These proclaimers of the idea of the occupation of revolutionary territory by the counter-revolutionary German and Austro-Hungarian armies, and the subsequent annihilation of the revolutionary toilers, handed over to the foreign troops as they passed through Gulyai-Pole machine guns, hundreds of rifles, and our cannons!
The commander of the German forces thanked them for their “loyalty”. These odious proclaimers of the idea of occupation, along with others who were in tune with the new counter-revolutionary regime, did not conceal their joy at this compliment from the powerful.
What a disgrace!
And so a desire for vengeance was born in the soil of the revolutionaries. Vengeance against all those who trampled on the toiling population, enslaved, tortured, crushed politically and socially.
No more pity for the enemies of the toilers! No more pity for all those who try to oppose our revolutionary activity! That’s what I told my comrades then and that’s how I acted.
The reader will see how this worked out in the next volumes of my memoirs.
Anti-Copyright
Author: Nestor Makhno
Title: The Russian Revolution in Ukraine (March 1917 — April 1918)
Publication date: 1926
Retrieved on March 12th, 2009 from http://www.nestormakhno.info/english/memoirs/book1/index.htm
Published by Black Cat Press, Edmonton 2007. English translation copyright Black Cat Press. The Nestor Makhno Archive has altered some spellings and corrected some typographical errors.
Source: Black Cat Press, 4508 118 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T5H 2J1 CANADA, blackcatpress@shawbiz.ca