Just read a crap account of the siege in last Saturdays independent magazine, good photos though. Can anyone point me in the direction of a good article?
Apparently city of london is doing a plaque in memory of dead police in houndsditch tomorrow.
Just read a crap account of the siege in last Saturdays independent magazine, good photos though. Can anyone point me in the direction of a good article?
Apparently city of london is doing a plaque in memory of dead police in houndsditch tomorrow.
Not an article but a comrade
Not an article but a comrade of mine brought this to my attention.
http://www.siegememory.net/?p=90
Looks interesting! So far
Looks interesting!
So far even the wikipedia article is better than the Independent piece
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Sidney_Street
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Piatkow
I always thought it was kind
I always thought it was kind of cool that Peter the Painter has two buildings named after him in Tower Hamlets. Thing is no one really knows who he actually was, and there is pretty much no solid proof that he was involved in the Sidney Street siege. Still, a nice piece of East End folklore.
Cheers for that link flaneur; I love the comparison with David Beckham. :D
Had this emailed to me from
Had this emailed to me from Phil Ruff, writer and researcher on Latvian anarchism:
A very good read, that. Kudos
A very good read, that. Kudos to Mick.
In one of the Mail articles
In one of the Mail articles on the student protests, they made a point about 'anarchists from Latvia armed with smoke bombs' being on the protests, presumably the author of that article had just read up on Sidney Street and was hoping others had too.
rkn wrote: ... Can anyone
rkn
You should try this:
Peter the Painter (Janis Zhaklis) and the Siege of Sidney Street by Phil Ruff and Pauls Bankovskis
[In October 2003 the Latvian press carried a number of articles about the Latvian anarchist Janis Zhaklis. These were largely based on the work of Philip Ruff who, after twenty years of research into the Siege of Sidney Street has identified Zhaklis as the most famous Latvian in London: Peter the Painter. His hunt through the archives continues but before the full story is published we thought it worth posting this article to whet your appetites.
Pauls Bankovskis, who wrote this piece is a well-known journalist and novelist. His 2002 novel, Mister Latvia, was based on some of the characters involved with the events around Sidney Street. KSL]
http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/rjdgpg
In KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 50-51, July 2007 [Double issue]
Quote: One of those tried and
anarchists?
Joseph Kay wrote: Quote: One
Joseph Kay
It's important to remember that that is one possible scenario. I haven't seen any conclusive evidence that Peter the Painter was in fact the same person as this Jacob Peters feller (who sounds like a real despicable cunt).
There is some tangential evidence however to suggest that the Latvians who actually carried out the robbery (their "leader" being a man named Gardstein) were not just provocateurs but actually involved with the London anarchist milieu at the time. If you read the Old Bailey transcripts of the trial that followed the Siege, you'll see that Malatesta was asked to testify on account of his having lent some utensils to Gardstein, apparently not knowing what the latter was intending to use them for. The fact that Malatesta knew these guys means they either were really efficient provocateurs (but judging by their botched robbery attempt they don't sound particularly impressive in the art of dissimulation), or actual anarchists (probably insurrectionists; most Eastern European anarchists in the diaspora were).
Btw, I'm not sure where that quote is from, but post-Siege Peter the Painter (insofar as he was at all involved in all this; Churchill and the chief of the Met seemed to think so) was nowhere to be found (he was tried in absentia and the judge found that there was no case to be made for the Painter's involvement), and the surviving members of "his" group were, IIRC, acquitted due to lack of evidence of their involvement in the botched robbery (so there's no reason to suspect they were thieves)
Joseph Kay
Joseph Kay
I seem to remember reading something, possibly in Black Flag a long time ago, that argued that they were social democrats rather than anarchists. Whether there's actually any basis for the argument I don't know.
Quote: I seem to remember
Possibly this was in a review of a novel by Emanuel Litvinoff, "A Death out of Season" (1977), part of a trilogy loosely based on the life of Jacob Peters.
two quotes from the article
two quotes from the article mentioned before (Peter the Painter (Janis Zhaklis) and the Siege of Sidney Street by Phil Ruff and Pauls Bankovskis):
On Peterss (Jacob Peters)
Were they anarchists?
Thanks for all the links
Thanks for all the links
I had this request a while
I had this request a while ago regarding any Latvian anarchists. In case anyone can help - I was very much not the best person to ask!
"We are trying to follow information about protests in Britain. What do you think about this information?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1338097/Tuition-fees-protest-Anarchists-Argentina-Germany-Italy-plotted-mayhem.html
it says there are many people from Latvia who are taking part in the events. Is there any information about them? Or is it a joke? It is very interesting because in now in Latvia there is just a small group, many active young people have gone to live and work abroad. it would be very interesting to establish contact with Latvian libertarian activists in England."
Oh also - as Phil Ruff
Oh also - as Phil Ruff actually made the effort to go to Latvia and check out the documents, gravestones, etc.., it's his judgement I'll go with.
(did a talk about it at the London Bookfair 2? years ago)
This link tells the story in
This link tells the story in detail, with lots of great pics too (story begins at post 12.16.10 near top of list - Chapter 1. Murder in Houndsditch);
http://spitalfieldslife.com/category/criminal-life/
Mark.
Kate Sharpley
The above kind of fits with what was found on Gardstein’s body;
Newsreel footage;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAHOW0IhelM&feature=related
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=84933
There’s an exhibition on the Siege running till April 10th 2011 at Museum of London in Docklands; http://www.museumindocklands.org.uk/English/EventsExhibitions/Special/LondonUnderSiege.htm
Peters was the shit involved
Peters was the shit involved in the suppression of the Black Guards
an update: The Kate Sharpley
an update:
The Kate Sharpley Library has just posted a translation of Kristine Sadovska’s article “See how Latvians BURN when they catch fire!“, drawing on Phil Ruff’s researches into Latvian anarchist Janis Zhaklis (better known as Peter the Painter). The article of course mentions the Houndsditch affair and the Siege of Sidney Street, but also some of Zhaklis’ previous adventures, like the Riga Central Prison attack to liberate Julijs Shlesers and Janis Lacis (September 1905) and the January 1906 attack on the secret police headquarters.
“Pētera Māldera laiks un dzīve” (“The Life and Times of Peter the Painter”) by Phil Ruff is out in Riga early August 2012, published by Dienas Gramata [yes, published in Latvian].
Also there is this interview
Also there is this interview with Phil Ruff by Ian Bone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTQiJyaeqPA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFCTpjiDaSg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyYN02yjKHQ&feature=relmfu
It's a shame there's no news
It's a shame there's no news about that documentary.
I'm sure people would like to
I'm sure people would like to know:
cover image at http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/doc/peter-painter-book-last
I stumbled across this book
I stumbled across this book seperated into 5 pdfs:
The Battle with the London Anarchists, c 1911
Phil Ruff discussing Peter
Phil Ruff discussing Peter the Painter and his researches into the history of Latvian anarchism. (Over an hour: in English with Latvian subtitles):
http://www.diena.lv/kd/kulturas-lekcijas/britu-rakstnieks-filips-rufs-par-latviesu-anarhistu-peteri-malderu-13964757
KS Library - Peter the Painter: the book at last
Also on the Kate Sharpley
Also on the Kate Sharpley Library site:
Facts against myths [Book review of Phil Ruff's book on Janis Zhaklis] by Maira Asare
http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/sbcdhv
(You should remember when reading it, it's written from a Latvian perspective, so is about recovery of the radical history that was suppressed in the Bolshevik version of events).
Hope nobody minds me reviving
Hope nobody minds me reviving this thread, but I remembered reading it and the links way back, so when I stumbled upon this video on a video archive website I figure to share:
http://www.itnsource.com/en/shotlist/BHC_RTV/1911/01/03/BGT407040036/
Another interview: anarchist
Another interview: anarchist and historian Philip Ruff, talking about the identity of the real Peter the Painter and his research into Latvian and revolutionary history.
(from the News Agents on resonance)
https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-12th-september-2015/
Philip Ruff's book on Peter
Philip Ruff's book on Peter the Painter is now available from an English publisher: https://www.breviarystuff.org.uk/philip-ruff-a-towering-flame/. Essential reading if you're interested in the siege (among other subjects!).
I love reading these stuff.
I love reading these stuff. Thanks for sharing!
Just finished with this.
Just finished with this. Anyone else has any other interesting read?