Iosif Solomonovich Bleikhman (1868 – 1921) was a Belarusian Jewish

anarchist communist Anarchist communism is a Far-left politics, far-left political ideology and Anarchist schools of thought, anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property, private real property but retention ...

revolutionary. He was the leader of the Petrograd Federation of Anarchist-Communists at the time of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

in 1917, organising a series of demonstrations against the

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government was a provisional government of the Russian Empire and Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately after the abdication of Nicholas II on 2 March, O.S. New_Style.html" ;"title="5 ...

that culminated in the

July Days The July Days () were a period of unrest in Petrograd, Russia, between . It was characterised by spontaneous armed demonstrations by soldiers, sailors, and industrial workers engaged against the Russian Provisional Government. The demonstrat ...

. Following the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, he also began to agitate against the new

Bolshevik government Under the leadership of Russian communist Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik Party seized power in the Russian Republic during a coup known as the October Revolution. Overthrowing the pre-existing Provisional Government, the Bolsheviks established a n ...

, which resulted in him being arrested and sentenced to periods of

penal labor Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of Sentence (law), sentence involving penal labour hav ...

a number of times. During one of these periods, he contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, which he succumbed to shortly before the

Kronstadt rebellion The Kronstadt rebellion () was a 1921 insurrection of Soviet sailors, Marines, naval infantry, and civilians against the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik government in the Russian port city of Kronstadt. Located on Kotlin Island in the Gulf of Finland, ...

of 1921.

Biography

In 1868, Bleikhman was born into a

petty bourgeois ''Petite bourgeoisie'' (, ; also anglicised as petty bourgeoisie) is a term that refers to a social class composed of small business owners, shopkeepers, small-scale merchants, semi-autonomous peasants, and artisans. They are named as such ...

family in the city of

Vidzy Vidzy is an urban-type settlement in Braslaw District, Vitebsk Region, in northern Belarus. As of 2025, it has a population of 1,546. History The name ''Vidzy'' is of Finno-Ugric origin and is associated with the word ''vidze'', which refers to ...

, in the

Kovno Governorate Kovno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kovno (Kaunas). It was formed on 18 December 1842 by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas I from the western part of Vilna Govern ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now Belarus). Bleikhman began work as a tin-smith, then as a shoemaker.

Revolutionary activism

By the turn of the 20th century, he had joined the revolutionary movement and moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he became an

. During the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

, he moved to the Latvian city of

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

, where he was active in the local revolutionary movement. In September 1913, he moved to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, where he joined the local anarchist communist group and agitated within various trade unions. In July 1914, he was arrested during a

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...

and sent to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, but he managed to escape and lived clandestinely for a period. Following the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

, Bleikhman was released from his sentence and moved to Petrograd, where he quickly became leader of the local Anarchist-Communist Federation and edited its newspaper '' Burevestnik''. In the pages of ''Burevestnik'', Bleikhman called for the broad-based

expropriation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...

private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental Capacity (law), legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property, which is owned by a state entity, and from Collective ownership ...

, whether houses or factories, specifically calling on unhoused people to squat privately owned residential buildings. He also agitated among factory workers, who elected him to the

Petrograd Soviet The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (, ''Petrogradsky soviet rabochih i soldatskikh deputatov'') was a city council of Petrograd (Saint Petersburg), the capital of Russia at the time. For brevity, it is usually called the Pet ...

. Another member of the Soviet, the Georgian Menshevik

Irakli Tsereteli Irakli Tsereteli, ' , ' ( – 20 May 1959) was a Georgian politician and a leading spokesman of the Social Democratic Party of Georgia and later Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) during the era of the Russian Revolutions. Tseretel ...

, described him as a "comical figure" with an unarticulated understanding of anarchism. During the April Crisis, Bleikhman organised mass demonstrations in which workers and soldiers called for the

to be overthrown and Russian participation in World War I brought to an end. The following month, he published a series of articles in which he called for an alliance of far-left groups with the goal of establishing anarchist communism, through the

socialisation In sociology, socialization (also socialisation – see spelling differences) is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and ...

of industry,

of private land and the establishment of communes. In early June, he was delegated to a conference of Petrograd's

factory committee Factory committees (, , , , , ) were workers' councils representing factory workers in the history of Russia and Soviet Union that accomplished workers' control in various forms. (In Russian language, the terms "zavod" & "fabrika" for factory are no ...

s, following which he led anarchists in seizing the offices and printing press of the ''Russkaya Volya'' newspaper and organised a mass demonstration that secured the release of anarchist and Bolshevik political prisoners from

Kresty Prison Kresty (, literally ''Crosses'') prison, officially Investigative Isolator No. 1 of the Administration of the Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments for the city of Saint Petersburg (Следственный изолятор № 1 УФ� ...

. He later moved to the island of

Kronstadt Kronstadt (, ) is a Russian administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg, near the head ...

, where he became secretary of the local inkeepers' union, was elected to the Kronstadt Soviet and joined the Central Bureau of Trade Unions of Kronstadt.

July Days

By July 1917, the workers, soldiers and sailors of Kronstadt were already beginning to move against the provisional government, in order to bring an end to Russian participation in World War I. In what was to become the

, leading anarchists of the Kronstadt Soviet gave speeches in Anchor Square, encouraging the island's garrison to rise up against the provisional government. Bleikhman himself exhorted Kronstadt's 1st machine gun regiment to revolt against the

, which he denounced for carrying out political repression against

Russian anarchists Anarchism in Russia developed out of the populist and nihilist movements' dissatisfaction with the government reforms of the time. The first Russian to identify himself as an anarchist was the revolutionary socialist Mikhail Bakunin, who became ...

. While downplaying their lack of support from any political parties or the Petrograd Soviet, he also called on workers to seize control over their workplaces, finally dissolve the state and abolish the capitalist system. Bleikhman was subsequently elected as chairman of the Provisional Revolutionary Committee, which brought together delegates from Petrograd's factory and military committees. Bleikhman then led the 1st machine gun regiment to Petrograd, where they held armed demonstrations calling for the

soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

to seize power from the provisional government. But the Petrograd Soviet would ultimately refuse to endorse the uprising, which it considered premature. The insurrection was quickly repressed by the government, which arrested leading anarchists and Bolsheviks. The Petrograd Federation would later claim the July Days as an anarchist uprising. Bleikhman himself became a

fugitive A fugitive or runaway is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...

, as he was wanted for arrest by the provisional government.

Anti-Bolshevik agitation

Following the

, Bleikhman was elected to the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee and became secretary of the Petrograd Federation of Anarchist Groups, once again taking up editing ''Burevestnik''. The newspaper began to call for the overthrow of the newly established

Council of People's Commissars The Council of People's Commissars (CPC) (), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (), were the highest executive (government), executive authorities of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Soviet Union (USSR), and the Sovi ...

and its replacement with a libertarian commune, along the lines of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

of 1871. Bleikhman was soon delegated to the 5th and 6th conferences of Petrograd's factory committees, at which he criticised the

Supreme Soviet of the National Economy Supreme Soviet of the National Economy, Superior Soviet of the People's Economy, (Высший совет народного хозяйства, ВСНХ, ''Vysshiy sovet narodnogo khozyaystva'', VSNKh) was the superior state institution for mana ...

, calling instead for all management of industry to be transferred to the factory committees. On 15 March 1918, he represented the Skorokhod factory committee at an extraordinary meeting of Petrograd factory commissars, where he criticised the

Mensheviks The Mensheviks ('the Minority') were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. Mensheviks held more moderate and reformist ...

and once again called for the establishment of a workers' commune and the socialisation of industry. As he vocally opposed cooperation with representatives of the

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

and the

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

, when the assembly decided to meet with the new authorities, he resigned from the organisation. On 30 March, he won over representatives to the Petrograd conference of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

and was delegated by them to the 3rd Congress of the Baltic Fleet. Following the anarchist campaign against the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whi ...

, with the

Black Guards Black Guards () were armed groups of workers formed after the February Revolution and before the final Bolshevik suppression of other left-wing groups. They were the main strike force of the anarchists. They were created in the Summer of 1917 i ...

continuing to carry out underground militant activities, the Bolshevik government initiated a wave of

political repression Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...

against the anarchist movement. When a series of raids were carried out against the Moscow Federation of Anarchist Groups, ''Burevestnik'' compared the

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə, links=yes), ...

to generals of the

Black Hundreds The Black Hundreds were reactionary, monarchist, and ultra-nationalist groups in Russia in the early 20th century. They were staunch supporters of the House of Romanov, and opposed any retreat from the autocracy of the reigning monarch. Their na ...

and denounced the as

counter-revolutionary A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution has occurred, in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "c ...

. The Cheka responded by raiding the Petrograd Federation, arresting Bleikhman, despite his membership in the Petrograd Soviet, and shutting down ''Burevestnik''. In November 1918, the Cheka sentenced Bleikhman to

Vologda Vologda (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda (river), Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population: The city serves as ...

. In early 1919, he moved to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, where he spoke at a series of non-party conferences in

Zamoskvorechye Zamoskvorechye District () is a district of the Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. It has a population of up from The district contains the eastern half of the historical Zamoskvorechye District, its western ...

, where he criticised the rule of the

Russian Communist Party Communist Party of Russia might refer to: * Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, founded in 1898 – the forerunner of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) * Communist Party of the Soviet Union, formally established in 1912 and known origina ...

. Bleikhman, along with German Askarov and Vladimir Barmash, formed a delegation of anarchist communists that attempted to form a

united front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...

with the

anarcho-syndicalists Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchism, anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade uni ...

. But little came of this venture aside from the brief publication of ''Trud i Volia'', which made appeals for

direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...

against the Bolshevik government before being shut down by the authorities.

Death and legacy

In 1920, Bleikhman joined the Moscow trade union council and attempted to establish a commune with a group of anarchists, but was unsuccessful. In October 1920, he was arrested on charges of collaboration with the

Makhnovshchina The Makhnovshchina (, ) was a Political movement#Mass movements, mass movement to establish anarchist communism in southern Ukraine, southern and eastern Ukraine during the Ukrainian War of Independence of 1917–1921. Named after Nestor Makhno, ...

and once again sent to Vologda to work in logging, but he contracted

and was granted

compassionate release Compassionate release is a process by which inmates in criminal justice systems may be eligible for immediate early release on grounds of "particularly extraordinary or compelling circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen by t ...

. In early 1921, Bleikhman died in Moscow, having finally succombed to his

respiratory disease Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, ...

. Irakli Tsereteli would later assert in his memoirs that Bleikhman was shot by the Cheka, although this was denied by historian

Paul Avrich Paul Avrich (August 4, 1931 – February 16, 2006) was an American historian specializing in the 19th and early 20th-century anarchist movement in Russia and the United States. He taught at Queens College, City University of New York, for his ...

. By March 1921, the

had broken out against the Bolshevik government, with revolutionaries once again holding meetings in Anchor Square, where Bleikhman had first roused them to revolt four years before.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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