Collection Summary
Scope and content
Content
Diaries 1910-1911, 1916, [1918?]-1933, including his 'Russian' diary; extensive correspondence
with Emma Goldman 1917, 1924-1936; correspondence c. 1906-1913, 1919-1936, with Rafail
Abramovič 1930-1934, Angelica Balabanoff 1925-1936, Stella Ballantine 1924, 1927-1936,
Roger Baldwin 1925-1927, 1931, Voltairine de Cleyre 1906, 1908, 1910-1912, Michael
A. Cohn 1922-1936, M. Eleanor Fitzgerald 1919-1936, Isadora [Duncan?] 1925 and n.d.,
Mollie Steimer 1925, 1931-1936, Frank and Nellie Harris 1925-1936, Thomas H. Keell
1922-1936, Harry Kelly 1924-1935, Nestor Machno 1924-1925, Tom and Anna Mooney 1927-1928,
1931, 1934-1936, Max Nettlau 1912, 1924-1936, Rudolf and Millie Rocker 1913, 1925-1936,
Augustin and Therese Souchy 1925-1927, 1931-1935, Modest Stein 1930-1936, Pauline
Helen Turkel 1924-1935, John Turner 1925, 1930-1932, Harry Weinberger 1924, 1928-1931
and many others;
Some identity papers and residence permits, documents on household and finances,
health and celebrations 1922-1936; documents on his imprisonment in the Western Penitentiary
of Pennsylvania, including some letters 1892, 1903-1904; diary on his last days in
prison 1905; 25 handwritten copies of a small illegal magazine published by Berkman
and two other anarchists; documents on political agitation 1906-1917, including correspondence
on The Blast 1915-1916, on his imprisonment in Atlanta, Georgia and deportation to
Soviet Russia 1917-1920; documents on releif work for Russian and Polish anarchist
prisoners and exiles c. 1925-1933, on the Tom Mooney and Ben Billings case [c. 1917],
1927-1933, on the anarchist movement and theory 1928, 1931-1935 and his fight against
expulsion from France 1930-1935;
Documents relating to 'Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist' (1912) including a manuscript
of Jack London's (unpublished) preface to the memoirs 1912 and drawings of the prison
published in the memoirs; documents on other books; notes for and manuscripts of articles
mainly on Soviet Russia, American society and anarchism, and of scenario's and stories;
documents on translations of plays and nonfiction, consisting of correspondence and
manuscripts 1927-1936; some manuscripts by others; clippings 1911-1935;
Papers of others: correspondence by Emma Goldman with publishers on Berkman's behalf
1925, 1929, 1932-1934 and with Emmy Eckstein 1929-1936; correspondence by Emmy Eckstein
1929-1936.
Record creators history
Biographical Note
True name: Ovsej Berkman; born in Kovno, Lithuania 1870, died in Nice, France 1936;
militant anarchist, writer; emigrated to the USA in 1888; in 1892, after the shooting
of strikers at the Carnegie Steel mills in Homestead, Pennsylvania, tried to shoot
the manager Henry C. Frick; imprisoned until 1906; coeditor of Mother Earth New York
from 1906 and founder and editor of The Blast San Francisco 1916-1917; involved in
all kinds of anarchist activities, e.g. in organizing the defense of Tom Mooney and
in antiwar propaganda; imprisoned in 1917 and deported to Russia in 1919; left Russia
disillusioned in 1921; active in exile in particular with the defense of persecuted
anarchists in Russia and elsewhere; main founder and secretary of the Joint Committee
for the Defense of Revolutionists Imprisoned in Russia, Berlin 1923-1926 and member
of Relief Fund of the International Working Men's Association (IWMA) for Anarchists
and Anarcho-Syndicalists Imprisoned or Exiled in Russia (in Paris and Berlin) 1926-1932;
from 1925 he lived in France and worked as a translator; suffering from illness and
poverty, he shot himself; his publications include `Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist'
1912, `The Bolshevik Myth' 1925 and `Now and After' 1929.
Processing information
Processing Information
Inventory made by Atie van der Horst in 2003.
Revised for purposes of digitization by Eva van Oene in 2015.
System of arrangement
Arrangement
The papers were offered to the IISH in 1939 by Emma Goldman , who visited Amsterdam
and went through the archive in the process of the transfer. Captions in her handwriting
were present on most of the original folders, which have been kept.
Originally the papers were arranged in several alphabetical series of correspondence,
each covering a period of three to five years, next to files, more or less on subjects
or containing various documents. These files also contained correspondence, often
with the same persons whose letters were included in the series of correspondence.
In the present inventory most of the letters can be found in the general correspondence,
while only a minor part, concerning very specific topics, is described separately.
Examples are among others the financial correspondence, correspondence with Tom Mooney
(inv. no. 133) and correspndence relating to his expulsion (inv. no. 145-147). In
this last case it concerns only the correspondence exclusively dealing with his expulsion.
Most of the letters of his friends, trying to help, have been returned to the general
correspondence where they are included in an exchange of letters often covering many
years and many subjects. Rather a lot of documents, and in particular clippings and
manuscripts, were not dated. If they were found together with dated documents they
have been left there - if it seemed reasonable - not to disturb the context referring
to a possible date.
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Restrictions on Use
For reasons of protection of the original documents, only the scans are available
for use.
Existence and location of copies
Alternate Form of Material
Complete papers digitized: inv.nos. 1-362 digitized from the microfilms in 2011;
inv.no.363-368 digitized from the original documents as part of the Centrale Project
2012-2016.
33 security microfilms (Metamorfoze, 2003) of inv.nos. 1-362. See appendices for a
full list.
All correspondence with, and documents by and relating to Emma Goldman from the Berkman
papers have been included in the microfilm publication The Emma Goldman Papers Archives,
(Cambridge 1991).
Preferred citation
Preferred Citation
Alexander Berkman Papers , inventory number ..., International Institute of Social
History, Amsterdam
Extent
4.05 m. meter
Other descriptive information
INTRODUCTION
Biographical sketch
Alexander Berkman (true name: Ovsej Berkman ) was born in Kovno, Lithuania in 1870
and grew up in Petersburg and Kovno. He became a militant anarchist and writer. In
1888 he emigrated to the USA and lived in New York where he met Emma Goldman in 1889.
In 1892, after the shooting of strikers at the Carnegie steel mills in Homestead,
Pennsylvania, he shot and wounded the manager Henry C. Frick . Berkman was imprisoned
in the Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania until 1905. After his release from the
workhouse on 18 May 1906, he became coeditor of Mother Earth , issued by the Mother
Earth Publishing Association in New York founded by Emma Goldman. He was involved
in all kinds of political agitation, including a lecture tour 1914-1915, organizing
the defense of Tom Mooney and antiwar propaganda. In 1916-1917 he edited and published
The Blast (San Francisco), a labour weekly, assisted by M. Eleanor Fitzgerald . Convicted
for propaganda against conscription he was imprisoned again in 1917 in Atlanta, Georgia
until 1 October 1919 and deported to Russia on 21 December 1919 together with Emma
Goldman. He left behind his companion M. Eleanor Fitzgerald whom he had met in 1914.
In Russia he lived in Petrograd and Moscow and travelled south as far as Odessa and
north to Archangel collecting historical material for the Museum of the Revolution
. After the violent suppression of the 'rebellion' of the 'Kronstadt' sailors in the
spring of 1921 and with a growing number of anarchists imprisoned, Berkman had no
more illusions. He decided to leave Russia and was allowed to do so in December 1921
together with Emma Goldman. Shortly after arriving in Stockholm they were asked to
leave Sweden. Berkman entered Germany illegally and lived in Berlin until 1926 where
he was the main founder, secretary and treasurer of the Joint Committee for the Defense
of Revolutionists Imprisoned in Russia (1923-1926) and of the Relief Fund of the International
Working Men's association (IWMA) for Anarchists and Anarcho- Syndicalists Imprisoned
or Exiled in Russia (in Paris and Berlin). He went to live in France in December 1925,
at first in Paris, from October 1926 in St. Cloud, Seine et Oise, from February 1931
in Nice and often stayed in Emma Goldman's little villa in St. Tropez in the summer.
Since leaving Russia he worked as a writer and translator, but the book market seriously
declined after the crash. His funds were supplemented by friends like Michael Cohn
and by collections among anarchists in the USA.
In 1930 he was expelled from France, but managed to return from Brussels. From then
on his residence permit was up for renewal every three months. These problems forced
him to resign from the Relief Fund; Rudolf Rocker took over as a secretary and treasurer
(inv. no. 129). Berkman much regretted not being active in the movement any longer.
In 1936 suffering from illness he had to undergo surgery. Poor and in great pain he
shot himself and died one day later on 28 June 1936 in Nice, France.
He left behind his companion g1043 Emmy Eckstein (1900-1939) many years his junior,
whom he had met in Berlin and who had joined him in St. Cloud.
Berkman preferred the written word as a means of political agitation. His first publication,
written several years after his release to exorcise the ghosts, was Prison Memoirs
of an Anarchist (New York 1912). Voltairine de Cleyre advised him on the editing of
the book (inv. no. 156), which includes a chapter on the digging of an escape tunnel
and one on homosexuality in prison. It was considered a classic in its genre and was
republished in 1926 by the C.W. Daniel Company in London. By that time it had already
appeared in a Yiddish translation: Gefengenen erinerungen fun än anarchist , edited
by M. Katz and R. Frumkin , 2 volumes. (New York 1920-1921). It was also translated
in Danish and Norwegian by Karin Michaelis in 1926, and in German by f2Gerda Weyl
, with some editing by Rudolf Rocker under the title Die Tat (Berlin 1927). Much later,
in 1947 it was even been published in Chinese, in a translation of Li Pei-Kan . Berkman
was the editor of Selected Works of Voltairine de Cleyre (New York 1914), published
by Mother Earth Publishing Association . He also did the editing (and influenced the
contents) of nearly all of Emma Goldman's books and articles, probably beginning with
Social Significance of the Modern Drama (New York 1914) which he proofread, up to
and including Living My Life (New York 1931). Emma Goldman in return read and commented
on most of his manuscripts.
In Berlin he tried writing stories and scenario's as a way of living, which proved
very difficult however. He also wrote three pamphlets The Russian Tragedy , The Russian
Revolution and the Communist Party and The Kronstad Rebellion which he published in
1922 at his own expense. The Bolshevik Myth (New York 1925) based on his Russian diary
did not generate much income, partly because Emma Goldman's My Disillusionment in
Russia (London, 1925) was based on the same data. The last chapter, refused by the
publisher, appeared separately as The Anti-Climax (Berlin 1925). Also in 1925 Berkman
helped compiling data and documents relating to political persecution in Soviet Russia,
which together with similar material collected by s24 Henry G. Alsberg and Isaac Don
Levine was published by the International Committee for Political Prisoners , chaired
by Robert N. Baldwin , in Letters from Russian Prisons (London 1925). He published
one more book: Now and After. The ABC of Anarchism (New York 1929) written at request
of the Jewish Anarchist Federation of New York . He did continue writing articles.
To support himself he translated and adapted stories and plays mainly from the Russian
and German. Performed were 'The Prisoner' by Emil Bernard by the Province town Playhouse
in New York in 1928 and on the Russian stage a play by Eugene O'Neill 'Lazarus Laughed'
in 1927. It seems that he did not manage to sell other translations of plays. In the
thirties he more often translated manuscripts, including Rudolf Rocker's Nationalismus
und Kultur . Rocker was not satisfied with the level of adaptation and the work was
transferred to another translator. It is illustrative of both Rocker's and Berkman's
dispositions that they stayed friends in spite of it.
More (auto)biographical details can be found in: inv. no. 8 (Associated Press, letter
of 12 June 1932), inv. no. 39 ( J. Grave , letter of 4 September 1927), inv. no. 55
( Millie Rocker , letter of 22 March 1929), inv. no. 65 ( Yiddish Scientific Institute
, February 1931) and inv. no. 132, 149 and 218.
Contents
Berkman's papers contain letters by many interesting persons including Voltairine
de Cleyre , Isadora Duncan , Nestor Makhno , Tom Mooney , Max Nettlau , Rudolf Rocker
and Emma Goldman . The letters and documents are written in several languages e.g.
English, German, French, Yiddish, Russian and some others. Many of the clippings seem
to have been sent over by Emma Goldman.
The papers are not complete. When Berkman moved to France in 1926, his papers from
Berlin where held up at the border. Sensing trouble Berkman destroyed his letters
of 1926 prior to a visit of a police inspector (inv. no. 53, letter to Pierre Ramus
, 8 January 1927). The documents from Berlin may have turned up - the period 1922-1925
is represented - but there is only a little correspondence from his American period.
In all though, Berkman took very good care of his papers considering his eventful
life. Most of the documents relating to the Relief Fund of the International Working
Men's Association for Anarchists and Anarcho-Syndicalists Imprisoned or Exiled in
Russia (Berlin and Paris, 1926-1932) he handed over to the other members when he resigned
in 1930 (because of his expulsion). Further documents relating to the Relief Fund
can be found in the papers of Senya Flechine and Mollie Steimer .
Added to the papers are correspondence by Emma Goldman with publishers, largely on
Berkman's behalf. Also included is Goldman's correspondence with Berkman's partner
Emmy Eckstein , and some correspondence by Emmy Eckstein. A few photocopies of documents
received from Danièle Stewart in 1994 (inv. no. 92) and from Gary L. Doebler in 1993
(inv. no. 104) have also been incorporated. One portfolio of documents and letters
which clearly belonged to Emma Goldman has been added to her papers. Some pamphlets
and copies of periodicals have been transferred to the library. The photographs have
been included in the audiovisual collection and can be found with the collection code.
The size of the papers is 4 m.
Selected literature
Drinnon, Richard and Anna Maria , Nowhere at home. Letters from Exile of Emma Goldman
and Alexander Berkman (New York 1975).
Falk, Candace et al. (ed.), Emma Goldman. A Guide to her Life and Documentary Sources
(Alexandrialevel= 1995). NB. Includes a selected bibliography of Alexander Berkman,
p. 25-26.
Fellner, Gene (ed.), Life of an Anarchist. The Alexander Berkman Reader (New York
1992).
Goldman, Emma, Living my Life , 2 vol. (New York 1931).
Concordans microfilms-Metamorfoze
| Filmnummer |
Inventarisnummer |
| MM51I-000751 |
Invnr. 1-4 |
| MM51I-000752 |
Invnr. 5 |
| MM51I-000753 |
Invnr. 6-7 |
| MM51I-000754 |
Invnr. 8-11 |
| MM51I-000755 |
Invnr. 12-17 |
| MM51I-000756 |
Invnr. 18-22 |
| MM51I-000757 |
Invnr. 23-27 |
| MM51I-000758 |
Invnr. 28-32 |
| MM51I-000759 |
Invnr. 33-37 |
| MM51I-000760 |
Invnr. 38-42 |
| MM51I-000761 |
Invnr. 43-47 |
| MM51I-000762 |
Invnr. 48-51 |
| MM51I-000763 |
Invnr. 52-56 |
| MM51I-000764 |
Invnr. 57-60 |
| MM51I-000765 |
Invnr. 61-65 |
| MM51I-000766 |
Invnr. 66-82 |
| MM51I-000767 |
Invnr. 83-94 |
| MM51I-000768 |
Invnr. 95-100 |
| MM51I-000769 |
Invnr. 101-133 |
| MM51I-000770 |
Invnr. 134-150 |
| MM51I-000771 |
Invnr. 151-167 |
| MM51I-000772 |
Invnr. 168-241 |
| MM51I-000773 |
Invnr. 242-253 |
| MM51I-000774 |
Invnr. 254-269 |
| MM51I-000775 |
Invnr. 270-274 |
| MM51I-000776 |
Invnr. 275-280 |
| MM51I-000777 |
Invnr. 281-286 |
| MM51I-000778 |
Invnr. 287-291 |
| MM51I-000779 |
Invnr. 292-306 |
| MM51I-000780 |
Invnr. 307-325 |
| MM51I-000781 |
Invnr. 326-333 |
| MM51I-000782 |
Invnr. 334-346 |
| MM51I-000783 |
Invnr. 347-362 |
Keywords
Subjects
Subjects:
Anarchist movements
Exiles/Political refugees
Workers movements/Workers councils/Workers International organizations
Political prisoners/Political trials
Geographic names:
USSR (former)
United States
France
Personal names:Balabanoff, Angelica Berkman, Ovsej Eckstein, Emmy Goldman, Emma Nettlau, Max
Corporate names: Joint Committee for the Defense of Revolutionists Imprisoned in Russia Mother Earth Relief Fund of the International Working Men's association (IWMA)
Genre of the material:
Archival material
Personal names: Emma Goldman
Personal names: Tom Mooney
Titles of related works:
The Emma Goldman Papers Archives
Personal names: Alexander Berkman Ovsej Berkman Emma Goldman Henry C. Frick Tom Mooney M. Eleanor Fitzgerald
Corporate names: Mother Earth Publishing Association
Titles of related works:
Mother Earth
Corporate names: Museum of the Revolution Joint Committee for the Defense of Revolutionists Imprisoned in Russia Relief Fund of the International Working Men's association (IWMA) for Anarchists
and Anarcho- Syndicalists Imprisoned or Exiled in Russia
Personal names: Michael Cohn
Personal names: Rudolf Rocker
Personal names: Emmy Eckstein
Personal names: Voltairine de Cleyre M. Katz R. Frumkin Karin Michaelis f2Gerda Weyl Rudolf Rocker Li Pei-Kan Emma Goldman
Corporate names: C.W. Daniel Company Mother Earth Publishing Association
Titles of related works:
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist
Gefengenen erinerungen fun än anarchist
Die Tat
Selected Works of Voltairine de Cleyre
Social Significance of the Modern Drama
Living My Life
Personal names: s24 Henry G. Alsberg Isaac Don Levine Robert N. Baldwin Emil Bernard Eugene O'Neill
Corporate names: International Committee for Political Prisoners Jewish Anarchist Federation of New York Province town Playhouse
Titles of related works:
The Russian Tragedy
The Russian Revolution and the Communist Party
The Kronstad Rebellion
The Bolshevik Myth
My Disillusionment in Russia
The Anti-Climax
Letters from Russian Prisons
Now and After. The ABC of Anarchism
Nationalismus und Kultur
Personal names: J. Grave Millie Rocker
Corporate names: Yiddish Scientific Institute
Personal names: Voltairine de Cleyre Isadora Duncan Nestor Makhno Tom Mooney Max Nettlau Rudolf Rocker Emma Goldman
Personal names: Pierre Ramus Senya Flechine Mollie Steimer
Corporate names: Relief Fund of the International Working Men's Association for Anarchists and Anarcho-Syndicalists
Imprisoned or Exiled in Russia
Personal names: Emmy Eckstein Danièle Stewart Gary L. Doebler
Personal names: Drinnon, Richard and Anna Maria
Titles of related works:
Nowhere at home. Letters from Exile of Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman
Personal names: Falk, Candace
Titles of related works:
Emma Goldman. A Guide to her Life and Documentary Sources
Personal names: Fellner, Gene
Titles of related works:
Life of an Anarchist. The Alexander Berkman Reader
Titles of related works:
Living my Life
Language of the material
English , Yiddish, Russian
Record creator
Creator: Berkman, Alexander
Content provider
International Institute of Social History
( Cruquiusweg 31 , 1019 AT Amsterdam , The Netherlands )
