Spanish Machine Gunners demand Freeing of Mrs. Muhsam
(The rumoured arrest and deportation of Mrs. Eric Muhsam, wife of the revolutionary murdered by German Fascist to which we drew attention in the September “Red Flag,” is the subject of “An open letter to the Russian Workers.” The letter is from the Eric Muhsam Machine Gun Group (Anarchists) and was published in the P.O.U.M. daily ‘La Batalla,’ on November 15th. ‘La Batalla,’ in an editorial comment, supports the Machine Gunners’ demand, and, urges too, that the appeal of imprisoned Anarchists in the U.S.S.R., to be allowed to fight against Fascism in Spain, should be granted by the Soviet Government.)
Our Group, in open war with fascism, views with frank admiration the attitude adopted by the Russian people. Throughout your vast country meetings have been organised to demonstrate your solidarity with us, your ships cross the seas and drop anchor in our anti-fascist ports of Spain, and even the children of your country wish us well and beseech us to sacrifice all we have for the cause of liberty. Never have we experienced such a moving example of international solidarity. Your hearts beat with ours and all your deeds and thoughts are directed towards helping us. But whilst in this our thoughts are united with yours; whilst we stretch forth our hands to each other, giving thanks; at a time when we have drawn closer to each other than ever before; we think it opportune to tell you this.
Since the first days of the reactionary rising here we have been found fighting tirelessly against the fascists. Our Group went to the Aragon Front under the name of a comrade whom you knew well and whose death in a German concentration camp gave rise to world-wise indignation. On our banner we have woven the name of Eric Muhsam, and under this banner we fight in the common cause. This close bond of our hearts with the comrade murdered in Germany, a bond of which we give practical demonstration each day, also imposes upon us the duty of defending the woman who during many difficult years, was the companion of Eric Muhsam.
Some of us know her as well as we knew him; we know how they lived, how unswervingly they held to the cause of the revolutionary workers. It is already many months, nearly half a year, since Zenzel Muhsam was detained in your country, and all this time we have been unable to get in touch with her. All questions, all protests which we have sent to your Government, all the warnings we have sent to you yourselves fall on deaf ears. Frankly admiring the solidarity which you have shown to revolutionary Spain, we must confess that now more than ever we are deeply concerned about this matter. What is happening to Zenzel Muhsam, companion of him to whom we have dedicated our banner? In the name of your Cause and ours, in the name of the world proletariat, we ask for the liberation of Zenzel Muhsam. She must he brought here to Spain.
Whilst the Spanish people are carrying on a life and death struggle against fascism, whilst the Russian people give us their support, Zenzel Muhsam must not remain in prison or in Russian exile any longer. This matter cannot be hushed up ; the cause of liberty is as closely linked to the name of Eric Muhsam as the Spanish and the Russian people. Because of this, we repeat, SET ZENZEL MUHSAM FREE!
May the next ship of yours which reaches Spain not come without her.
Group of Eric Muhsam Machine Gunners. Huesca Sector, 3rd November, 1936.
From The Red Flag : Organ of the Marxist League, No.5 (New Series), January 1937. https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/red-flag/The%20Red%20Flag%20no%205%20new%20series.pdf
[Sons of Night : Antoine Gimenez’s Memories of the War in Spain (page 359) quotes a version of this appeal which was printed in Línea de Fuego, paper of the Iron Column, on 19 November 1936.]
The Erich Mühsam machine gun unit was affiliated with the Los Aguiluchos Column according to the research of Dieter Nelles – see ‘The Foreign Legion of the revolution: German anarcho-syndicalist and volunteers in anarchist militias during the Spanish civil war’ https://libcom.org/article/foreign-legion-revolution-german-anarcho-syndicalist-and-volunteers-anarchist-militias ]