Erich Mühsam, murdered by Nazis on this day in 1934, was a Jewish anarchist author who openly condemned Nazism and satirized Hitler before being arrested by the Nazi regime in 1933.

In 1911, Mühsam founded the newspaper, "Kain" as a forum for anarcho-communist politics, stating that it would "be a personal organ for whatever the editor, as a poet, as a citizen of the world, and as a fellow man had on his mind." The paper opposed capital punishment and government censorship of theater.

After World War I, Mühsam was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for playing a leading role in the Bavarian Revolution. He was freed as part of the same general amnesty for political prisoners under the Weimar Republic that released Adolf Hitler.

As a cabaret performer and writer during this time, he achieved international prominence, promoting works which condemned Nazism and personally satirized Adolf Hitler.

In 1933, Mühsam was arrested, with propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels labeling him as one of "those Jewish subversives."

While imprisoned, he was brutally tortured, however his spirit remained unbroken. When his captors tried to force him to sing the "Horst-Wessel-Lied" (the Nazi's anthem), Mühsam sung The Internationale, instead.

According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Mühsam was murdered in the Oranienburg concentration camp on July 11th, 1934.

Mühsam, Erich: His life, his work, his martyrdom - Augustin Souchy anarchy-a-white

Erich Mühsam writings anarchy-heart

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  • Nagarjuna [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    Now get ready for the harder part: negotiating a first contract.

    What do you see the challenges being in getting that CBA with your boss?

    • Babs [she/her]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Company was already partially-unionized - some of the shelters were union and on a contract, others were excluded from that union for some reason. The new contract is currently being negotiated and going pretty well so far.

      Fortunately the union itself isn't new, so much as expanding it to the rest of the company. Probably made it a lot easier for management to accept too, since they were already dealing with the union at other sites.

      • Nagarjuna [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        I'm glad to hear that, that's a lot easier. Does your shelter have anyone on the bargaining team? Having someone leaking the details to your co-workers will help you avoid blindly going into a bad contract, participating in bargaining tends to radicalize lukewarm co-workers, and a bargaining team member is a potential rep or steward down the road, which is essential to longevity at your shop.

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Open your negotiations by tossing the head of their chief negotiator in to the room so it sort of bounces several times before coming to rest staring with dead eyes at the other negotiators. You need to open with a power move so they know to take you seriously.