In Episode 130 [14] of the CounterVortex podcast [15], Bill Weinberg continues his comparison [16] of the two legendary and diametrically opposed exponents of Ukrainian armed resistance to Russian rule: the World War II-era right-wing nationalist Stepan Bandera [17] and the World War I-era revolutionary anarchist Nestor Makhno [18]. Much contemporary left commentary in the West echoes Russian propaganda in portraying Bandera simply as a Nazi collaborator, while many contemporary anarchists (at least) glorify Makhno as a visionary of agrarian utopia. Much is left out of both these narratives. Bandera was quickly betrayed by the Nazis and slapped in a concentration camp after he refused to renounce his declaration of Ukrainian independence. And while historians have had much to say about anti-Semitic pogroms by all factions in the multi-sided 1917-21 civil war in Ukraine, it is only recent scholarship that has brought to light reprisals and atrocities by Makhno's forces against Mennonite agricultural colonies [19]. Listen on SoundCloud [14] or via Patreon [20].
Books discussed: Makhno and Memory: Anarchist and Mennonite Narratives of Ukraine’s Civil War, 1917–1921 [23] by Sean Patterson; The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine [24] by Serhii Plokhy; Antisemitism and the Russian Revolution [25] by Brendan McGeever; Nestor Makhno and Rural Anarchism in Ukraine, 1917-1921 [26] by Colin Darch; The Unknown Revolution, 1917-1921 [27] by Voline; The Russian Anarchists [28] by Paul Avrich; Anarchy Comics: The Complete Collection [29] by Jay Kinney
Production by Chris Rywalt [30]
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