Mollie Steimer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mollie Steimer
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| מאלי שטיימער | |
Steimer in 1919
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| Born | November 21, 1897 Dunaivtsi, Podilia, Russian Empire
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| Died | July 23, 1980 (aged 82) Cuernavaca, Mexico
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| Years active | 1917–1963 |
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| Movement | Anarchism |
| Partner(s) | Senya Fleshin |
Mollie Steimer (Ukrainian: Моллі Штаймер; November 21, 1897 – July 23, 1980) was a brave activist from Ukraine. She believed in anarchism, which is a political idea that suggests people can live peacefully without a government controlling them.
After moving to New York City in 1913, she quickly joined a group of people who shared her beliefs. She became well-known because of a famous court case called Abrams v. United States. She was accused of speaking out against the government. Because of this, she was sent away to Soviet Russia.
In Russia, she met her lifelong partner, Senya Fleshin. Together, they fought for the rights of political prisoners. Because of their actions, they were sent away again, this time to Europe. They helped other exiles and prisoners there. When the Nazis came to power in Europe, Mollie and Senya moved to Mexico. They spent the rest of their lives there, working as photographers.
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Mollie's Early Life and Activism
Mollie Steimer was born on November 21, 1897, in a village called Dunaivtsi in the Russian Empire. When she was 15, her family moved to the United States. They settled in a Jewish neighborhood in New York City. Mollie started working in a clothing factory.
During this time, she began reading books about new political ideas. She was inspired by writers who believed in freedom and equality.
Becoming an Anarchist
By 1917, when the Russian Revolution began, Mollie was very interested in anarchism. She liked the ideas of Russian anarchists like Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin. She also admired Emma Goldman, another famous anarchist.
Mollie and other Jewish anarchists formed a secret group called Der Shturm ("The Storm"). They published radical writings in the Yiddish language. Later, in 1918, the group started a new newspaper called Frayhayt ("Freedom"). Its motto was a quote from Henry David Thoreau: "That government is best which governs not at all." This meant they believed the best government was one that didn't control people at all.
Facing Government Opposition
Mollie and her group lived and worked together in an apartment in Harlem. Because of laws like the Espionage Act of 1917, it was dangerous to speak out against the government. The government had banned many papers, including Frayhayt, because they were against World War I.
By the summer of 1918, the group caught the attention of the police. They had been giving out leaflets that spoke against the war and called for big changes in society.
Arrest, Trial, and Imprisonment
Mollie Steimer herself handed out thousands of leaflets in New York. On August 23, 1918, she gave them out at her factory and even threw some out a window. This led to her arrest. The police found out about her from someone within her group.
Her apartment was searched, and other members of her group were arrested. They were accused of working together to break laws about free speech.
Speaking Out in Court
During their trial, known as the Abrams v. United States case, Mollie gave a powerful speech. She explained her beliefs:
By anarchism, I understand a new social order, where no group of people shall be governed by another group of people. Individual freedom shall prevail in the full sense of the word. Private ownership shall be abolished. Every person shall have an equal opportunity to develop himself well, both mentally and physically. We shall not have to struggle for our daily existence as we do now. No one shall live on the product of others. Every person shall produce as much as he can, and enjoy as much as he needs—receive according to his need. Instead of striving to get money, we shall strive towards education, towards knowledge. While at present the people of the world are divided into various groups, calling themselves nations, while one nation defies another — in most cases considers the others as competitive — we, the workers of the world, shall stretch out our hands towards each other with brotherly love. To the fulfillment of this idea I shall devote all my energy, and, if necessary, render my life for it.
On October 25, 1918, Mollie and her friends were found guilty. Mollie was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Many people, including lawyers from Harvard University, supported her. Her sentence was appealed, and she was released on bail.
Continued Activism and Arrests
Mollie went right back to her activism. She was arrested many times over the next year. On March 11, 1919, she was arrested again during a police raid. She was sent to Ellis Island. She protested her solitary confinement by going on a hunger strike. She was released before she could be sent away from the country. Back in New York, she met Emma Goldman, and they became close friends.
On October 30, 1919, Mollie was arrested again and put in prison on Blackwell's Island. She was held alone for six months. She protested again with a hunger strike and by singing revolutionary songs loudly. When the Supreme Court upheld her conviction, her friends planned to escape the country. But Mollie refused to go. She didn't want to dishonor the workers who had paid her bail.
In April 1920, Mollie was moved to a prison in Jefferson City, Missouri. She stayed there for a year and a half. She was forced to make 100 jackets every day. This was very hard work, and she even hurt her arm. But she kept going to avoid causing more trouble for her family.
While she was in prison, Mollie's brother died from the flu, and her father died from shock. She tried to get released to support her mother, but the Supreme Court said no. A group called the Workers' Defense Union raised money to help her family.
On August 22, 1920, Mollie heard news of a big international strike against the war in Russia. She was very happy, saying, "At last our great hope... is coming true!" She also wrote letters to check on her fellow anarchists in prison.
Her lawyer eventually got her released, but only if she agreed to be sent out of the country. At first, she didn't want to leave because she was against country borders. She also worried about other political prisoners in the United States. But after some convincing, she agreed. She arrived back at Ellis Island, excited to join the Russian Revolution.
Deportation and Life in Exile
On November 24, 1921, Mollie and her friends were sent to the Russian Soviet Republic. They arrived in Moscow on December 15, 1921. They found that the anarchist movement in Russia had been stopped. Emma Goldman had left, and many anarchists were in prison.
Despite the difficult situation, Mollie made a new home in Petrograd. There, she met and fell in love with Senya Fleshin. He had been part of a movement that fought for freedom. Together, they started an organization to help political prisoners in Russia.
Facing Trouble in Russia
Because of their work, Mollie and Senya were arrested on November 1, 1922. They were sentenced to be sent to Siberia. But they went on a hunger strike and were released on November 18. They had to stay in Petrograd and report to the authorities regularly.
Even with these rules, they kept helping prisoners. They were arrested again on July 9, 1923. After another hunger strike and protests from other groups, they were released again. This time, they were to be sent out of Russia. When ACLU founder Roger Nash Baldwin heard about Mollie's treatment, he said he felt bad for her and wanted to help.
Life in Europe
On September 27, 1923, Mollie and Senya were sent to Germany. In Berlin, they met up with Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. From Germany, Mollie wrote articles for a British anarchist newspaper called Freedom. She wrote about her experiences in Russia and criticized the government's control.
The couple continued to help Soviet political prisoners. In 1924, they moved to Paris with their friend Volin. They started a group to help anarchist exiles from all countries. Mollie also met other anarchists like Rudolf Rocker. She was briefly reunited with her friends Jack and Mary Abrams, who had also left Russia.
In 1929, Mollie and Senya went back to Berlin, where Senya worked as a photographer. However, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power in 1933, they returned to Paris to escape the rising hatred against Jewish people.
Escaping the Nazis
When Nazi Germany invaded France on May 18, 1940, Mollie was sent to a concentration camp. This was because she was Jewish and an anarchist. She stayed there for six months before being released. She then fled south to an area of France that was not directly controlled by the Nazis. Once she was reunited with Senya in Marseilles, they escaped across the ocean to Mexico.
Later Life in Mexico
In Mexico City, Mollie and Senya opened a photography studio. They became good friends with a group of Spanish anarchists who were also living in exile. They also met up again with Jack and Mary Abrams.
In 1963, Mollie and Senya retired to Cuernavaca. They stayed updated on the anarchist movement around the world and welcomed visitors from the United States. In the late 1970s, Mollie was interviewed for films about Emma Goldman and her own strong anarchist beliefs. She held onto her beliefs throughout her life.
Mollie Steimer passed away from heart failure in her home in Cuernavaca on July 23, 1980, at the age of 82. Senya Fleshin died less than a year later.
See also
- Anarchist Black Cross
