The Greek Makhnovists

A short account of the role of the Black Sea Greeks in the Makhnovist movement.

Author
Submitted by Battlescarred on November 16, 2009

Greeks had settled along the north coast of the Black Sea in what is now Ukraine and Crimea from at least the 5th Century BC. At the time of the Revolution of 1917 there were around 180,000 of these Pontic Greeks in the region. When the Austrian and German military backers of the puppet Hetman Skoropadsky withdrew from the Ukraine in 1918, the White forces of Denikin attempted to enforce conscription on the local Greek population of the Mariupol area and met with armed resistance from them. The Greeks resisted the Denikinist requisitioning of food and other materials and were appalled by the rape of local Greek women and the high handed comportment of the Whites. They had not originally wanted to be involved in the strife but were forced to organise self defence units in spring 1919.

Isaac Teper, alias Ilya Gordeev, was a militant of the Nabat Confederation of Anarchists and fought with the Makhnovists. He had edited Golos Makhnovtsa (Voice of the Makhnovists) at Kharkhov. He was captured by the Reds and recruited to the Cheka, then carrying out espionage activities for it among the Makhnovists. In 1924 at Kharkhov he wrote a scurrilous booklet on the Makhnovist movement, most likely under the supervision of a Chekist supervisor (he at least still had enough integrity left to state that Makhno was neither an anti-Semite nor a nationalist). The novel of Alexei Tolstoy ( no relation to the great Leo, and a veteran supporter of Tsarism before becoming a slavish devotee of Stalin) which slanders Makhno is based on the Teper booklet. Teper makes the claim that the Makhnovist movement originated among the Black Sea Greeks. Far fetched as this at first seems, it is true that twenty per cent of the Makhnovist forces were Greek and that according to Arshinov some of the best Makhnovist commanders were Greek. The Greek units were noted for their strong self-discipline, organisation and durability.
The Bolshevik and anarchist renegade Dybets remarked favourably on the Greek Makhnovist units saying that they were the most stable and reliable units of the Makhnovists and that Makhno had great
for their courage and fighting ability and that they were often in combat in the most dangerous areas. Lev Yarkutsky in his book on Mariupol (1993) says that the Greeks in this region were the first to respond to the appeals of Makhno.

In spring 1919 Greeks organised guerilla groups in several villages of the Mariupol region against Denikin. These units had commanders like Vladimir Feofanovich Tachtamisev and Tsoumparev (Tachtamisev is the Russified version - which was only used on official documents - of a Tatar name Tokhtamysh that he had started using). The capture of Mariupol from French and Denikinist forces on March 29th that year was partly due to the 9th (Greek) division led by Tachtamisev alongside the Makhnovist 8th division of Kurilenko. Tachtamisev was awarded the Order of the Red Banner by the Bolsheviks for this, pinned on by the Kronstadt sailor and Bolshevik Pavel Dybenko in April. Ivan Chubarev in his The Guerilla Movement in Mariupol 1918-1919 refers to Tachtamisev operating in Stary Kermenchik, Novy Petrikovka, Novy Karata and Yanisol whilst near Maly Yanisol, Cherdakly, Kellerovka and Makedonivka operated the detachments of Sprutsko, Tsololo and Bohadytsi.

Makhno in his Memoirs recalls that he planned a raid in the south-eastern region of Berntiansk-Mariupol-Iouzovka to stimulate the revolt of the population. After a battle fought at Bolshoi Mikhailovka when the insurgents decided to make Makhno their leader, the Greek village of Komar was invaded and a unit of the Ukrainian National Guard driven out. Following this Makhno and another anarchist of Gulyai Polye, Alexei Marchenko addressed the local population with revolutionary speeches. Many local Greeks immediately joined the Makhnovist forces with their own horses. Makhno then proceeded to Bogatyr, the village occupied by Urum Greeks (who spoke a Greek-Tatar language) and on to the villages of Veliky Yanisol and Maly Yanisol which were also Greek. So the Mariupol Greeks were the first to respond positively to the call of Nestor Makhno.

1500 Pontic Greeks were initially organised in combat units. A Greek Makhnovist regiment fought alongside a Jewish one in a battle against the Whites in June 1919.The Mariupol area was a safe place for the Makhnovists. It was to the village of Veliky Yanisol that the Makhnovist commander Lashkevich went when he managed to escape from the Bolshevik encirclement of Gulyai Polye with the Makhnovist treasury of thousands of roubles. Here he was sheltered by a Greek grandfather. Unfortunately so much money disoriented him, and he began to spend it lavishly. This not only alienated the local people but brought down the wrath of the Makhnovists on him. He was shot for embezzlement in the main square of the village in summer 1920.

In the final phase of the Makhnovist movement another rally was held in Komar on February 24th 1920. Unfortunately the local population was perturbed by the thought of Bolshevik repression and there was no major impulse to join the combatants from among them. In March a Bolshevik punitive detachment arrived in the area shooting 7 people in Komar, 10 in Bogatyr and 12 in Konstantinovka. Further reprisals followed over the next few years. Hundreds of Pontic Greeks had been killed by the forces of Denikin, now the Bolsheviks went to work. In the Stalin period the local Greeks suffered further massacres and deportations from the region.

Tokhtamysh-Tachtamisev, a native of Veliky Yanisol, had always, it appeared, had some sympathy for the Bolsheviks. He had first come to prominence when he first organised a small unit in his village. He later moved over to the Bolsheviks and later still was involved in the construction of a fish canning factory at Mariupol and became its first director. He died in 1935 of a congenital disease.

Other prominent Greek Makhnovists include the Mavrodi brothers from the Greek village of Kermenchik. They are mentioned by Belash in his testimony to the Cheka. One was a Makhnovist battalion commander. According to Belash, after the collapse of the Makhnovist movement he joined the Communist Party and worked in the Volnovaskyi area. His younger brother was still an anarchist according to Belash and was disgusted by the NEP of the Bolsheviks which he felt made the rich peasants richer and the poor peasants poorer. He had been involved in the Makhnovist cultural-educational section, popularizing the setting up of anarchist communes. He was, again according to Belash, aware of the need to carry out anarchist propaganda amongst the Greek population but did not want repression to come down on him, although he was discreetly engaged in the organisation of communes with local official approval. He was apparently able to organise such communes in Veliky Yanisol, Stary Kermenchik and Novy Kermenchik and Konstantinovka. Mavrodi (it is not clear which brother this was) was secretary of the Revolutionary Military Council (RMC) of the Makhnovist movement on April 10th, 1919 alongside the Jewish anarchist Kogan (pointing to the thoroughgoing internationalism of the Makhnovists).

Another key factor in the Greeks rallying to the Makhnovists was the latter’s proclamations on the rights of different national minorities to their own language, costume, dress and culture whilst strongly denouncing nationalism and explicitly taking an internationalist position. The Makhnovist ability to attract contingents of these national minorities (apart from only small units of the German speakers) is to their eternal credit.

Nick Heath
.

Sources
: http://ngnm.vrahokipos.net/apend04.html?start=4 section (in Greek) on the Greek Makhnovists

http://www.makhno.ru/lit/chop/5.pdf Vladimir Chop on the Greek Makhnovists

http://www.makhno.ru/lit/Belash/Belash.php Viktor Belash’s testimony to the Cheka where he mentions the Mavrodi brothers

Comments

Steven.

15 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Steven. on November 17, 2009

Well, that's something I knew nothing about, thank you very much!

Karetelnik

15 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Karetelnik on November 18, 2009

In Alexey Tolstoy's "1918" one of the characters is travelling through Ukraine by train and happens to pass through Gulai-Polye. A fellow passenger tells her this is a "wealthy village," apparently Tolstoy's attempt to characterize the Makhnovists as a kulak movement. Unfortunately for the historical accuracy of the novel, Gulai-Polye has never been on a railway line.

rat

15 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by rat on November 18, 2009

So, more and more fresh information comes to light about the Makhnovist movement — excellent.

Devrim

15 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Devrim on November 19, 2009

Thanks for an interesting article.

At the time of the Revolution of 1917 there were around 180,000 of these Pontic Greeks in the region.

It is easy to forget how ethnically mixed the area around the Black Sea was. When we talk about the Maknovists, we usually think about Ukrainians, but there were of course many other ethnic groups living there at the time. At the same time in the Ottoman Empire a genocide was being committed against the 'ethnic Greeks', many of whom were Pontic, in which up to 1,000,000 people died. This is generally overshadowed by the much larger genocide committed against the Armenians.

Devrim

Battlescarred

15 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Battlescarred on November 19, 2009

Yes, for example one of the Makhnovist commanders Avraam Budanov came from the Bulgarian minority, it appears, whilst other commanders like Klein and Fitz (Fitc)came from the Germam minority whilst Wilhelm came from a Polish or German minority background. In a list of 40 ( exactly- what a nice round number for the secret police butchers) Makhnovists from Gulyai Poye, all shot in 1938, there are names that are clearly of Greek or of Polish origin.

Karetelnik

13 years 10 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Karetelnik on January 17, 2011

Yes, for example one of the Makhnovist commanders Avraam Budanov came from the Bulgarian minority, it appears, whilst other commanders like Klein and Fitz (Fitc)came from the Germam minority whilst Wilhelm came from a Polish or German minority background.

Alexander Klein (1890-1921) has often been described in the literature as German but was actually a Jewish worker.

Battlescarred

10 years 5 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Battlescarred on July 7, 2014

Vladimir chop's article on the Greek Makhnovists translated into English by Malcolm Archibald

http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/nk9b65

Steven.

10 years 5 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Steven. on July 7, 2014

Battlescarred

Vladimir chop's article on the Greek Makhnovists translated into English by Malcolm Archibald

http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/nk9b65

it would be great if someone could post that to the history section

Karetelnik

10 years 5 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Karetelnik on July 7, 2014

Alexander Klein (1890-1921) has often been described in the literature as German but was actually a Jewish worker.

I have to correct myself here as the latest research shows that Klein's father was a worker who emigrated from Germany and settled in Gulyai-Polye, while his mother was Ukrainian or Russian. Also Klein, who commanded large bodies of troops, was born in 1896, not 1890 as is found in the literature, which demonstrates the extreme youth of the Makhnovist movement.

akai

10 years 5 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by akai on July 7, 2014

Good to spread this text.

Also we need to remember the multiethnic character of many places like Ukraine, Poland, Romania which were much more diverse before Stalinists, Banderites, Nazis and others displaced and slaughtered so many people.

Of course part of what is now Ukraine just to be in other states (like Poland) so it should be no surprise to find Poles also amongst the Makhnovists.