MUHSAM, ERICH
Publié le 22/02/2012
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MUHSAM, ERICH (1878–1934), revolutionary, anarchist, and writer; a
‘‘communist anarchist'' committed to ‘‘Struggle, Revolution, Equality, Freedom.''
Born in Berlin* to a pharmacist, he was attracted to socialism while in
Gymnasium; indeed, ‘‘socialist activities'' brought his expulsion. After apprenticing
as a pharmacist, he began freelancing in 1901 and joined a bohemian
group centered on the journal Neue Gemeinschaft. In the next decade he came
under Frank Wedekind's influence and formed a pivotal friendship with Gustav
Landauer.* Moving to Munich in 1909, he edited the periodical Kain and wrote
satire and criticism for Simplizissimus and Fackel. But his socialism was increasingly
tempered by a rebellious spirit; not only did he oppose militarism
and capitalism, but his ideal world did not accommodate either the state or
conventional morals.
Confined to Bavaria's Traunstein fortress for opposing World War I, Mu¨hsam
was active in 1918–1919 in Kurt Eisner's* Bavarian Revolution. Working with
Landauer and Ernst Toller,* he soon turned against Eisner and was a leader in
Munich's Workers' Council.* But Mu¨hsam was motivated more by pacifism
than by revolutionary Marxism. In March 1919 he became part of the executive
that provided the framework for Munich's short-lived Ra¨terepublik. Sentenced
to fifteen years' imprisonment in May 1919, he was pardoned in 1924. During
incarceration he wrote several revolutionary songs, an account of the Bavarian
Revolution published as Von Eisner bis Levine´ (From Eisner to Levine´, 1929),
and the play Judas. Once he was amnestied, he worked on behalf of prisoners
and championed what he termed Communist anarchism. He edited the periodical
Fanal in which his own writings often censured the KPD. From 1926 he increasingly
used Fanal to call for a united front* of all antifascist constituencies.
Mu¨hsam's politics were unconventional. Although he worked with Rosa Luxemburg,*
he was rigorously independent and expressed qualified sympathy after
1930 for Otto Strasser.* Eugen Levine´,* who removed him from the central
committee of Bavaria's* KPD, labeled him an anarchist; it remains the best
description. On the night of the Reichstag fire (27 February 1933), he was
arrested and sent to Oranienburg. After a severe beating, he died on 11 July
1934. His widow, who fled to the Soviet Union,* was deported to Siberia as a
spy.
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