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Title: Subversive Anarchy Past and Present Author: Renzo Connors Date: 2019 Language: en Topics: Anti-politics, illegalism, individualism, insurrectionary, Bonnot Gang, Nihilism, Anti-work Source: Warzone Distro
“Revolution is aimed at new arrangements; insurrection leads us no
longer to let ourselves be arranged, but to arrange ourselves, and set
no glittering hopes on “institutions.” – Max Stirner
Don’t follow me… I’m not leading you… Don’t walk ahead of me… I’ll not
follow you… Carve your own path… Become yourself…” – Conspiracy Cells of
Fire, Imprisoned Members Cell
“I know that there will be an end to this fight between the formidable
arsenal of the State and me. I know that I will be vanquished, I will be
the weaker, but I hope I can make you pay dearly for the victory.” –
Octave Garnier
On the this day over 100 years ago on the 21st of April, 1913,
Illegalist and Individualist anarchist Raymond Callemin was executed by
guillotine by order of the French state. On the anniversary of his
execution I write this in memory of all those that have fallen or been
jailed in the social war against society.
The illegalist current is an offshoot of individualist anarchism.
Refusing to be exploited, forced to work for some rich tyrant, instead
the illegalist chooses to rob them. It’s an anti-work ethic for
individual autonomy to be realized in real life right away through
Individual expropriation also known as individual reclamation.
Individual reclamation gained notoriety in France in the last decades of
the 19th and early 20th century and gave birth to what was to become
known as illegalism. Proponents of individual reclamation were
anarchists such as Clement Duval and Marius Jacob. Marius Jacob stole to
fund himself as well as the anarchist movement and other causes. This is
the main factor that separates illegalism from individual reclamation,
the illegalists stole solely for themselves. Although some Individual
illegalists did fund individualist anarchist newspapers from the
proceeds of their expropriations and gave money to comrades that were in
need.
The illegalists, many of whom, inspired by Max Stirner and Friedrich
Nietzsche were of the persuasion of why should they have to wait on the
passive herd of exploited and poor classes to rise up and expropriate
the rich? The poor seemed quite content with the conditions they
inhabited. Why should the illegalists have to wait on the exploited
workers to become enlightened with a revolutionary consciousness? Why
should they have to continue to live a life of being exploited and
worked to death while they wait for the future social revolution that
may not ever happen? The illegalist anarchists had no faith in the
workers struggle, so decided to fight back and rob the wealthy, it was a
purely egoist endeavor.
Stirner would have called them “conscious egoists”, expropriating their
lives back for themselves, not asking for permission to exist. They
refused to be slaves to bosses and the state. The illegalists chose to
steal through conscious revolt against society.
The illegalists anarchists robbed, shot, stabbed, counterfeited money
and committed the odd bit of arson across Europe, but predominantly in
France, Belgium, and Italy. There were gun battles and shootouts with
cops. Long jail sentences and executions.
One such group of illegalist anarchists were to become immortalized as
“The Bonnot Gang”.
Raymond Callemin was born in Belgium, a former socialist who then became
an anarchist after becoming disillusioned with the reformism of the
Belgian Socialist Party. Having become influenced by anarchism, Raymond
left the Socialist Party with Victor Serge and Jean De Boe who were
equally disillusioned with socialist electoral politics. Together they
published an individualist anarchist newspaper “Le Revolte” which was
totally hostile to unions and political parties, and was for “permanent
insurrection against the bourgeoisie”.
Octave Garnier on the run from France, fled to Belgium to avoid being
conscripted to the army. He had already committed several expropriations
on the rich via burglaries and had spent time in jail. He first started
out in syndicalism but didn’t take long before developing a disgust with
the union leaders being akin to the bosses using and manipulating
workers for their own ends. He then joined the ranks of the anarchists.
Not being able to work in the profession of his choice, having to work
menial jobs and forced into being a wage slave in jobs he did not even
want in order to live, he became a committed illegalist.
The four anarchists were in their early 20’s, they found each other
through the anarchist circles in Belgium and shared a mutual hatred for
the rich and their system of exploitation. Raymond and Octave carried
out many burglaries together and tried their hand at counterfeiting
coins.
Victor Serge writing articles for Le Revolte brought a lot of attention
on himself from the Belgium state. Since he was a refugee in Belgium
from childhood it made it easier for the Belgian state to get rid him.
He was expelled from Belgium as a dangerous subversive. He left for
France and set up a libertarian commune with other anarchists. Not long
after, Octave Garnier having warrants out for his arrest, followed
Victor to France, with Raymond.
In France they met with Jules Bonnot who was on the run. Jules was in
his early 30’s, an ex soldier and a committed illegalist anarchist. The
police were looking for him for a murder, which was really an accidental
shooting of a comrade. Jules having a lot of experience carrying out
expropriation and being quite successful, offered Octave and Raymond a
proposition to carry out a big job together. The pair were only happy to
accept Jules’s offer, being fed up not making as much as they’d like to
from the burglaries and counter fitting, risking a lot while not getting
much back in return.
The three along with another anarchist, Eugène Dieudonné, came up with a
plan to rob a bank messenger who would be delivering money. They started
by robbing a high powered car from a rich neighborhood on the outskirts
of Paris. Jules learned how to drive in the army so he’d be the getaway
driver. Raymond, Octave, and Eugene would rob the bank messenger. And so
on 21st of December 1911 in broad daylight they robbed the messenger.
They held up the messenger’s security guard as the pair were leaving the
bank. Octave demanded the messenger to hand over the briefcase. Raymond
grabbed it and attempted to make his way for the getaway car. But the
messenger wouldn’t let go of the case. Octave shot him twice in the
chest (the messenger was badly wounded but did not die). They made their
getaway speeding through the streets of Paris in what was one of the
best model cars of the time. It was the very first time a car was used
in an armed robbery in France, because of that the media nicknamed them
the “auto bandits”.
From the robbery they made 5,000 francs which they weren’t happy with.
They expected to have expropriated much more. A few days after the
robbery of the bank messenger they broke into a gun shop stealing many
guns including high powered rifles. Not long after, on the 2nd of
January 1912, they broke into the home of a rich bourgeois, killing him
and his maid in the process They got away with 30,000 francs from this
burglary. They soon fled to Belgium carrying out more robberies and shot
3 cop along their way. Then back to Paris to rob another bank, but this
time they would hold up the bank. While doing the robbery they shot 3
bank clerks. After the robbery a bounty of 700,000 francs was put on the
anarchists heads, the Société Générale bank they robbed put another
100,000 francs on their heads.
There is a deep nihilism, egoism, and anti-reformism within illegalist
praxis with its continuity today with groups like the Conspiracy Cells
of Fire, the Informal Anarchist Federation/ International Revolutionary
Front and individuals such as the Chilean Anarcho-nihilists Sebastian
Oversluij who was shot dead while expropriating a bank, and Mauricio
Morales who was killed when the bomb he was transporting in his backpack
detonated prematurely.
Modern day insurrectionary anarchy also has a direct lineage with this
anarchist history. Many of the main components of ideas and praxis that
comprise illegalism and individual reclamation (which includes
propaganda of the deed, which is individual direct action against the
bourgeois class, their property and their flunkies, ie pigs, screws and
judges, in the hope the action will inspire others to follow suit;
anti-organisational in the form of individual insurrection, affinity
groups and informal organisation; and an extreme disliking of the left
and its tactics of reformism) are also found in the different strands of
insurrectionary anarchism today.
What was branded the “Bonnot Gang” by the media and the pigs was an
affinity group. Jules Bonnot was not a leader of the group, there were
none. The individuals that comprised the different affinity groups that
carried out the so called crimes that were branded with the name the
“Bonnot Gang” were simply individuals with mutual aims that came
together to carry out actions. The French state used the name to brand
any anarchist they pleased with association to any of the so called
crimes.
On the 30th of March 1912 André Soudy (an anarchist who took part in
some of the robberies of the group) was caught by police. A few days
later, another anarchist involved with some of the robberies, Édouard
Carouy was arrested. On the 7th of April, Raymond Callemin. By the end
of April, 28 anarchists had been arrested in connection with the“Bonnot
Gang”.
On April 28 police discovered the location where Jules Bonnot was hiding
in Paris. 500 armed police surrounded the house. Jules refused to give
himself up, a shoot out commenced. After hours of exchanging shots, the
police detonate a bomb at the front of the house. When the police
stormed the house they discovered Jules rolled up in a mattress, he was
still firing shots at them. He was shot in the head and died later from
his injuries in hospital.
On the 14th of May police discovered the location of Octave Garnier and
Rene Valet (another member of the group). 300 cops and 800 soldiers
surrounded the building. Like Bonnot the pair also refused to be
arrested. The siege lasted hours, the police eventually detonated a bomb
and blew part of the house up killing Octave. Rene badly injured was
still firing off shots, he died not long after.
A year later on the 3rd of February 1913 Raymond Callemin, as well as
many other anarchists including Victor Serge were put on trial by the
French state for their alleged parts in the “Bonnot Gang”. Although
Raymond did carry out many robberies and shot dead a bank clerk, many
others who were put on trial had no part whatsoever in any of the
so-called crimes that were attributed to the “Bonnot Gang”. The French
state was thirsty for revenge and so after it gunned them down and blew
then up; the state executed, locked up and exiled many anarchists. On
the 21st of April, 1913, Raymond Callemin, Étienne Monier and André
Soudy were executed by guillotine . Many of their co-accused were
sentenced to life and hard labour in French colonies.
This revenge practice by states is still carried out today with the
Scripta Manent trials in Italy which are directly related to the
kneecapping of the manager of a nuclear power company by individualist
anarchists Alfredo Caspito and Nicola Gia, and other acts of resistance
in Italy. And the repressive trials in Russia against anarchists,
anti-fascists, and the FSB’s (Federal Security Service) fabricated
“Network” organization case. In retaliation Anarcho-communist Mikhail
Zhlobitsky last October detonated a bomb in the Russian Federal Security
Service Regional Headquarters in Arkhangelsk, dying in the process. And
so the FSB carried out another round of repression against anarchists
after the bombing, arresting, interrogating and slapping false charges
on many anarchists as payback for the attack. On the 22nd of March, 2019
a cell from the Informal Anarchist Federation naming Itself FAI/FRI
Revenge Faction – Mikhail Zholbitsky carried out a grenade attack
against the Russian embassy in Athens, Greece as revenge for the
repression carried out by the Russian state against anarchists.
Whichever current of anarchism am individual lives, it doesn’t matter,
once it is subversive and in conflict with whatever authority that
attempts to infringe on an individual’s autonomy. The ongoing war
against industrial capitalist society has been raging for over 200
years, which has claimed many lives of anarchists with even more being
jailed. The same insurrectional spirit of no mediation and no compromise
with authority continues to flow in subversive anarchy today. In
solidarity with all anarchists imprisoned and at war with industrial
capitalist society.