Augustin Souchy
Encyclopedia
Augustin Souchy was a German
anarchist
, antimilitarist
, and journalist.
. From April to November 1920 he traveled to Russia to meet with Vladimir Lenin
as a representative of syndicalists and to attend Comintern
. During this time he visited one of the most important anarchist theorists of the day, Peter Kropotkin
. Kropotkin warned against revolutionary groups using a central party as an instrument of conquest of power.
he organized within the International Workers Association
, which in itself was an international organization to counter the Bolshevik Profintern
. During this time he met a number of anarchists from different countries, who repeatedly found refuge in Berlin, including the Russian anarchists who fled the Bolsheviks or Spanish anarchists such as Durruti. After the overthrow of the Spanish monarchy in 1931 he undertook several trips to Spain under the behalf of the IWA. In a letter to Emma Goldman
in 1936 he wrote:
"In the last five years I was here [Spain] five times. Every time there was a movement. April 1931; revolution. Uprising in December 1931. December 1932; general strike. April 1933, general strike again. In October 1934 Catalonia rises against Castilian hegemony. 1935 ferments it. February 1936 overthrow of Gil-Robles
. New uprising... Today great meeting will be held in the monumental Kampwerth bull arena. Organized by anarchist youth, libertarian youth. I will come forth to this meeting to speak. The arena can hold 100,000 I have been assured."
The meeting was cancelled, as Franco
and his military conspirators staged their coup d'état the night before the event was to be held.
by the Nazis, Souchy fled to Paris and lived in Paris. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
he tried to send money and weapons to the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist union CNT-FAI. Later, he wrote his most influential books on collectivization in Anarchist Catalonia
. It was in Spain that he wrote his work The Tragic Week in May, one the few firsthand accounts of the Barcelona May Days
of 1937 available. After the defeat of the Spanish Revolution
in 1939 Souchy attempted returned to France but was detained for two years in a prison camp.
In 1942 he escaped to Mexico, where he lived until 1948 and published numerous books about libertarian socialism
and the Spanish collectives. In 1952 he traveled to Israel and studied kibbutzim. Following his experience there, Souchy traveled to Cuba and was briefly involved with the very lively Cuban anarchist movement
. In the late 1950s, he undertook an unsponsored lecture tour of Latin America to try and advance trade unionism. In 1963 the International Labour Organization
hired him as an educational expert. Until then, Souchy had worked exclusively in the anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist movement. Smiling, Souchy said "to imagine, at 71 years old, when others had long since retired, I got my first job."
among others and was featured in radio broadcasts. As early as 1950, Souchy had begun to publish his work in Germany and he continued to write for the next 20 years. In 1983, Souchy met with Clara Thalmann
for the first time since 1937 and returned to Spain for six weeks with filmmakers to document where both had participated in the struggle against fascism. In 1984 the film was published under the title The Long Hope (Die lange Hoffnung).
On January 1, 1984, Augustin Souchy died of pneumonia at the age of 91 years in a Red Cross hospital in Munich. There was no funeral and no grave, his body was donated to science.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
, antimilitarist
Antimilitarism
Antimilitarism is a doctrine commonly found in the anarchist and, more globally, in the socialist movement, which may both be characterized as internationalist movements. It relies heavily on a critical theory of nationalism and imperialism, and was an explicit goal of the First and Second...
, and journalist.
First World War
At the outbreak of the First World War he moved in Austria. From there he was deported to and forced to wear a sign around his neck that read "Beware: Anarchist!", which later became the title of his political memoirs. Souchy then moved to Sweden where he experienced passport problems and was imprisoned by the Swedish government in response to his antimilitarist propagandizing. He escaped prison and traveled illegally to Denmark and Norway. In 1919 he returned to Germany and joined the anarcho-syndicalist Free Workers' Union of GermanyFree Workers' Union of Germany
The Free Workers' Union of Germany was an anarcho-syndicalist trade union, which existed from the renaming of the Free Association of German Trade Unions on September 15, 1919 to its official disbandment in January 1933 after the Nazis came into power, although many of its members continued to be...
. From April to November 1920 he traveled to Russia to meet with Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
as a representative of syndicalists and to attend Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
. During this time he visited one of the most important anarchist theorists of the day, Peter Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, economist, geographer, author and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists. Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between...
. Kropotkin warned against revolutionary groups using a central party as an instrument of conquest of power.
Weimar Republic
In 1921 he worked in France and fathered a child, Jean with Therese Souchy but was again expelled from the country for being an anarchist. He returned to Germany and worked as an editor of the newspaper The Syndicalist (Der Syndikalist) until the early 30s. Together with Rudolf RockerRudolf Rocker
Johann Rudolf Rocker was an anarcho-syndicalist writer and activist. A self-professed anarchist without adjectives, Rocker believed that anarchist schools of thought represented "only different methods of economy" and that the first objective for anarchists was "to secure the personal and social...
he organized within the International Workers Association
International Workers Association
The International Workers' Association is an international federation of anarcho-syndicalist labour unions and initiatives based primarily in Europe and Latin America....
, which in itself was an international organization to counter the Bolshevik Profintern
Profintern
The Red International of Labor Unions , commonly known as the Profintern, was an international body established by the Communist International with the aim of coordinating Communist activities within trade unions...
. During this time he met a number of anarchists from different countries, who repeatedly found refuge in Berlin, including the Russian anarchists who fled the Bolsheviks or Spanish anarchists such as Durruti. After the overthrow of the Spanish monarchy in 1931 he undertook several trips to Spain under the behalf of the IWA. In a letter to Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
in 1936 he wrote:
"In the last five years I was here [Spain] five times. Every time there was a movement. April 1931; revolution. Uprising in December 1931. December 1932; general strike. April 1933, general strike again. In October 1934 Catalonia rises against Castilian hegemony. 1935 ferments it. February 1936 overthrow of Gil-Robles
José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones
José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones was a prominent Spanish politician in the period leading up to the Spanish Civil War....
. New uprising... Today great meeting will be held in the monumental Kampwerth bull arena. Organized by anarchist youth, libertarian youth. I will come forth to this meeting to speak. The arena can hold 100,000 I have been assured."
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
and his military conspirators staged their coup d'état the night before the event was to be held.
Exile
A few days before the arrest of his friend, anarchist writer Erich MühsamErich Mühsam
Erich Mühsam was a German-Jewish anarchist essayist, poet and playwright. He emerged at the end of World War I as one of the leading agitators for a federated Bavarian Soviet Republic....
by the Nazis, Souchy fled to Paris and lived in Paris. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
he tried to send money and weapons to the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist union CNT-FAI. Later, he wrote his most influential books on collectivization in Anarchist Catalonia
Anarchist Catalonia
Anarchist Catalonia was the part of Catalonia controlled by the anarchist Confederación Nacional del Trabajo during the Spanish Civil War.-Anarchists enter government:...
. It was in Spain that he wrote his work The Tragic Week in May, one the few firsthand accounts of the Barcelona May Days
Barcelona May Days
Barcelona May Days were a period of civil violence in Catalonia, between May 3 and May 8, 1937, when factions on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War engaged each other in street battles in the city of Barcelona.Clashes began when units of the Assault Guard – under the...
of 1937 available. After the defeat of the Spanish Revolution
Spanish Revolution
The Spanish Revolution was a workers' social revolution that began during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and resulted in the widespread implementation of anarchist and more broadly libertarian socialist organizational principles throughout various portions of the country for two to...
in 1939 Souchy attempted returned to France but was detained for two years in a prison camp.
In 1942 he escaped to Mexico, where he lived until 1948 and published numerous books about libertarian socialism
Libertarian socialism
Libertarian socialism is a group of political philosophies that promote a non-hierarchical, non-bureaucratic, stateless society without private property in the means of production...
and the Spanish collectives. In 1952 he traveled to Israel and studied kibbutzim. Following his experience there, Souchy traveled to Cuba and was briefly involved with the very lively Cuban anarchist movement
Anarchism in Cuba
Anarchism as a social movement in Cuba held great influence with the working classes during the 19th and early 20th century. The movement was particularly strong following the abolition of slavery in 1886, until it was repressed first in 1925 by President Gerardo Machado, and finally by Fidel...
. In the late 1950s, he undertook an unsponsored lecture tour of Latin America to try and advance trade unionism. In 1963 the International Labour Organization
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues pertaining to international labour standards. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Its secretariat — the people who are employed by it throughout the world — is known as the...
hired him as an educational expert. Until then, Souchy had worked exclusively in the anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist movement. Smiling, Souchy said "to imagine, at 71 years old, when others had long since retired, I got my first job."
Return to Germany
In 1966 Souchy settled in Munich and was frequently interviewed by the German media in newspapers such as Der SpiegelDer Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
among others and was featured in radio broadcasts. As early as 1950, Souchy had begun to publish his work in Germany and he continued to write for the next 20 years. In 1983, Souchy met with Clara Thalmann
Clara Thalmann
Clara Thalmann was an anarchist and fighter in the Spanish Civil War.- Early life :Clara Thalmann was one of ten children of a working class family in Basel, Switzerland. Her father was German Socialist and internationalist who fled to Switzerland as a result of the Franco-Prussian War...
for the first time since 1937 and returned to Spain for six weeks with filmmakers to document where both had participated in the struggle against fascism. In 1984 the film was published under the title The Long Hope (Die lange Hoffnung).
On January 1, 1984, Augustin Souchy died of pneumonia at the age of 91 years in a Red Cross hospital in Munich. There was no funeral and no grave, his body was donated to science.