Translation: Scott Zenkatsu Parker
Transcription: Mary Huey
HTML-markup: Jonas Holmgren
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Today, March 16th, at 4 P.M., after a burial service in the Naval Cathedral, THE FIRST SACRIFICES IN THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM OF THE LABORERS will be committeed to earth in a fraternal grave on Revolution Square. Killed on March 8th: Aleksandr Kapralov, Mikhail Aleksandrov, Aleksandr Danilov, Zakhar Klimenkov, Stepan Mischenko, and one worker and four soldiers whose names have not been discovered. Died from wounds: Foma Shaposhnikov, Petr Fedorov, Iakov Arkhipov, Semen Drozdov, Feodosii Khatko, Sergei Nechaev, Mikhail Bystrov, |
from 24:00, March 14th through 12:00, March 15th
Around 6 A.M., the adversary's intelligence made an attempt to approach our guard line, but was dispersed by fire. Prisoners were taken by us.
Around 11 A.M., the adversary began occasional artillery fire.
for the time from 12:00 noon until 12:00 midnight, March 15th
From 2 P.M. on, there was occasional artillery firing. Around 5 P.M., firing ceased. After 6:30 P.M., the enemy apparatuses [airplanes] carried out three raids. One bomb was thrown, but didn't cause any harm. The apparatuses flew away after the very first shots by our anti-aircraft batteries.
OSOSOV, Vice President of the Prov. Rev. Com.
SOLOVIANOV, Head of the Defense
Carrying out the October Revolution, the seamen, soldiers, workers and peasant spilled their blood for Soviet power, for the construction of a Republic of labor.
The Communist Party well understood the mood of the masses. Having written deceitful slogans which stirred the masses on its banner, it drew them along behind itself, and promised to bring them to a bright Kingdom of Socialism which only the Bolsheviks could build.
Naturally, limitless joy filled the workers and peasants. "At last, slavery under the yoke of land owners and capitalists would pass into the realm of legend," they thought. It seemed that the time of free labor on the land and in the factories had come. It seemed that all power had passed into the laborers' hands.
The children of the laboring people were drawn into the party's ranks by sly propaganda, and held there with the chain of severe discipline. Feeling their strength, the Communists first removed from power the socialists of other movements. Then they shoved the workers and peasants themselves from the helm of the ship of state. At the same time, they continued to rule the country in their name.
The Communists exchanged the stolen power for the authority of commissars, and for arbitrary rule over the body and soul of the citizens of Soviet Russia. Contrary to common sense, and in defiance of the will of the laborers, there began the persistent construction of bureaucratic socialism with its slaves, instead of a free kingdom of labor.
Having let production fall into disarray under "workers' control," the Bolsheviks carried out nationalization of the plants and factories. From a slave of the capitalist, the worker became a slave of the bureaucratic institutions. Even that became too little. They planned to bring in the Taylor sweat shop system[1].
The entire laboring peasantry was counted with the kulaks, declared an enemy of the people. The enterprising Communists occupied themselves with destruction, and took to setting up Soviet farms, the estates of a new land owner, the state. That is what the peasantry received under Bolshevik socialism instead of free labor with liberated land.
In exchange for grain requisitioned almost bare, and cows and horses taken away, there were Cheka raids and executions. There's a good exchange of products in the labor state: in exchange for bread, lead and bayonets.
A citizen's life became impossibly boring and bureaucratic. It was life drawn by the powers that be. Instead of a free development of personality and a free laboring life, there arose a completely unprecedented slavery. Any free thought, any fair criticism of the actions of the criminal rulers was made a crime, punishable by imprisonment, and not rarely even by execution.
The death sentence, a desecration of human dignity, began to flourish "in the socialist fatherland." This is that bright Kingdom of Socialism which the Communist Party brought us to. We have received bureaucratic socialism with Soviets full of bureaucrats, who obediently vote by the orders of a committee of the party of infallable commissars.
The slogan, "he who doesn't work, doesn't eat," was turned inside out under the new, "Soviet" order to be, "all for the commissars." And for the workers, peasants and laboring intelligentsia there remained labor, continuous and unenlightening, in prisonlike conditions.
It became unbearable, and Revolutionary Kronstadt first broke the manacles, and broke the prison bars, fighting for Socialism of another kind. It is fighting for a laboring Soviet Republic, where the producer will find himself the fully empowered master and commander of the produce of his own labor.
In the proud knowledge of its power and with the strong desire to rebuild desecrated freedoms, Kronstadt threw off the Communist yoke. It refused to pay tribute in the lives, fortunes and welfare of its people to a bunch of lunatics.
Tortured Russia was forced to bear the nightmare of the All-Russian Cheka, the rivers of blood shed by innocents, sobs and moans in the village hut, thefts and oppressions in the cities, and strangling of any thought or any living word, all for the good of the unbothered existence of the Kremlin khans.
But at the same time, these sufferings increased the fortress' strengths ten fold from the very first moment of the formation of the Prov. Rev. Com. When Kronstadt, that veteran of freedom, answered the first shot of the socialist autocrats, there was a feeling as if along with a round from a gun barrel there shot out indignation and revulsion. It was felt that there will not be an end to this revulsion until the time when the chains of "Communist freedom" which entangle the laboring people have been torn away.
Kronstadt, in calm certainty that it was correct, said to its enemies, "come and get it." The jackals of the Communist pack bared their teeth, the leaders began to howl, and the ravens, smelling the kill beforehand, flew down from all sides to the Oranienbaum and Sestroretsk shores.
Loyal communards by good will, and the remaining soldiers deceived with tales of what is being created here and driven with machine guns, were expected to obtain the head of grey Kronstadt for the red headquarters at Krasnoflotskii in two shakes, as it was said in Petrogradskaia Pravda.
The quick accounting was not successful. Neither tsarist methods of repression using contemporary junker-cadets, nor the napoleonic heads of the central commands of all the fronts could help the situation.
In powerless spite, the jackals ran away with their tails between their legs. The ravens have flown off with wild croaking to the familiar nests of their secret police, sowing slander and lies in their Communist press, and shooting or putting in prison those who didn't want and do not want to believe in Petrogradskaia Pravda.
Powerless spite: to hide the truth of free Kronstadt from you at the price of blood and lies.
Every new shot from the fortress brings closer the liberation of all the country's laborers from the shameful Communist yoke.
THE REVTROIKA OF THE AIR DEFENSE
Today, one more grave mound rose on Kronstadt's Anchor Square. The beginnings of the 3rd Revolution were laid in this square, and in it will be committed to earth the first warrior heroes for its slogans.
Brothers in spirit, they will lie in a fraternal grave. Twenty red coffins with our defenders' bodies will be lowered into the earth. These red coffins are the symbol the the blood spilled in battle for the good of the laborers, and a symbol of the fire of Revolution, sweeping from its path all who raise their hand against the will of the laboring people, and lighting the torch of freedom.
Therefore, may their murderers know that in burying our red heroes, we have also dug a grave for them. We will bury the butchers there without a feeling of sorrow or sadness, but with damnation.
The shadow of Protopopov crowns the insane heads of the bloodthirsty stranglers with Trepov's laurels. Raising bridges, counting on starvation—Oh gendarme's of Nikolai, you turn white before them. Lies in newspapers, provocation by Finland—Oh Gapon, how far they are ahead of you. Bands of chekists, cadet detachments—Oh berserkers of the Turkish sultans, you have risen from the dead.
There are machine guns at the crossroads; an icebreaker has passed down the Neva [in order to make the river uncrossable]. Workers of Petrograd! You have all been arrested. You are all being watched by the butcher Trotsky. Seaman and soldiers are locked in their barracks. This is a new kind of concentration camp for the proletariat.
When we, through our authorities, proposed that a delegation be sent to Kronstadt and impartially convinced that there are neither generals nor epaulets with us, but only the laboring mass, which has taken power in its own hands, we agreed that to the impartial non-party comrades would be added Communists, chosen by your authorities, they opened fire.
Why did they do this? The leaders of the authorities cannot not know the truth, and because they know, they are committing a crime. Their power is being destroyed. It slips from them. They must choke and strangle their adversaries, and the stronger they do so, the longer they will exist.
These political corpses have outlived themselves. They have died in Russia, for Russia, apart from Russia, but they still hold on, and in order to hold on they raise the bridges, send an icebreaker down the Neva, set up machine guns, arrest 20,000 people... But will they be able to arrest all of Russia?
And with all of this, they call themselves the power of workers and peasants.
Break the chains, brothers. The dawn of the 3rd Revolution is rising. The bright sun of freedom shines here in Kronstadt. The oppressors power tumbled down like a house of cards, and we, free, are building our Revolutionary Soviet.
Lend a hand, brothers, and forward for freedom and fortune, for power to Soviets, and not parties.
EVINKTIS, seaman of the battleship Sevastopol
LIST
OF WOUNDED, KILLED AND DIED OF WOUNDS
brought to the Naval Hospital from March 10th through 14th
KILLED: soldiers - Sergei NECHAEV and Feodosii KHATKO
DIED OF WOUNDS: Iakov ARKHIPOV
LIGHTLY WOUNDED: sldrs. - Fedor SHITEL, Andrei KOLIASA, Pantelei KARELIN, Georgii CHALENKO, and sailor Dmitrii CHERIUKANOV
HEAVILY WOUNDED: Iosif ERMOLAEV, Mikhail SOVRASOV
Yesterday, it was possible to see an interesting sight in the town. A directive was given by the Department of Administration, through the uchkoms, on cleaning the sidewalks of ice and snow. Under the thunder of cannons, citizens poured into the streets and took after the work in a comradely way. The necessary tools were found: shovels, crowbars, axes and the like. The populace answered in a comradely way to the laboring duty, which under the commissarocracy they did under the lash.
March 14th, a meeting of the Prov. Rev. Com. took place. Among other things, the following resolution was made.
1. About the Worker-Peasant Inspection;
Having heard the report of Comrade Romanenko about the unclear and undefined condition of the existing apparatus of inspection and control, it being an organ chosen by the former Soviet, and not answering to the spirit of the time, after an exchange of opinions it is resolved:
The Worker-Peasant Inspection of the former Kronstadt Soviet Department is to be eliminated. Worker control over civilian institutions is to be placed with the Soviet of Trade Unions, which is assigned to chose a set number of people from the memberships of all the unions. It also must take control of all matters left by the former Worker-Peasant Inspection.
2. About the Cultural-Educational Section of the former Politotdel;
It is resolved: The Revtroika is to be eliminated. All cultural-educational work is to be given into the authority of the Garrison Club.
All property and resources of the former Politotdel and its sections and sub-departments are to be transferred to the Garrison Club. The Garrison Club Revtroika is to take charge of all this, and to make a report on it to the Prov. Rev. Com.
3. About shock work on the repair of the water transport and liquid resources of the Kronstadt Port and Fortress.
It is resolved:
The Soviet of Unions is assigned to immediately call a Technical Conference of representatives from interested institutions. This Conference is assigned to urgently find out, jointly with a representative of the Prov. Rev. Com.: 1) the necessary number of working hands, 2) the amount of material needed, and 3) the amount of time need for completion of the shock work.
The following donations have arrived at the Fleet Department of Produce Distribution for the use of the defenders of true freedom:
March 14th, from employees of the Prodbaza: Comrade Voevutsky, a new summer soldier's blouse, 1/4 lb. of tobacco and 1/4 lb. of makhorka; Comrade Filippov, 1/8 of makhorka and one box of matches; from Comrade Mikhailov, 1/2 lb. of makhorka; from Comrade Alekseev, a new jacket, a pair of puttees, 1/4 of tobacco and 3 boxes of matches; from Comrade Kuvaldin, high boots, wide summer trousers, 250 cigarette papers, 1/4 of tobacco and 3/8 of makhorka; from Comrade Nikitin, 1 pair of underwear, 1 shirt 1/8 lb. of makhorka and a piece of gray soap; from Comrade Buman, a soldier's blouse, a new sheet, wide trousers, a shirt, 1 pair of socks, 1/2 lb. of tobacco, 1/2 lb. of makhorka, 500 cigarette papers and 10 boxes of matches.
March 15th, from the employees of the Prodbaza of the Fleet Produce Administration: from Comrade Mokhov, 3/4 lb. of makhorka; from Comrade Kondrashev, 1 underwear, 1 shirt, 1/2 lb. of high grade tobacco, 3/8 lb. of makhorka and 250 cigarette papers; from Comrade Baikov, 1 pair of boots, 1 pair of new pants, 1/3 lb. of makhorka and 2 boxes of matches; Onuchin, 1 pair of boots, 1 pair of cloth trousers and 1/4 lb. of makhorka; Poplavsky, 1 pair of boots, 2 sailors' striped vests, 1 pair of underwear, 1 puttees, 1/8 of makhorka, 25 cigarettes, 2 boxes of matches and 1 cloth sailor's blouse; Artamonov, 1 pair of boots, 1 underwear, 1 black pants and 1/2 of tobacco; Manivmon, 1 quilted trousers, 1 flannel sailor's blouse, 1 sailor's striped vest and 3/8 lb. of makhorka; Ilyin, 1 set of worker's clothing, 1 soldier's hat, 1 pair of foot bindings and 1/4 lb. of makhorka; Svirshevsky, 10,000 rubles and 1/4 lb. of makhorka; Bek, 1 flannel sailor's blouse and 1 second hand trousers; Shipelev, summer trousers, 1 set of worker's clothing, 2 soldier's hats and 1/4 lb. of makhorka; Maltsev, 1/4 lb. of makhorka; Telenkov, 2000 rubles, 1 army soldier's hat and 1/4 lb. of makhorka.
The General Meeting of servicemen of the Administration of the 4th Division of Artillery unanimously resolved to extend a fraternal hand of aid to the defenders of free Kronstadt, and share an extra pair of boots. In the same day, the following made donations:
Nikitin B., Karpov I., Dvoinikov I., Sumin F., Sidorov V., Osipov V., Naumovich K., Panov V., Malyshev I., Uvarov M., Zubarev V., Veselov V., Kriuchkov M., Morokhin I., Elesin I., Vasiliev I., Vorobiev I., Mazul A., Ostaschev I., Povoliaev A., Parenkov N., Kirilov A., Govorlivykh A., Emelianov Kh., Ankudinov F., Stopin N., Zakharov V.
Donations continue to arrive.
On March 14th, an unknown female citizen gave about 5-6 pounds of meat into the command of the President of the Revtroika of the Naval Crew of the First Command of Baltflot. At that time, the seamen had just set off for one of the numbered forts, and the meat was placed in their hands. The seamen give their hearfelt gratitude to the conscientious citizen. It is now known to all that this great-spirited, unknown woman shared this so valuable and tasty morsel with the seamen.
May the party of traitorous liars know this, may they tremble pathetically before the single, fraternal family of Kronstadt.
Crew of the First Command of Baltflot
The all-Russian commune
Razed us to the ground,
The Communist dictatorship
Brought us to ruin.
We drove the landowners out,
And waited for freedom, land,
We shook off all the Romanovs,
And were blessed with Communists.
Instead of freedom and land
They gave us the Cheka
And planted Soviet farms
Hither and yon.
They take away bread and beast,
The peasant bloats from hunger,
They took a gray horse from Erema,
And a ploughshare from Makar.
There are no matches, nor kerosine,
Everyone sits with a torch,
Under the Bolshevist commune,
They only eat potatoes.
They sent to the village
Five arshins of red calico,
The commissars took it all away,
Not an inch for the middle peasant.
And throughout Russia
The peasant rose for land,
But everyone writes in Izvestiia,
"The kulaks have rebelled."
The chekist rides out
Like a tsarist general,
Floods the land with blood,
He's fleeced everything to the bone.
They're bringing serfdom for us anew,
Hey, wake up peasants!
Only the Bolsheviks alone,
Eat and drink like the barons before.
Arise peasant folk!
A new dawn is rising—
We'll throw off Trotsky's fetters,
We'll throw off Lenin the tsar.
We'll overthrow the dictatorship,
We'll give freedom to labor,
We'll allot for labor
The land, factories and plants.
Labor will establish equality,
And with labor free forever
Fraternity of all people will come,
And otherwise never.
At a general meeting of 240 prisoners of war, being cadets, officers and soldiers, taking place in the Army Stables, the following resolution was passed unanimously.
"On March 8th, we, Moscow and Petrograd cadets, officers and soldiers, received an order to attack the town of Kronstadt. They told us that White Guards had raised a mutiny in the town of Kronstadt. When we came without a shot to the shores of the Town of Kronstadt, and having met the forward units of sailors and workers, we became convinced that there was no kind of White Guard mutiny in Kronstadt. On the contrary, the soldiers and workers had overturned the power of the commissarocracy. Right there we voluntarily crossed to the side of the people of Kronstadt. We now ask the Rev. Com. of the Town of Kronstadt to add our strength to its army units, since we want to stand up as defenders of the workers and peasants, not just of Kronstadt but of all Russia also.
We consider that the Prov. Rev. Com. of the Town of Kronstadt has really taken the true path in the cause of liberation of all laborers, and that only with this slogan, "All power to Soviets, and not Parties," is it possible to bring to an end the work which has been begun.
We promise to tell of anyone noticed propagandizing against the actions and orders of the Prov. Rev. Com. of the Town of Kronstadt, and to send them on the the Rev. Com.
(signature), President
(signature), Secretary
At the General Meeting of the crew of fort Totleben Morskoi, taking place March 15th, after the report of delegates from the Prov. Rev. Com., the following resolution was passed: "We the garrison of fort Totleben Morskoi greet you, comrade seamen, workers and soldiers of the town of Kronstadt, in the great difficult hour of our glorious struggle against the hated Communist yoke. We are all ready as one to die for the liberation of our suffering brothers, the peasants and workers of all Russia, who are held in chains of damned slavery by deceipt and oppression. Protecting the approaches to Kronstadt, we will be faithful to our word to the end. We believe that soon we will smash to bits the circle of enemies around the fortress with a decisive attack, and bring freedom to every person of the suffering motherland real truth and freedom [sic]."
All those leaving the ranks of the R.C.P. are directed to turn in their party booklets and identifications to their electoral troikas. Those leaving the party in the future and giving declarations are directed to do so right now.
Declarations of departure from the R.C.P. arrive unceasingly at the editorial offices, but in view of their great quantity and the insufficiency of space, the editors are unable to publish them immediately, and will include them as possible in following editions of the newspaper.
Having discussed the current situation, we, members of the R.C.P., are disgusted by the shameless actions of the little bunch of Communist bureaucrats who strive to protect their power with arms, and to build prosperity for themselves on others' misfortune. We openly declare that we did not enter the party in order to drown the world of laborers in blood, but to give all our strength and knowledge for the good of the laborers. This gang used our trust and wove itself a wasps' nest. We consider such oppressors to be outside the law, and we will, equally with the toilers of the town of Kronstadt, defend the true path on which the revolutionary seamen, soldiers and workers stand. As of this date, we do not consider ourselves to be members of the party, and give ourselves entirely into the command of the Revolutionary Committee.
Fedorov, Efimov, Berendakov, Kurochkin, Tikhomirov, Esh, Kuznetsov, Vishnevsky, Efimov, Storkhberg, Tmota and Tsepaev, employees of the Worker-Peasant Inspection
Declarations have also arrived from the following:
Seamen: 232) Kulakov Mikhail, 233) Burmistrov Aleksandr, 234) Lugovskoi Mikhail, 235) Dudkevich Arkadii, 236) Shabariv Ivan, 237) Romanov Sergei, 238) Mamchenko Pavel, 239) Baranon Kuzma, 240) Kotenkov Ivan, 241) Sviiazev Sergei, 242) Brauk Karl, 243) Vokovets Ivan, 244) Vinogradov Mikhail, 245) Senni Maksim, 246) Bogdanov Vasilii, 247) Terentiev Stepan, 248) Grafov Aleksei, 249) Krasnoshevsky Iosif, 250) Cheridnichenko Mark, 251) Lisitsyn Nikolai, 252) Sorokin Semion, 253) Diak Anton, 254) Bykov Grigorii, 255) Vlasov Dmitrii, 256) Sereda Andrei, 257) Buluev Andrei, 258) Ekimov Mikhail, 259) Morozov Aleksei, 260) Korliakov Grigorii, 261) Malaukhov Vasilii, 262) Prasolov Grigorii, 263) Butin Ivan, 264) Poliakov Gerasim, 265) Shatokhin Mikhail, 266) Saltykov Mikhail, 267) Iurchenko Mark, 268) Raskatov Vasilii, 269) Gusarov Mikhail, 270) Zhitnikov Aleksandr, [sic] 272) Protasov Ivan, 273) Sovolev Mikhail, 274) Markov Mikhail, 275) Kholodov Ivan, 276) Marinov G., 277) Sitnikov Andrei.
Candidate members of the R.C.P.: I. Marklev; A. Utrimov, soldier of the 10th Battery; also N. Malafeev; Kondratenko, member of the R.C.P.; S. Gorlov, sldr. of 4th Division; I. Kivikhin, employee of the Prodbaza; I. Grigoriev, sldr. of the Fortress Fire Crew; also I. Korotov; N. Andreev, member of the Admin. of the Union of Sewing Production; N. Tikhomirov, employee of the Watch Crew of the Kronstadt Port; Zavialov, sldr. of fort Totleben; also P. Ivanov; N. Platonov, seaman; F. Zhilin, master in the Naval Artillery Laboratory; Angileiko, Aide to the Commander of the Engineer. Work. Battalion; Nikiforov, Aide to the Director of the Transport String of the Admin. of Construction; I. Panfilov, sldr. of 560th Battalion; also D. Piskarev; N. Vinogradov; also Korshinov; A. Solonschikov, soldier of the Watch Crew of the Kronstadt Port; also I. Maksimov; K. Grigoriev, seaman; E. Khromov, member of the R.C.P.; A. Krasikov, Head of the Admin. of the Commander of the Town of Kronstadt; E. Tikhomirov, seaman; Gamzov, employee of the Ship Department; also Leonenko; also Korotkevich; also Galakhov; also Blashek; also Bortnikov; also A. Beliaev; also E. Balaev; also I. Petrov; also Sterling; also Iampoltsev; also Petkevich; also E. Nikitin; also V. Egorov; also Karpovich; also Shulgin; also Vnukov, also I. Bykhov, sldr. of the Kotlin Railroad; also Brynsky; also Volkov; also Baranovsky; also M. Fedorov; also Grushechevich; also Kuzmin; also V. Romanov; also V. Zembal; also S. Afanasenko, militiaman; also N. Kraubner, serviceman of the Admin of Construct. of the Fortress; P. Ukhnalevich, member of the R.C.P.; also 334) Popov.
Today, half a pound of bread is issued by adult cards of letter A for coupon No 17. March 16th, 17th and 18th, 2 lbs. of white flour is issued by children's cards of series A from stores NoNo 1, 5, 10, 13, 14 ,15, 25 and 30 (independent of registration) for produce coupon No 11, and a one pound tin on canned milk from stores NoNo 5 and 14 for produce coupon No 12. Flour and milk will be issued for three days.
March 16th and 17th, the haberdashery store (formerly belonging to Schukin) will be open from 2 to 7. It is incumbent on institutions and citizens having orders for good from the above named store to register them in the Department of Distribution of Gorprodkom, room No 19, and to receive the goods during the announced period.
AL. OKOLOTKOV, for the President of Gorprodkom
—The handicraft workshop of the Soviet of the People's Economy accepts orders for bed linen and clothes, with trimmings supplied by the orderer.
—The Department of Social Security announces to citizens that textiles in the possession of the Department have all been distributed. Others who have turned in applications will be supplied first, upon receipt of textiles.
—Warrant No 12 of Comrade Nikitin, member of the Revtroika of the battleship Petropavlovsk has been lost. We ask that it be considered invalid.
The Administration of the Central Garrison Club brings to the attention of club members that lessons have resumed in all studios. It therefore addresses a request to all teachers, and also to club members to attend lessons as possible.
The Revtroika of the Prodbaza asks military units and the civilian populace to not throw away tins from preserves, since they can be used a second time for the same purpose. Please turn them in at the following addresses.
At Big Port, to Aramonov, the overseer of the warehouses, or on former Kniazheskaya Street at the Oprodkomflot Store. Receipt will take place from 10 A.M. until 4 P.M.
[1] This refers to the system of labor and production organization developed by F. W. Taylor, 1856-1915, an American engineer (Prokhorov, 1970, vol. 25, p. 360).
[2] A chastusha is a "two line or four line folk verse, usually humorous and topical, sung in a lively manner," (Akhmanova et al., p 697).