseille and 
shared our rations with Volin. Volin read to us from his manuscript, 
History of the Russian Revolution . It is a well-written work and a very 
interesting document. He was happy to have managed to finish it. He 
believed this work would inform the public of the many activities and 
sacrifices of the anarchists in support of the Russian Revolution. We 
urged him to come with us to Mexico. His response was: "It would be too 
far from home. Whatever happens in a revolutionary sense will happen in 
Europe. I must stay here." We never imagined that this would be our last 
separation. Volin's physical and moral endurance, his iron will, and his 
unwavering steadfastness made us believe he could defy eternity.

Aspects of Volin's character

We quote the following paragraph from the prologue to the History of 
Makhno's Movement, a section of The Unknown Revolution[actually, it is 
Voline's 1923 preface to Pyotr Arshinov's History of the Makhnovist 
Movement , Translator's note]. It is a study of great beauty, common 
sense, and extraordinary historiography: "The epic of the Makhnovshchina 
is too serious, powerful, and tragic, bathed in too much heroic blood, 
too profound, complex, and distinctive, to allow anyone to judge and 
describe it 'lightly,' relying only on stories and contradictory 
accounts from different people. Describing it solely on the basis of 
documents cannot be our task, because documents are dead things and do 
not always and entirely reflect real life. That will be the task of 
future historians, who will have no other material at their disposal 
beyond those documents. Contemporaries must stay close to the facts, and 
also close to themselves, since history will demand much from them. They 
must refrain from judging and describing events in which they did not 
directly participate. Furthermore, they must not so much rely on 
descriptions and citations of documents "to make history," but rather 
concern themselves with transcribing their personal experiences, when 
they have any. Otherwise, they risk obscuring the deeper essence, the 
soul of the facts, or, even worse, omitting it, thus completely 
deceiving the reader and the historian. Naturally, their immediate 
experience may also contain errors and inaccuracies. But in our case, 
this would not be of great importance. They would provide a vivid and 
faithful picture of the events, making their essential nature clear, and 
that is what matters. Later, by comparing their descriptions with 
documents and other material, it would be easy to eliminate errors. 
Therefore, the account of those who participated in and witnessed the 
events is of particular importance. The more complete and profound the 
personal experience, the more important the work will be, and the sooner 
it must be completed. If those who participated in the events can also 
access documents and information from other witnesses, the story will 
acquire a meaning of primary and essential importance. Don't these lines 
have the value of a historical treatise? Don't they push you to want to 
read his Unknown Revolution?

Another significant episode

At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Volin sided with the armed 
people. The Libertarian Movement[in fact, only after the fall of 
Catalonia did the CNT, the FAI, and the Iberian Federation of 
Libertarian Youths (FIJL) found the MLE (Spanish Libertine Movement) in 
France]and the CNT (the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist organization) 
immediately offered him the editorship of the magazine that would be 
published in Paris. Volin thus had a good position and received a good 
salary. Suffice it to say that he stopped writing and devoted all his 
efforts to publishing "El Antifascista"[perhaps Mollie Steimer meant the 
newspaper "L'Espagne antifasciste"]. However, when the Libertarian 
Movement and the CNT decided to participate in the government, he wasted 
no time in resigning, expressing his categorical opinion that this step 
was a grave mistake. Result: he was left without a job and without a 
magazine.

Volin had such a fruitful, dramatic, intense, and rich life that we 
regret treating it so superficially. Volin deserves much more. However, 
we have our limitations, and we will give this sketch a final touch. 
Volin never lost his faith and enthusiasm, even in the darkest moments, 
in the most extreme poverty, or in danger. In May 1945, when he was very 
ill after five years of hunger and cold, completely exhausted 
physically, he wrote to us about his publishing plans. In the letter he 
said: "I don't need anything special. I would be grateful if you could 
send me a fountain pen, as I have been unable to write for lack of one. 
It would be very helpful if you could send me a monthly contribution for 
the anarchist publication I have in mind." This was his last letter. 
Then we received the shocking news of his death. That's all. We have 
lost one of the best and purest idealists our movement has ever had. He 
was a courageous revolutionary and an anarchist without reservations or 
conditions, as well as a great friend and comrade to all of us who were 
fortunate enough to know and work with him.

Original text location: Mollie Steimer, "A Memorial Tribute to Vsevolod 
Eikhenbaum Voline," "Estudios Sociales," October 15, 1945, in Fighters 
for Anarchism: Mollie Steimer and Senya Fleshin, edited by Abe 
Bluestein, Libertarian Publications Group,[USA], 1983, pp. 70-79. 
Translation by DB.

Mollie Steimer

Introduction and translation by DB

Why a reprint?

Zero Editions in Conduct

With the first print run of Volin's "The Unknown Revolution" sold out, 
Zero in Condotta has reprinted another, due out this week. But this 
isn't just a simple reprint; the pages have increased from 560 to 608 
with the same format, the text has been revised-where necessary-and new 
content has been added. The biographical notes are now by the original 
editors of the work,  Les Amis de Volin , who published the first 
edition in 1947. Three appendices have also been added regarding 
significant aspects of Volin's life: his relationship with the anarchist 
press, memories of his son Léo, and, finally, a chronology of the events 
that intertwined and filled his life. We wanted to further enrich a work 
so important and significant for the history of the Russian and 
international anarchist movement, which remains available under the same 
conditions as the first printing.

https://umanitanova.org/un-tributo-commemorativo-a-vsevolod-eichenbaum-volin/
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