Josef Peukert (22 January 1855 – 3 March 1910) was a German Bohemian

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

known for his autobiographical book ''Memoirs from the proletarian revolutionary labour movement'' (german: Erinnerungen eines Proletariers aus der revolutionären Arbeiterbewegung). The book provided a glimpse into the early days of the radical

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

in Austria, the start of the anarchist movement in Germany and the exile of the anarchists in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and America at the time of Socialist Law (1878–1890). The accuracy of the book was questioned by fellow anarchist and historian

Max Nettlau Max Heinrich Hermann Reinhardt Nettlau (; 30 April 1865 – 23 July 1944) was a German anarchist and historian. Although born in Neuwaldegg (today part of Vienna) and raised in Vienna, he lived there until the anschluss to Nazi Germany in 193 ...

, who looked upon it in a "highly-skeptical" manner.

Early life

Peukert grew up poor at Albrechtsdorf an der Adler in the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

, a

crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it ...

of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

. From the age of six, he worked for his father's company and the age of eleven he was taken out of school. At the age of 16 he left home and worked odd jobs in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. Peukert contributed to

social democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

workers' associations A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...

later becoming an Anarchist communist.

Career

In exile in London, Peukert became involved in distributing '' Freiheit'' published by

Johann Most Johann Joseph "Hans" Most (February 5, 1846 – March 17, 1906) was a German-American Social Democratic and then anarchist politician, newspaper editor, and orator. He is credited with popularizing the concept of " propaganda of the deed". His g ...

, but became increasingly critical of Most as Social-Revolutionist as opposed to an anarchist. During this time he became even more radicalized and upon his return in the 1880s he became the leader of the radical ''Fraktion'', who were believers in the concept of

Propaganda of the deed Propaganda of the deed (or propaganda by the deed, from the French ) is specific political direct action meant to be exemplary to others and serve as a catalyst for revolution. It is primarily associated with acts of violence perpetrated by pro ...

, which calls for the use of

terror Terror(s) or The Terror may refer to: Politics * Reign of Terror, commonly known as The Terror, a period of violence (1793–1794) after the onset of the French Revolution * Terror (politics), a policy of political repression and violence Emoti ...

against society civil rights. In the early 1880s, Peukert became the editor of '' Die Zukunft'' ( en, The Future), published by ''

Der Rebell ''The Rebel'' (german: Der Rebell) is a 1932 German historical drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt, Edwin H. Knopf, and Luis Trenker and starring Trenker, Luise Ullrich, and Victor Varconi. The film's art direction was by Fritz Maurischat ...

'' ( en, The Rebel), from 1886 to 1893 he was the editor of '' Die Autonomie'' ( en, The Autonomy) and co-editor after 1889 of ''

Der Anarchist Der or DER may refer to: Places * Darkənd, Azerbaijan * Dearborn (Amtrak station) (station code), in Michigan, US * Der (Sumer), an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq * d'Entrecasteaux Ridge, an oceanic ridge in the south-west Pacific Ocean ...

'' ( en, The Anarchist). A so-called civil war within the Socialist League began because of Peukert's friendship with

Theodor Reuss Albert Karl Theodor Reuss (; June 28, 1855 – October 28, 1923) also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Carolus Albertus Theodorus Peregrinus was an Anglo-German tantric occultist, freemason, journalist, singer and head of Ordo Te ...

Victor Dave Victor Dave (25 February 1847 – 31 October 1922) was a Belgian editor and journalist best known for his work on anarchist publications and in the International Workingmen's Association. Early life and career Victor Dave was born in Aalst ...

, head of a rival anarchist grouping in London, did not trust Reuss which led to tension with Peukert. In 1887, Peukert went with Reuss to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, where Reuss passed information to the police leading to the arrest of

Johann Neve Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious ...

. Neve was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The episode severely damaged the reputation of Peukert, and also Dave. This incident is touched upon in

John Henry Mackay John Henry Mackay, also known by the pseudonym Sagitta, (6 February 1864 – 16 May 1933) was an egoist anarchist, thinker and writer. Born in Scotland and raised in Germany, Mackay was the author of ''Die Anarchisten'' (The Anarchists, 1891) and ...

's '' Die Anarchisten''. From 1890 he worked with

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of th ...

for several years in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Works

* * Archive o
Josef Peukert Papers
at the

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figur ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peukert, Josef 1855 births 1910 deaths 19th-century Austrian people American anarchists American people of Austrian descent American people of German Bohemian descent Anarcho-communists Austrian anarchists Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States German Bohemian people People from the Kingdom of Bohemia People from Rychnov nad Kněžnou District