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Ο μπολσεβίκικος μύθος
Το συγκλονιστικό ημερολόγιο του Μπέρκμαν στα 2 χρόνια (1920-1921) που έζησε, εξόριστος από τις ΗΠΑ, στη Σοβιετική Ένωση. Μια μοναδική μαρτυρία για τα πρώτα χρόνια του μπολσεβίκικου καθεστώτος και της ρώσικης κοινωνίας.
Ο Μπέρκμαν μαζί με τη σύντροφό του Έμμα Γκόλντμαν και ακόμα 250 περίπου άτομα εξορίζονται από τις ΗΠΑ και φτάνουν γεμάτοι ελπίδες στη Σοβιετική Ένωση. Πρόθεσή τους να βοηθήσουν στην οικοδόμηση του σοσιαλισμού. Σταδιακά απογοητεύονται, έως ότου -μετά την βίαιη καταστολή της εξέγερσης της Κροστάνδης- αποφασίζουν να φύγουν:
"Γκρίζες είναι οι μέρες που περνούν. Μία μία έσβησαν κι οι τελευταίες αναλαμπές ελπίδας. Ο τρόμος κι ο δεσποτισμός συνέτριψαν τη ζωή που γεννήθηκε τον Οκτώβρη. Τα συνθήματα της Επανάστασης εγκαταλείφθηκαν και τα ιδεώδη της πνίγηκαν στο αίμα του λαού. Η ανάσα του Χθες καταδικάζει εκατομμύρια ανθρώπους σε θάνατο κι η σκιά του Σήμερα σκεπάζει τη χώρα σαν πέπλο βαρύ. Η Δικτατορία ποδοπάτησε τις μάζες. Η Επανάσταση πέθανε. Το πνεύμα της κατέληξε φωνή βοώντος εν τη ερήμω.
Ο Μπέρκμαν μαζί με τη σύντροφό του Έμμα Γκόλντμαν και ακόμα 250 περίπου άτομα εξορίζονται από τις ΗΠΑ και φτάνουν γεμάτοι ελπίδες στη Σοβιετική Ένωση. Πρόθεσή τους να βοηθήσουν στην οικοδόμηση του σοσιαλισμού. Σταδιακά απογοητεύονται, έως ότου -μετά την βίαιη καταστολή της εξέγερσης της Κροστάνδης- αποφασίζουν να φύγουν:
"Γκρίζες είναι οι μέρες που περνούν. Μία μία έσβησαν κι οι τελευταίες αναλαμπές ελπίδας. Ο τρόμος κι ο δεσποτισμός συνέτριψαν τη ζωή που γεννήθηκε τον Οκτώβρη. Τα συνθήματα της Επανάστασης εγκαταλείφθηκαν και τα ιδεώδη της πνίγηκαν στο αίμα του λαού. Η ανάσα του Χθες καταδικάζει εκατομμύρια ανθρώπους σε θάνατο κι η σκιά του Σήμερα σκεπάζει τη χώρα σαν πέπλο βαρύ. Η Δικτατορία ποδοπάτησε τις μάζες. Η Επανάσταση πέθανε. Το πνεύμα της κατέληξε φωνή βοώντος εν τη ερήμω.
286 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1925
19 people are currently reading
680 people want to read
About the author
Alexander Berkman
72 books107 followersAlexander Berkman was an anarchist known for his political activism and writing. He was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century.
Berkman was born in Vilna in the Russian Empire (present-day Vilnius, Lithuania) and emigrated to the United States in 1888. He lived in New York City, where he became involved in the anarchist movement. He was the lover and lifelong friend of anarchist Emma Goldman. In 1892, Alexander Berkman tried to assassinate Henry Clay Frick for his role in violently suppressing the Homestead Steel Strike for which he served 14 years in prison. His experience in prison was the basis for his first book, Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist.
After his release from prison, Berkman served as editor of Goldman's anarchist journal, Mother Earth, and he established his own journal, The Blast. In 1917, Berkman and Goldman were sentenced to two years in jail for conspiracy against the newly instated draft. After their release from prison, they were arrested—along with hundreds of others—and deported to Russia. Initially supportive of that country's Bolshevik revolution, Berkman soon voiced his opposition to the Soviet's use of terror after seizing power and their repression of fellow revolutionaries. In 1925, he published a book about his experiences, The Bolshevik Myth.
While living in France, Berkman continued his work in support of the anarchist movement, producing the classic exposition of anarchist principles, Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism. Suffering from ill health, Berkman committed suicide in 1936.
More: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldman/...
http://www.nndb.com/people/137/000165...
Berkman was born in Vilna in the Russian Empire (present-day Vilnius, Lithuania) and emigrated to the United States in 1888. He lived in New York City, where he became involved in the anarchist movement. He was the lover and lifelong friend of anarchist Emma Goldman. In 1892, Alexander Berkman tried to assassinate Henry Clay Frick for his role in violently suppressing the Homestead Steel Strike for which he served 14 years in prison. His experience in prison was the basis for his first book, Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist.
After his release from prison, Berkman served as editor of Goldman's anarchist journal, Mother Earth, and he established his own journal, The Blast. In 1917, Berkman and Goldman were sentenced to two years in jail for conspiracy against the newly instated draft. After their release from prison, they were arrested—along with hundreds of others—and deported to Russia. Initially supportive of that country's Bolshevik revolution, Berkman soon voiced his opposition to the Soviet's use of terror after seizing power and their repression of fellow revolutionaries. In 1925, he published a book about his experiences, The Bolshevik Myth.
While living in France, Berkman continued his work in support of the anarchist movement, producing the classic exposition of anarchist principles, Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism. Suffering from ill health, Berkman committed suicide in 1936.
More: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldman/...
http://www.nndb.com/people/137/000165...
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 17, 2017
Alexander Beckman was clearly very disheartened by the way that the October Revolution turned out and his analysis in The Bolshevik Myth is a classic of political theory and a warning about all forms of totalitarianism including Drumpfism.
September 22, 2024
Got a lot out of this. Very beautifully written for a diary. Consistently tragic, the death of an optimistic man’s faith in liberated Russia, facing the corruption of the Bolshevik government and military at many levels, both in attempting to collaborate and work with them and speaking to peasants, Jews and intellectuals who were suffering at the hands of ruthless and oppressive authority in a starving nation.
I expected this to be more about Berkmans anarchism and personal struggles with Bolshevik orthodoxy and suppression of free speech, but the most powerful stuff in the book are anecdotes from people he encounters in his travels and windows into their horrors. His open and forgiving attitude towards everyone he meets brings this out of people, and is what he seems to hope is the spirit of the new Russia. It is crushing to see him see how far from the truth this is.
It was also interesting to get a bit of the history of this period that I am not really familiar with. Many leftists acknowledge the tragedy of the USSR only as the result of Stalins ascent to power and transformation of a previously sound revolutionary government. This book provides glimpses of Lenin and Trotskys own brutalities and presents a project doomed from the beginning.
I expected this to be more about Berkmans anarchism and personal struggles with Bolshevik orthodoxy and suppression of free speech, but the most powerful stuff in the book are anecdotes from people he encounters in his travels and windows into their horrors. His open and forgiving attitude towards everyone he meets brings this out of people, and is what he seems to hope is the spirit of the new Russia. It is crushing to see him see how far from the truth this is.
It was also interesting to get a bit of the history of this period that I am not really familiar with. Many leftists acknowledge the tragedy of the USSR only as the result of Stalins ascent to power and transformation of a previously sound revolutionary government. This book provides glimpses of Lenin and Trotskys own brutalities and presents a project doomed from the beginning.
April 25, 2024
I would recommend anyone and everyone read this book.
It is so tight, no words are wasted.
As a diary it is extraordinary. It's so visceral and beautifully written. It is so thematic, watching this story of revolutionary idealism ( at least the idealism in the russian revolution I imagine Berkman remained an anarchist idealist all.his life) be slowly chipped away at and crushed by the weight of Bolshevik despotism, thuggery and endless, endless bureaucracy. It is heartbreaking and horrifying and seeing hopes slowly drain out of people, who then cling on to new hopes, that are then crushed is incredibly potent and moving and crushing. So much tension, so much encroaching morbidity but some beauty in the sadness of it all.
The situation in Russia and Ukraine during this book is harrowing and cruelty is relentless.
The story of Ukraine is almost disgusting how much it now mirrors the same pain again almost one hundred years later. I do not know how people still.live there
The writing style is magnetic, the fact it is a diary is crazy.
Definitely definitely read it if you have any inclination to.
It is so tight, no words are wasted.
As a diary it is extraordinary. It's so visceral and beautifully written. It is so thematic, watching this story of revolutionary idealism ( at least the idealism in the russian revolution I imagine Berkman remained an anarchist idealist all.his life) be slowly chipped away at and crushed by the weight of Bolshevik despotism, thuggery and endless, endless bureaucracy. It is heartbreaking and horrifying and seeing hopes slowly drain out of people, who then cling on to new hopes, that are then crushed is incredibly potent and moving and crushing. So much tension, so much encroaching morbidity but some beauty in the sadness of it all.
The situation in Russia and Ukraine during this book is harrowing and cruelty is relentless.
The story of Ukraine is almost disgusting how much it now mirrors the same pain again almost one hundred years later. I do not know how people still.live there
The writing style is magnetic, the fact it is a diary is crazy.
Definitely definitely read it if you have any inclination to.
May 29, 2017
My full review: http://willy-akhdes.blogspot.co.id/20...
December 2, 2025
TLDR:
• Berkman exposes "Barrack Communism," arguing that the Bolsheviks replaced the "dictatorship of the proletariat" with the "dictatorship of the Party," creating a new privileged class and crushing individual liberty.
• The text highlights the fundamental conflict between anarchist principles (where means must match ends) and Bolshevik methods (state terror and centralization).
• The brutal suppression of the Kronstadt rebellion (1921) and the betrayal of Nestor Makhno's peasant movement in Ukraine are depicted as the final blows to the revolution's integrity.
• A timeless warning that centralized state power and the suppression of dissent inevitably lead to tyranny, regardless of revolutionary intent.
After reading Blackshirts and Reds by Parenti (review coming soon), I was disturbed by his dismissal of anarchists and his defense of Stalinism and the Bolsheviks. Thus, I began seeking historical texts and other perspectives on the Russian Revolution, which is how I came across this work. Berkman’s memoir is definitely as one of the most searing indictments of the Bolshevik experiment from a leftist perspective. Published in 1925, the book is structured as a diary, documenting Berkman’s experiences in Russia from 1920 to 1922 following his deportation from the United States aboard the U.S.S. Buford. Unlike the dry, theoretical critiques of Bolshevism often produced by Western academics, Berkman’s work is a visceral, on-the-ground account of a revolutionary heart slowly breaking. He arrives in Russia not as a critic, but as a fervent believer, ready to dedicate his life to the first successful proletarian revolution. The power of the book lies in this trajectory: it is a tragedy that moves from the euphoria of arrival to the crushing realization that the revolution has been devoured by the very party claiming to lead it.
The Anatomy of Authoritarianism
Central to Berkman’s narrative is a scathing critique of authoritarianism and the corrupting nature of state power. What Berkman encounters is not the "dictatorship of the proletariat," but the "dictatorship of the Party." He vividly describes the emergence of a new privileged class—the comrade commissars—who dine well in the Hotel Astoria while the workers of Petrograd starve in freezing tenements. Berkman terms this "Barrack Communism," a system where regimentation replaces liberation, and the state becomes a machine that crushes the individual. He argues that the Bolsheviks, in their obsession with centralization and efficiency, destroyed the very spirit of the revolution. For Berkman, the "Red Terror" was not merely a defense against counter-revolutionaries but an inherent feature of a system that could not tolerate difference. He asserts that the State has no soul and recognizes no ethics but its own preservation, inevitably turning every citizen into a cog or a victim.
Anarchism, Bolshevism, and the Arc of Disillusionment
The book offers a nuanced exploration of the ideological chasm between Anarchism and Bolshevism, a realization that manifests slowly for Berkman and his companion, Emma Goldman. Initially, Berkman tries to rationalize the Bolsheviks' actions as "tragic necessities" imposed by the Civil War and foreign blockades. However, he eventually identifies a fundamental philosophical incompatibility. He realizes that for the Bolsheviks, the State is the end goal, and terror is a legitimate means to that end. For the Anarchist, the means cannot be separated from the ends; a free society cannot be built through suppression. This disillusionment is shared deeply with Goldman, whose own companion work, My Disillusionment in Russia, mirrors Berkman’s sorrow. The psychological turning point for both arrives with the Kronstadt rebellion in 1921. When the Bolshevik government brutally suppresses the sailors of Kronstadt—the original "pride and glory" of the revolution who demanded free soviets and an end to party dictatorship—Berkman finally admits that the "communist" government has become the greatest enemy of the revolution.
The Betrayal of the Peasants
A significant portion of Berkman’s critique is dedicated to the plight of the Russian and Urkranian Anarchists and the Makhnovist movement in Ukraine. In Chapter 25, "Nestor Makhno," Berkman provides a sympathetic account of the peasant anarchist leader, portraying him not as the bandit described by Soviet propaganda, but as a "Bat'ko" (Little Father) and a brilliant military strategist leading a genuine grassroots movement. Berkman highlights the duplicity of the Bolshevik leadership, who were willing to ally with Makhno when they needed his Insurgent Army to defeat the White Army, only to turn around and crush the anarchists once the immediate threat was gone. He describes the systematic imprisonment of anarchist intellectuals and the betrayal of the Makhnovshchina as clear evidence that the Bolsheviks viewed any independent revolutionary movement, no matter how anti-capitalist, as a threat to their monopoly on power.
The Bolshevik Myth concludes not with a political manifesto, but with a somber "grayness." Berkman leaves Russia in 1922, stating, "Terror and despotism have crushed the life born in October." The book remains an essential text for understanding the Russian Revolution because it strips away the romanticism of state socialists and exposes the human cost of totalitarianism. It serves as a timeless warning that a revolution which silences dissent and centralizes power in the hands of a few will inevitably reproduce the tyranny it sought to overthrow.
• Berkman exposes "Barrack Communism," arguing that the Bolsheviks replaced the "dictatorship of the proletariat" with the "dictatorship of the Party," creating a new privileged class and crushing individual liberty.
• The text highlights the fundamental conflict between anarchist principles (where means must match ends) and Bolshevik methods (state terror and centralization).
• The brutal suppression of the Kronstadt rebellion (1921) and the betrayal of Nestor Makhno's peasant movement in Ukraine are depicted as the final blows to the revolution's integrity.
• A timeless warning that centralized state power and the suppression of dissent inevitably lead to tyranny, regardless of revolutionary intent.
After reading Blackshirts and Reds by Parenti (review coming soon), I was disturbed by his dismissal of anarchists and his defense of Stalinism and the Bolsheviks. Thus, I began seeking historical texts and other perspectives on the Russian Revolution, which is how I came across this work. Berkman’s memoir is definitely as one of the most searing indictments of the Bolshevik experiment from a leftist perspective. Published in 1925, the book is structured as a diary, documenting Berkman’s experiences in Russia from 1920 to 1922 following his deportation from the United States aboard the U.S.S. Buford. Unlike the dry, theoretical critiques of Bolshevism often produced by Western academics, Berkman’s work is a visceral, on-the-ground account of a revolutionary heart slowly breaking. He arrives in Russia not as a critic, but as a fervent believer, ready to dedicate his life to the first successful proletarian revolution. The power of the book lies in this trajectory: it is a tragedy that moves from the euphoria of arrival to the crushing realization that the revolution has been devoured by the very party claiming to lead it.
The Anatomy of Authoritarianism
Central to Berkman’s narrative is a scathing critique of authoritarianism and the corrupting nature of state power. What Berkman encounters is not the "dictatorship of the proletariat," but the "dictatorship of the Party." He vividly describes the emergence of a new privileged class—the comrade commissars—who dine well in the Hotel Astoria while the workers of Petrograd starve in freezing tenements. Berkman terms this "Barrack Communism," a system where regimentation replaces liberation, and the state becomes a machine that crushes the individual. He argues that the Bolsheviks, in their obsession with centralization and efficiency, destroyed the very spirit of the revolution. For Berkman, the "Red Terror" was not merely a defense against counter-revolutionaries but an inherent feature of a system that could not tolerate difference. He asserts that the State has no soul and recognizes no ethics but its own preservation, inevitably turning every citizen into a cog or a victim.
Anarchism, Bolshevism, and the Arc of Disillusionment
The book offers a nuanced exploration of the ideological chasm between Anarchism and Bolshevism, a realization that manifests slowly for Berkman and his companion, Emma Goldman. Initially, Berkman tries to rationalize the Bolsheviks' actions as "tragic necessities" imposed by the Civil War and foreign blockades. However, he eventually identifies a fundamental philosophical incompatibility. He realizes that for the Bolsheviks, the State is the end goal, and terror is a legitimate means to that end. For the Anarchist, the means cannot be separated from the ends; a free society cannot be built through suppression. This disillusionment is shared deeply with Goldman, whose own companion work, My Disillusionment in Russia, mirrors Berkman’s sorrow. The psychological turning point for both arrives with the Kronstadt rebellion in 1921. When the Bolshevik government brutally suppresses the sailors of Kronstadt—the original "pride and glory" of the revolution who demanded free soviets and an end to party dictatorship—Berkman finally admits that the "communist" government has become the greatest enemy of the revolution.
The Betrayal of the Peasants
A significant portion of Berkman’s critique is dedicated to the plight of the Russian and Urkranian Anarchists and the Makhnovist movement in Ukraine. In Chapter 25, "Nestor Makhno," Berkman provides a sympathetic account of the peasant anarchist leader, portraying him not as the bandit described by Soviet propaganda, but as a "Bat'ko" (Little Father) and a brilliant military strategist leading a genuine grassroots movement. Berkman highlights the duplicity of the Bolshevik leadership, who were willing to ally with Makhno when they needed his Insurgent Army to defeat the White Army, only to turn around and crush the anarchists once the immediate threat was gone. He describes the systematic imprisonment of anarchist intellectuals and the betrayal of the Makhnovshchina as clear evidence that the Bolsheviks viewed any independent revolutionary movement, no matter how anti-capitalist, as a threat to their monopoly on power.
The Bolshevik Myth concludes not with a political manifesto, but with a somber "grayness." Berkman leaves Russia in 1922, stating, "Terror and despotism have crushed the life born in October." The book remains an essential text for understanding the Russian Revolution because it strips away the romanticism of state socialists and exposes the human cost of totalitarianism. It serves as a timeless warning that a revolution which silences dissent and centralizes power in the hands of a few will inevitably reproduce the tyranny it sought to overthrow.
April 18, 2023
This is one of the best books I've ever read.
I would've never expected an anarchist diary to be so engaging and emotional. It's so well written and interesting; it reads like a novel.
It's a must-read in my opinion.
I would've never expected an anarchist diary to be so engaging and emotional. It's so well written and interesting; it reads like a novel.
It's a must-read in my opinion.
April 7, 2024
On March 5th 1921, Berkman - terrified of the idea the world worker's uprising could devour itself - describes his proposal that a negotiation committee be established to salvage relations between the Bolsheviks and the Krondstadt sailors, as though popular cooperation were driving the civil war. On the same date, the true powers - Trotsky, Zinoviev, the Bolshevik leaders - agreed on a document of unconditional surrender towards the ones who were at one point their most faithful servants, threatening: "If you persist you will be shot like partridges." The invasion proceeded as intended; the island fortress was crushed; the culling of sailors began shortly after.
This juxtaposition between what Berkman hoped and what actually *was* is a common sight in "The Bolshevik Myth". In the diarized retelling of his anarcho-missionary trip across the nascent USSR during the 1917-1921 Civil War, Berkman offers himself up as a dreamer who cannot look at his beloved worker's revolution with anything but wide-eyed hope. Repeatedly, Lenin's revolution crushes these dreams with absolute unconcern. This is a bitter, frank tale of Berkman's witness to the murder of his own dream, in which he makes no serious attempt to defend his naivete or shy from the fact.
This juxtaposition between what Berkman hoped and what actually *was* is a common sight in "The Bolshevik Myth". In the diarized retelling of his anarcho-missionary trip across the nascent USSR during the 1917-1921 Civil War, Berkman offers himself up as a dreamer who cannot look at his beloved worker's revolution with anything but wide-eyed hope. Repeatedly, Lenin's revolution crushes these dreams with absolute unconcern. This is a bitter, frank tale of Berkman's witness to the murder of his own dream, in which he makes no serious attempt to defend his naivete or shy from the fact.
April 17, 2020
Ένα πολύ ενδιαφέρον βίωμα από κάποιον που το έζησε από κοντά, όπως ο Μπέρκμαν. Ένας άνθρωπος που πήγε με τόση όρεξη στην επαναστατική ΕΣΣΔ για να καταλήξει στην απογοήτευση και να αποχωρήσει από αυτήν κάποια χρόνια μετά. Ένα από τα πιο ενδιαφέροντα σημεία του βιβλίου είναι οι σημειώσεις για τα διάφορα άτομα που συναντάει ο Μπέρκμαν. Συνήθως είναι φανατικοί μπολσεβίκοι, πολύ από αυτούς υπέρ της καταστολής και των διώξεων αριστερών και αναρχικών. Οι σημειώσεις όμως έχουν προστεθεί τώρα σε αυτήν την έκδοση του βιβλίου από το Πανοπτικόν και σχεδόν όλοι τους (ελάχιστες οι εξαιρέσεις από ότι θυμάμαι) απέφυγαν μετά τις εσωτερικές εκκαθαρίσεις του Στάλιν και εκτελέστηκαν.
March 22, 2019
Sudah berapa kali kita mendengar kalimat "sejarah ditulis oleh pemenang?" . Tentu saja hal itu benar, namun jika kita berada dalam pusaran sejarah, semestinya kita menuliskan jejak-jejak peristiwa tersebut. Alexander Berkman telah berhasil membongkar dan mengoyak Mitos Bolshevik selama berdirinya Uni Soviet. Walaupun tulisannya mengandung emosi tersendiri atas kekejaman Kaum Komunis terhadap sayap revolusioner lain.
January 9, 2018
Berkman menceritakan bagaimana kondisi Rusia setelah revolusi 1917 melalui pengalamannya mengunjungi berbagai kota dan bertemu berbagai tokoh, tentu dengan perspektif personalnya sebagai seorang anarkis. Hal-hal yang saya pelajari dari buku hariannya ini: revolusi sebenar-benarnya itu sulit, dan yah, sejarah manusia memang kejam.
November 30, 2018
Paparan reportase dari tokoh2 penting soviet rusia setelah revolusi bolshevik, dikemas dgn segala pandangan2 yang dimuat begitu mudah untuk dirasakan kondisi para rakyat, buruh dan petani setelah pergantiam rezim.
July 30, 2022
An invaluable firsthand account of the Bolsheviki from an anarchist perspective.
August 20, 2023
Un poco peñazo pero bueno.
March 23, 2024
The USSR kinda sucked tbh. Why are so many communists such big fans of Lenin again??
April 7, 2014
My Amazon Review -
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1S8FB2A...
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1S8FB2A...
January 16, 2024
Mi reseña en bookwyrm
https://lectura.social/user/rsf92/rev...
https://lectura.social/user/rsf92/rev...
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews