Today in Labor History November 24, 1921: Anarchist Mollie Steimer was deported to Russia, along with three other radicals (Jacob Abrams, Samuel Lipman, & Hyman Lachowsky), after doing 18 months in prison for handing out leaflets opposing the deployment of U.S. troops against Soviet Russia. They were victims of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer’s Red Scare, which killed, imprisoned, and/or deported scores of communists, anarchist, IWW and labor leaders, and other radicals for exercising the rights to free speech. However, soon after arriving in Russia, they became victims of the Red Terror. Steimer was deported from the USSR in 1923 for aiding “criminal elements.”

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #molliesteimer #soviet #russia #ussr #redscare #prison #deportation #antiwar #IWW #communism #freespeech

Today in Labor History November 1, 1922: The Bolshevik secret police arrested Russian anarchists Mollie Steimer and Senya Fleshin for the crimes of "aiding criminal elements in Russia" (by which they meant: helping fellow anarchists) and "maintaining ties with anarchists abroad" (specifically Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, both U.S. citizens, who had already fled from the USSR to Germany, after being deported to Russia by the U.S. in 1919). They were ultimately released and arrested again, finally being deported to Germany, thanks to the organizing by foreign anarchists, including Emma Goldman.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #communism #anarchism #ussr #soviet #russia #molliesteimer, #emmagoldman

Today in Labor History July 9, 1917: Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman were sentenced to two years in prison, $10,000 each, and deportation to Soviet Russia for their antiwar efforts and their anarchist activism. Their persecution by the U.S. government was part of the Palmer Raids, or the first anti-communist witch hunt in the U.S., which led to the imprisonment, death and/or deportation of hundreds of anarchists, communists, and labor organizers. The witch hunt decimated the IWW. And it jump-started the career of J. Edgar Hoover, future head of the FBI and persecutor of activist groups under COINTELPRO, who was then the underling of his mentor A. Mitchell Palmer.

Though Berkman and Goldman were both born in Russia, they were also naturalized U.S. citizens. The U.S. also deported anarchist Mollie Steimer in 1922. So, Trump’s threat to strip Zohran Mamdani of his citizenship and have him deported would be nothing new for the U.S. The U.S. has also denaturalized and deported people on the right, including several dozen Nazis in the 1970s-1990s.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #communism #immigration #deportation #trump #russia #ussr #emmagoldman #alexanderberkman #molliesteimer #nazis #prison #IWW #fbi #cointelpro

Today in Labor History March 11, 1919: Ukrainian Jewish anarchist Mollie Steimer was arrested in New York City and charged with inciting to riot, and sedition, and was eventually deported to Soviet Russia, where she met her lifelong partner Senya Fleshin. The two agitated for the rights of anarchist political prisoners in the USSR. The authorities there deported her again, this time to western Europe, where she and Fleshin organized aid for political prisoners. With the rise of the Nazis in Europe, she and Fleshin fled to Mexico, where they spent the rest of their lives working as photographers. She died in 1980.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #MollieSteimer #deportation #nazis #ukraine #jewish #riot #soviet #prison

Today in Labor History November 24, 1921: Anarchist Mollie Steimer was deported to Russia, along with three other radicals (Jacob Abrams, Samuel Lipman, & Hyman Lachowsky), after doing 18 months in prison for handing out leaflets opposing the deployment of U.S. troops against Soviet Russia. They were victims of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer’s Red Scare, which killed, imprisoned, and/or deported scores of communists, anarchist, IWW and labor leaders, and other radicals for exercising the rights to free speech. However, soon after arriving in Russia, they became victims of the Red Terror. Steimer was deported from the USSR in 1923 for aiding “criminal elements.”

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #molliesteimer #soviet #russia #ussr #redscare #prison #deportation #antiwar #IWW #communism #freespeech

Today in Labor History March 11, 1919: Ukrainian Jewish anarchist Mollie Steimer was arrested in New York City and charged with inciting to riot. She was charged with sedition and eventually deported to Soviet Russia, where she met her lifelong partner Senya Fleshin. The two agitated for the rights of anarchist political prisoners in the USSR. The authorities there deported her again, this time to western Europe, where she and Fleshin organized aid for political prisoners. With the rise of the Nazis in Europe, she and Fleshin fled to Mexico, where they spent the rest of their lives working as photographers. She died in 1980.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #MollieSteimer #deportation #nazis #ukraine #jewish #riot #soviet #prison #antisemitism #sedition #ussr #newyork #photography #mexico

Today in Labor History November 24, 1921: Mollie Steimer, after doing 18 months for handing out leaflets, was shipped off to Soviet Russia along with three other radicals (Jacob Abrams, Samuel Lipman, & Hyman Lachowsky). In the U.S., they were victims of the Red Scare, for handing out leaflets opposing the deployment of U.S. troops against Soviet Russia. However, they were also soon victims of the Red Terror in Russia. Steimer was deported from the USSR in 1923 for aiding “criminal elements.”

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #MollieSteimer #anarchism #RedScare #soviet #ussr #russia

Today in Labor History March 11, 1919: Ukrainian Jewish anarchist Mollie Steimer was arrested in New York City and charged with inciting to riot. She was charged with sedition and eventually deported to Soviet Russia, where she met her lifelong partner Senya Fleshin. The two agitated for the rights of anarchist political prisoners in the USSR. The authorities there deported her again, this time to western Europe, where she and Fleshin organized aid for political prisoners. With the rise of the Nazis in Europe, she and Fleshin fled to Mexico, where they spent the rest of their lives working as photographers. She died in 1980.

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #anarchism #MollieSteimer #deportation #nazis #ukraine #jewish #riot #soviet #prison

Jacob Schwartz
a little known martyr

Jewish Russian emigre, member of the BookBinders Union, and anarchist

murdered by the police in 1918 as his comrades faced imprisonment and then deportation under the sedition act for their anti-war actions.

Jacob Schwartz, Jacob Abrams, Samuel Lipman, Hyman Lachowsky, and Mollie Steimer were arrested the night of August 23rd for distributing Yiddish and English flyers denouncing US military intervention. Schwartz was beaten so badly, his comrades feared he was already dead.

The day before the trial was to formally begin, Schwartz died in Belleview hospital. His last words were found, unfinished, in his cell in the Tombs:

"Farewell, comrades. When you appear before the court I will be with you no longer. Struggle without fear, fight bravely. I am sorry I have to leave you. But this is life itself. After your long martyr ---"

As the trial opened, the defendants all wore black armbands and their supporters wore white buttons with Schwartz's face which had been hastily printed the night before. His funeral procession buried him in a simple pine box on the 17th.

A rally to mourn and celebrate him occurred on Oct 25th attended by 1200. It began at nine in the evening and lasted for over two hours, ending with attendants pouring into the street singing revolutionary songs. Over $378 dollars was raised on the spot for his widow Florence.

Abrams, Lipman, and Lachowsky were sentenced to 20 years each and a 1000 fine. Steimer was sentenced to 15 years and a 500 fine. Their lawyer would later secure their release on the condition of their self funded deportation to Russia.

Mourning rallies continued for Schwartz for a number of years....but they slowly stopped and the memory of him has waned.
The trial itself would come to be known as the Abrams case and become one of the most significant first amendment cases in the us courts.

also if you're interested, the top page was taken from the pamphlet "Sentenced to Twenty Years" which was released by the Political Prisoner Defense and Relief Committee comprised of anarchist comrades of the defendants.

#AbramsCase #JacobSchwartz #mollieSteimer #theAnarchistFallen