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'''Eugen Leviné''' ({{lang-ru|Евгений Левине}}) (10 May 1883 – 5 June 1919) was a [[German people|German]] [[Communism|communist]] revolutionary and one of the leaders of the short-lived [[Bavarian Council Republic]].
'''Eugen Leviné''' ({{lang-ru|Евгений Левине}}) (10 May 1883 – 5 June 1919), AKA "Dr. Eugen Leviné,"<ref name=Ablovatski>
{{cite book
| first = Eliza
| last = Ablovatski
| title = Revolution and Political Violence in Central Europe: The Deluge of 1919
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=x1ctEAAAQBAJ&
| pages = ix, 65 (sent), 92 (Rilke), 132 ("Dr."), 135 ("interloper")
| date = 2021
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref> was a [[German people|German]] [[Communism|communist]] revolutionary and one of the leaders of the short-lived Second [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]].<ref name=Bronner>
{{cite book |last=Bronner |first=Stephen Eric |title=Modernism at the Barricades: Aesthetics, Politics, Utopia |year=2012 |publisher=Columbia University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HeVMWQLC99MC&newbks=1& |pages=121, 131-133 (bio), 134 (influence) |location=New York |isbn=978-023-115-822-0}}</ref><ref name=Winkler>
{{cite book |author1=Winkler, H. A. |author2=Sager, Alexander |name-list-style=amp |title=Germany: The Long Road West |year=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YlRZXtADx7MC& |page=356 |isbn=978-019-926-597-8}}</ref><ref name=Ehrlich>
{{cite book |first=M. Avrum|last=Ehrlich |title=Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture |volume=2 |year=2008 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NoPZu79hqaEC&pg=PA1154& |page=847 |location=Santa Barbara, California |isbn=978-185-109-873-6}}</ref><ref name=Morris>
{{cite book
| first = Douglas G.
| last = Morris
| title = Justice Imperiled: The Anti-Nazi Lawyer Max Hirschberg in Weimar Germany
| publisher = University of Michigan Press
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cs_rXw0XfqwC&
| pages = 33-34, 41, 45-47, 53, 79, 302, 319
| date = 2005
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref><ref name=Wollenberg>
{{cite book
| first = Erich
| last = Wollenberg
| translator = Ed Walker
| title = A Red Guard Before Munich: Reportage from the Munich Soviet Republic
| publisher = independently published
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=j2GczgEACAAJ&
| pages = 153
| date = 5 July 2021
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref><ref name=Grundmann>
{{cite book
| first = Siegfried
| last = Grundmann
| title = The Einstein Dossiers: Science and Politics - Einstein's Berlin Period with an Appendix on Einstein's FBI File
| publisher = Springer Science & Business Media
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1bxYPMHPhGcC
| pages = 246
| date = 8 February 2006
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref><ref name=Mommsen>
{{cite book
| first1 = Wolfgang J.
| last1 = Grundmann
| first2 = Jurgen
| last2 = Grundmann
| title = Max Weber and His Contempories
| publisher = Routledge
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DXTYAQAAQBAJ&
| pages = 373-9
| date = 28 October 2013
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref><ref name=Harman>
{{cite book
| first1 = Chris
| last1 = Harman
| first2 =
| last2 =
| title = The Lost Revolution: Germany 1918 to 1923
| publisher = [[Haymarket Books]]
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dyNeDgAAQBAJ&
| pages = 373-9
| date = 26 June 2017
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref>


==Background==
==Background==
Eugen Leviné was born on May 10, 1883, in [[St. Petersburg]] into the rich<ref name=Löwy>
Leviné was born in [[St. Petersburg]] into the [[Jewish]] merchant family Julius and Rozalia (née Goldberg).<ref>{{harvtxt|Stephen Eric Bronner|2012|p=131}}</ref><ref>{{harvtxt|Frank Kyle|2012|p=360}}</ref><ref>{{harvtxt|H.A. Winkler|2007|p=356}}</ref><ref>{{harvtxt|M. Avrum Ehrlich|2008|p=847}}</ref> Julius Leviné died when Eugen was 3 years old, and Rozalia emigrated to [[German Empire|Germany]] with her son, settling in [[Wiesbaden]] and [[Mannheim]]. Eugen went on to study law at the [[Heidelberg University]]. He returned to Russia to participate in the failed [[Russian Revolution of 1905|revolution of 1905]] against the [[Tsar]]. For his actions, he was exiled to [[Siberia]]. He eventually escaped to Germany and began studying at [[Heidelberg University]] and, in 1915, married Rosa Broido from the Polish town of [[Gródek, Białystok County|Gródek]]. They had at least one child, a son, whom they named Eugen. For a short time, he served in the [[Imperial German Army]] during the [[First World War]].
{{cite book
| first = Michael
| last = Löwy
| author-link = Michael Löwy
| title= Redemption and Utopia: Jewish Libertarian Thought in Central Europe
| publisher = [[Verso Books]]
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7W7nDwAAQBAJ&
| date = 1 March 2017
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref> [[Jewish]] merchant family Julius and Rozalia (née Goldberg).<ref name=Bronner/> Julius Leviné died when Eugen was three years old, and Rozalia emigrated to [[German Empire|Germany]] with her son, settling in [[Wiesbaden]] and [[Mannheim]]. Eugen went on to study law at the [[Heidelberg University]].{{cn}} While a student there, he remained in touch with Russia.<ref name=Löwy/>


==Career==
==Bavarian Council Republic==
After the war ended, Leviné joined the [[Communist Party of Germany]] and helped to create a [[Bavarian Soviet Republic|socialist republic in Bavaria]]. However, the republic lasted only several weeks, replaced quickly by a [[Soviet republic (system of government)|Soviet-style republic]] after the assassination of [[Kurt Eisner]], then leader of the [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (USPD).


===1905 revolution===
The ruling government of the new republic lasted only six days, due to poor leadership under the German-Jewish playwright [[Ernst Toller]]. Leviné rose to power as the communists assumed control of the government.
Leviné returned to Russia to participate in the failed [[Russian Revolution of 1905|revolution of 1905]] against the [[Tsar]]. For his actions, he was exiled to [[Siberia]]. He eventually escaped to Germany and began studying at [[Heidelberg University]] and married in 1915. For a short time, he served in the [[Imperial German Army]] during the [[First World War]].{{cn}}


===1919 Bavarian Soviet Republic===
Leviné attempted to expropriate luxurious flats to the homeless and seize factories and place them under workers control. He also planned to remove teaching of history from education, and to abolish [[Banknote|paper money]], neither of which he completed.
[[File:Map-WR-Bavaria.svg|thumb|right|Leviné helped establish and lead the short-lived [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]] (territory in red vs. [[Weimar Republic]] in beige)]]
After the war ended, Leviné joined the [[Communist Party of Germany]] (KPD), which, under [[Paul Levi]], who sent first [[Max Levien]] in December 1918 and then Leviné, first to [[Upper Silesia]] to quell an uprising<ref name=Harman/> and then in March 1918 to Munich to organize the KPD locally and help to create a [[Bavarian Soviet Republic|socialist republic in Bavaria]].<ref name=Bronner/><ref name=Ehrlich/><ref name=Morris/><ref name=Ablovatski/> Neither Lieven or Leviné had much revolutionary experience.<ref name=Mommsen/> The republic lasted only several weeks, replaced quickly by a [[Soviet republic (system of government)|Soviet-style republic]] after the assassination of [[Kurt Eisner]], then leader of the [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (USPD).{{cn}}


The ruling government of the new republic lasted only six days, due to poor leadership under the German-Jewish playwright [[Ernst Toller]].{{cn}}
Under orders from Leviné, the Red Guards began rounding up people they considered to be hostile to the new regime as hostages against imminent outside attack. As the German president [[Friedrich Ebert]] gave orders to subdue the Council Republic and reinstate the Bavarian government under [[Johannes Hoffmann (SPD)|Johannes Hoffmann]], the Red Guards executed eight hostages on 29 April 1919.


====Coup====
The [[Reichswehr|German Army]], assisted by [[Freikorps]], with a force of roughly 39,000 men, invaded and quickly conquered Munich on 3 May 1919. In retaliation for the execution of the hostages, the Freikorps captured and killed some 700 men and women. Leviné himself was arrested and shot by firing squad in [[Stadelheim Prison]].
On April 13, 1919, a "Red Army," led by Leviné and without KPD orders or approval, won clashes with the Toller's soldiers, created a second soviet republic with Leviné at its head, who then received approval and support directly from [[Lenin]].<ref name=Winkler/><ref name=Mommsen/><ref name=Harman/>

Leviné attempted to expropriate luxurious flats to the homeless and seize factories and place them under workers control,<ref name=Bronner/> He also planned to remove teaching of history from education, and to abolish [[Banknote|paper money]], neither of which he completed.{{cn}} He introduced censorship and a "military-style" government, while also revamping education and declaring the [[Munich Frauenkirche]] a revolutionary temple.<ref name=Bronner/> These actions followed inquiries from Lenin as to whether Leviné had assumed control of banks and taken bourgeois hostages.<ref name=Winkler/>

Under orders from Leviné, Red Guards began rounding up people they considered to be hostile to the new regime as hostages against imminent outside attack.{{cn}}

On April 27, 1919, Leviné stepped down ("abdicated"<ref name=Grundmann/>) as leader of the Soviet.

As the German president [[Friedrich Ebert]] gave orders to subdue the Council Republic and reinstate the Bavarian government under [[Johannes Hoffmann (SPD)|Johannes Hoffmann]], the Red Guards executed eight hostages on April 29, 1919.<ref name=Bronner/>

====Countercoup, arrest, trial====
The [[Reichswehr|German Army]], assisted by [[Freikorps]], with a force of roughly 39,000 men invaded and quickly conquered Munich on 3 May 1919 in a "White Terror."<ref name=Winkler/> Leviné personally took part in the street fighting against them.<ref name=Bronner/> In retaliation for the execution of the hostages, the Freikorps captured and killed some 700 men and women.{{cn}} Leviné evaded arrest at first, perhaps by hiding in the apartment of Erich Katzenstein.<ref name=Morris/> After Leviné was caught on May 19, 1919 (or arrested on May 13, 1919).<ref name=Grundmann/>). Public interest in his trial was high.<ref name=Ablovatski/> On May 19, 1919, [[Albert Einstein]] sent a joint telegram asking the courts to delay Leviné's trial.<ref name=Grundmann/> Leviné was tried along with Toller in early June 1919; [[Max Hirschberg]] refused to serve as his legal counsel, but Anton Graf von Pestalozza accepted.<ref name=Morris/> On Jun 3, 1919, the courts, calling him a "foreign interloper in Bavaria,"<ref name=Ablovatski/> sentenced Leviné to death by execution.<ref name=Grundmann/> Soldiers, bureaucrats, and members of the public passed by to see the "blood-thirsty [[Robespierre]]" while he awaited execution, his wife later reported.<ref name=Ablovatski/>

====Speech====
Leviné gave an inspiring speech during his trial.<ref name=Harman/><ref name=Ahasver>
{{Cite book
| first = Eugen
| last = Leviné
| author-link = Eugen Leviné
| title = Ahasver, Rede vor Gericht, u. anderes
| publisher = Verlag Junge Garde
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bJYRGwAACAAJ&
| pages = 37
| date = 1919
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref><ref name=Skizzen>
{{Cite book
| first = Eugen
| last = Leviné
| author-link = Eugen Leviné
| title = Skizzen, Rede vor Gericht und Anderes
| publisher = Verlag der Jugendinternationale
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bJYRGwAACAAJ&
| pages = 56
| date = 1925
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref>

===Aftermath===
In reaction to the two Bavarian socialist republics, whose leaders included many Jews, Bavaria, which was already conservative and anti-Semitic, became even more so.<ref name=Winkler/><ref name=Morris/> One of the people affected was [[Reiner Maria Rilke]], who left Munich after soldiers ransacked his apartment.<ref name=Ablovatski/>

==Personal life and death==
[[File:Stadelheim.jpg|thumb|right|[[Stadelheim Prison]] (circa 2006), site of Leviné's execution in 1919]]
In 1915, Leviné married Rosa Broido (from the Polish town of [[Gródek, Białystok County|Gródek]]), who married [[Ernst Meyer (German politician)|Ernst Meyer]] (1887-1930) and so became known as Meyer-Leviné, and then fled Germany when Hitler came to power and live the rest of her life in London (1890-1979). The Levinés had at least one child, a son, whom they named Eugen.{{cn}}

Stephen Eric Bronner considers Leviné a follower of [[Rosa Luxemburg]] (for seeking "to provide a legacy for the next generation," knowing "the soviet was doomed") and characterized him as follows: <blockquote> He incarnated the best of the Bolshevik spirit. He was unyielding and dogmatic, but an honest intellectual and totally committed to the most radical utopian ideals of international revolution... [and] aldo exhibited exceptional bravery."<ref name=Bronner/> </blockquote> Leviné was arrested and shot, age 36, on June 5 (or 6<ref name=Grundmann/>), 1919, by firing squad in [[Stadelheim Prison]].{{cn}} Lawyer von Pestalozza arranged a Jewish funeral for the Marxist revolutionary.<ref name=Morris/>

==Works==

;Books by Eugen Leviné
* ''Ahasver, Rede vor Gericht, u. anderes'' (''Wandering Jew, Speech in Court, and Others'') (1919)<ref name=Ahasver/>
** ''Skizzen, Rede vor Gericht und Anderes'' (''Sketches, Speech in Court, and Others'') (1925)<ref name=Skizzen/>
* ''Stimmen der Völker zum Krieg'' (''Voices of the Nations on War'') (1925)<ref>
{{Cite book
| first = Eugen
| last = Leviné
| author-link = Eugen Leviné
| title = Stimmen der Völker zum Krieg
| publisher = Malik-Verlag
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=v4oAMwEACAAJ&
| pages = 92
| date = 1925
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite book
| first = Eugen
| last = Leviné
| author-link = Eugen Leviné
| title = Stimmen der Völker zum Krieg
| publisher = Zentralantiquariat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Hu-EAAAAIAAJ&
| date = 1981
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite book
| first = Eugen
| last = Leviné
| author-link = Eugen Leviné
| title = Stimmen der Völker zum Krieg
| publisher = Klotz
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=juF4ygAACAAJ&
| date = 1981
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref>

;Books by wife Rosa Meyer-Leviné
* ''Aus der Münchener Rätezeit'' (1925)<ref>
{{Cite book
| first = Rosa
| last = Meyer-Leviné
| author-link =
| title = Aus der Münchener Rätezeit
| publisher = Vereinigung Internationaler Verlags-Anstalten
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Fw5BHQAACAAJ&
| pages = 76
| date = 1925
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref>
** ''Sovetskaia respublika v Miunkhene'' (1926)<ref>
{{Cite book
| first = Rosa
| last = Meyer-Leviné
| author-link =
| title = Sovetskaia respublika v Miunkhene
| publisher = [[Gosizdat]]
| location = Moscow
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8fl-uAAACAAJ&
| pages = 110
| date = 1926
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref>
* ''Leviné: Leben und Tod eines Revolutionärs'' (1972)<ref>
{{Cite book
| first = Rosa
| last = Meyer-Leviné
| author-link =
| title = Leviné: Leben und Tod eines Revolutionärs
| publisher = [[Carl Hanser Verlag]]
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NkjMzQEACAAJ
| pages = 295
| date = 1972
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref>
** ''Leviné: The Life of a Revolutionary'' (1973)<ref>
{{Cite book
| first = Rosa
| last = Meyer-Leviné
| author-link =
| title = Leviné: The Life of a Revolutionary
| publisher = Saxon House
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Lwa8AAAAIAAJ&
| pages = 225
| date = 1973
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref>
* ''Leviné, the Spartacist'' (1978)<ref>
{{Cite book
| first = Rosa
| last = Meyer-Leviné
| author-link =
| title = Leviné, the Spartacist
| publisher = Gordon & Cremonesi
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KjwJAQAAIAAJ&
| pages = 225
| date = 1978
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref>
* ''Im Inneren Kreis: Erinnerungen Einer Kommunistin in Deutschland, 1920-1933'' (1979)<ref>
{{Cite book
| first = Rosa
| last = Meyer-Leviné
| author-link =
| title = Im Inneren Kreis: Erinnerungen Einer Kommunistin in Deutschland, 1920-1933
| publisher = Kiepenheuer & Witsch
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=awxJAAAACAAJ&
| pages = 404
| date = 1979
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref>

;Near-contemporary books on Leviné
* ''Eugen Leviné'' (1922)<ref>
{{Cite book
| first = Paul
| last = Fröhlich
| author-link = Paul Fröhlich
| title = Eugen Leviné
| publisher = Vereinigung internationaler Verlagsanstalten
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=C3QRnQEACAAJ&
| pages = 58
| date = 1922
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref>
* ''Evgeny Levine'' (1927)<ref>
{{Cite book
| first = Elena
| last = Eikhengolts
| author-link =
| title = Evgeny Levine
| publisher = TsK MOPR
| url =
| pages =
| date = 1927
| access-date = }}</ref>
* ''Broeder, ik kan de brief niet aannemen'' (undated)<ref>
{{Cite book
| first = H. Roland
| last = Holst
| author-link = Henriette Roland Holst
| title = Broeder, ik kan de brief niet aannemen: voorafgegaan van een levensbeschrijving
| publisher = Mourits en de Weerdt
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UklJHAAACAAJ&
| pages =
| date =
| access-date = 16 January 2022}}</ref>


==Influence==
==Influence==
Max Hirshberg remembered Leviné as "far superior" to Levien "in learning and spiritual purpose" but believed both had committed blindly to the "correctness of Russian methods."<ref name=Morris/>
The American Soviet agent and later outspoken [[anti-communist]] [[Whittaker Chambers]] cited Leviné as one of three men who inspired him. Chambers wrote,<blockquote>During the Bavarian Council Republic in 1919, Leviné was the organiser of the Workers' and Soldiers' Soviets. When the Bavarian Council Republic was crushed, Leviné was captured and court-martialed. The court-martial told him: "You are under sentence of death." Leviné answered: "We Communists are always under sentence of death."<ref>

{{Cite book
In 1948, American ex-Soviet agent and later [[anti-communist]] [[Whittaker Chambers]] cited Leviné as one of three men who inspired him to join the [[Communist Party USA]] during testimony before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], quoted in his 1952 memoir: <blockquote>Then I said: "When I was a Communist, I had three heroes. One was a Russian. One was a Pole. One was a German Jew.. "The German Jew was Eugen Levine. He was a Communist. During the Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1919, Levine was the organizer of the Workers and Soldiers Soviets. When the Bavarian Soviet Republic was crushed, Levine was captured and courtmartialed. The court-martial told him: 'You are under sentence of death.' Levine answered: 'We Communists are always under sentence of death.'"<ref>
| last = Chambers
{{Cite book
| first = Whittaker
| title = Witness
| first = Whittaker
| last = Chambers
| publisher = Random House
| author-link = Whittaker Chambers
| year = 1952
| location = New York
| title = Witness
| publisher = Random House
| pages = 6
| doi =
| year = 1952
| id =
| location = New York
| pages = 6
|lccn = 52005149 }}</ref></blockquote>
| doi =
| id =
| lccn = 52005149 }}</ref></blockquote> In 2017, Michael Löwy placed Leviné in a group of Jewish libertarians including Hans Köhn, Rudolph Kayser, and [[Erich Unger]], as well as Toller and [[Manes Sperber]].<ref name=Löwy/>

==See also==
* [[Paul Levi]]
* [[Max Levien]]
* [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]]
* [[People's State of Bavaria]]
* [[German Revolution of 1918–1919]]
* [[Revolutions of 1917–1923]]


==References==
==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2012}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book|last=Bronner|first=Stephen Eric|title=Modernism at the Barricades: Aesthetics, Politics, Utopia|year=2012|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-023-115-822-0 }}
* {{cite book|first=M. Avrum|last=Ehrlich|title=Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture (3 Volume Set)|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, California|isbn=978-185-109-873-6}}
* {{cite book|author1=Winkler, H. A.|author2=Sager, Alexander|name-list-style=amp|title=Germany: The Long Road West|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-019-926-597-8}}


==External links==
==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Eugen Levine}}
*{{Commons category-inline|Eugen Levine}}
* Images of Levine:
** [https://search.iisg.amsterdam/Record/635846 A. Hoerle poster "Leviné"] (undated)
** [https://search.iisg.amsterdam/Record/634428 Half-tone photo of Leviné] (undated)
** [https://search.iisg.amsterdam/Record/634444 Portrait of Leviné] (1929.06.10)
** [https://search.iisg.amsterdam/Record/634452 Photo of Leviné ("erschossen")] (1919)


** [https://search.iisg.amsterdam/Record/634466 Half-tone photo of Leviné] (1920.06)
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


Revision as of 22:20, 16 January 2022

Eugen Leviné
Leader of the Bavarian Council Republic
In office
12 April 1919 – 3 May 1919
Preceded byErnst Toller
Succeeded byRepublic collapsed
Personal details
Born10 May 1883
St Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died5 June 1919 (aged 36)
Stadelheim Prison, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Political partyCommunist Party of Germany
SpouseRose Leviné
ChildrenEugen Leviné

Eugen Leviné (Russian: Евгений Левине) (10 May 1883 – 5 June 1919), AKA "Dr. Eugen Leviné,"[1] was a German communist revolutionary and one of the leaders of the short-lived Second Bavarian Soviet Republic.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Background

Eugen Leviné was born on May 10, 1883, in St. Petersburg into the rich[10] Jewish merchant family Julius and Rozalia (née Goldberg).[2] Julius Leviné died when Eugen was three years old, and Rozalia emigrated to Germany with her son, settling in Wiesbaden and Mannheim. Eugen went on to study law at the Heidelberg University.[citation needed] While a student there, he remained in touch with Russia.[10]

Career

1905 revolution

Leviné returned to Russia to participate in the failed revolution of 1905 against the Tsar. For his actions, he was exiled to Siberia. He eventually escaped to Germany and began studying at Heidelberg University and married in 1915. For a short time, he served in the Imperial German Army during the First World War.[citation needed]

1919 Bavarian Soviet Republic

Leviné helped establish and lead the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic (territory in red vs. Weimar Republic in beige)

After the war ended, Leviné joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), which, under Paul Levi, who sent first Max Levien in December 1918 and then Leviné, first to Upper Silesia to quell an uprising[9] and then in March 1918 to Munich to organize the KPD locally and help to create a socialist republic in Bavaria.[2][4][5][1] Neither Lieven or Leviné had much revolutionary experience.[8] The republic lasted only several weeks, replaced quickly by a Soviet-style republic after the assassination of Kurt Eisner, then leader of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD).[citation needed]

The ruling government of the new republic lasted only six days, due to poor leadership under the German-Jewish playwright Ernst Toller.[citation needed]

Coup

On April 13, 1919, a "Red Army," led by Leviné and without KPD orders or approval, won clashes with the Toller's soldiers, created a second soviet republic with Leviné at its head, who then received approval and support directly from Lenin.[3][8][9]

Leviné attempted to expropriate luxurious flats to the homeless and seize factories and place them under workers control,[2] He also planned to remove teaching of history from education, and to abolish paper money, neither of which he completed.[citation needed] He introduced censorship and a "military-style" government, while also revamping education and declaring the Munich Frauenkirche a revolutionary temple.[2] These actions followed inquiries from Lenin as to whether Leviné had assumed control of banks and taken bourgeois hostages.[3]

Under orders from Leviné, Red Guards began rounding up people they considered to be hostile to the new regime as hostages against imminent outside attack.[citation needed]

On April 27, 1919, Leviné stepped down ("abdicated"[7]) as leader of the Soviet.

As the German president Friedrich Ebert gave orders to subdue the Council Republic and reinstate the Bavarian government under Johannes Hoffmann, the Red Guards executed eight hostages on April 29, 1919.[2]

Countercoup, arrest, trial

The German Army, assisted by Freikorps, with a force of roughly 39,000 men invaded and quickly conquered Munich on 3 May 1919 in a "White Terror."[3] Leviné personally took part in the street fighting against them.[2] In retaliation for the execution of the hostages, the Freikorps captured and killed some 700 men and women.[citation needed] Leviné evaded arrest at first, perhaps by hiding in the apartment of Erich Katzenstein.[5] After Leviné was caught on May 19, 1919 (or arrested on May 13, 1919).[7]). Public interest in his trial was high.[1] On May 19, 1919, Albert Einstein sent a joint telegram asking the courts to delay Leviné's trial.[7] Leviné was tried along with Toller in early June 1919; Max Hirschberg refused to serve as his legal counsel, but Anton Graf von Pestalozza accepted.[5] On Jun 3, 1919, the courts, calling him a "foreign interloper in Bavaria,"[1] sentenced Leviné to death by execution.[7] Soldiers, bureaucrats, and members of the public passed by to see the "blood-thirsty Robespierre" while he awaited execution, his wife later reported.[1]

Speech

Leviné gave an inspiring speech during his trial.[9][11][12]

Aftermath

In reaction to the two Bavarian socialist republics, whose leaders included many Jews, Bavaria, which was already conservative and anti-Semitic, became even more so.[3][5] One of the people affected was Reiner Maria Rilke, who left Munich after soldiers ransacked his apartment.[1]

Personal life and death

Stadelheim Prison (circa 2006), site of Leviné's execution in 1919

In 1915, Leviné married Rosa Broido (from the Polish town of Gródek), who married Ernst Meyer (1887-1930) and so became known as Meyer-Leviné, and then fled Germany when Hitler came to power and live the rest of her life in London (1890-1979). The Levinés had at least one child, a son, whom they named Eugen.[citation needed]

Stephen Eric Bronner considers Leviné a follower of Rosa Luxemburg (for seeking "to provide a legacy for the next generation," knowing "the soviet was doomed") and characterized him as follows:

He incarnated the best of the Bolshevik spirit. He was unyielding and dogmatic, but an honest intellectual and totally committed to the most radical utopian ideals of international revolution... [and] aldo exhibited exceptional bravery."[2]

Leviné was arrested and shot, age 36, on June 5 (or 6[7]), 1919, by firing squad in Stadelheim Prison.[citation needed] Lawyer von Pestalozza arranged a Jewish funeral for the Marxist revolutionary.[5]

Works

Books by Eugen Leviné
  • Ahasver, Rede vor Gericht, u. anderes (Wandering Jew, Speech in Court, and Others) (1919)[11]
    • Skizzen, Rede vor Gericht und Anderes (Sketches, Speech in Court, and Others) (1925)[12]
  • Stimmen der Völker zum Krieg (Voices of the Nations on War) (1925)[13][14][15]
Books by wife Rosa Meyer-Leviné
  • Aus der Münchener Rätezeit (1925)[16]
    • Sovetskaia respublika v Miunkhene (1926)[17]
  • Leviné: Leben und Tod eines Revolutionärs (1972)[18]
    • Leviné: The Life of a Revolutionary (1973)[19]
  • Leviné, the Spartacist (1978)[20]
  • Im Inneren Kreis: Erinnerungen Einer Kommunistin in Deutschland, 1920-1933 (1979)[21]
Near-contemporary books on Leviné
  • Eugen Leviné (1922)[22]
  • Evgeny Levine (1927)[23]
  • Broeder, ik kan de brief niet aannemen (undated)[24]

Influence

Max Hirshberg remembered Leviné as "far superior" to Levien "in learning and spiritual purpose" but believed both had committed blindly to the "correctness of Russian methods."[5]

In 1948, American ex-Soviet agent and later anti-communist Whittaker Chambers cited Leviné as one of three men who inspired him to join the Communist Party USA during testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, quoted in his 1952 memoir:

Then I said: "When I was a Communist, I had three heroes. One was a Russian. One was a Pole. One was a German Jew.. "The German Jew was Eugen Levine. He was a Communist. During the Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1919, Levine was the organizer of the Workers and Soldiers Soviets. When the Bavarian Soviet Republic was crushed, Levine was captured and courtmartialed. The court-martial told him: 'You are under sentence of death.' Levine answered: 'We Communists are always under sentence of death.'"[25]

In 2017, Michael Löwy placed Leviné in a group of Jewish libertarians including Hans Köhn, Rudolph Kayser, and Erich Unger, as well as Toller and Manes Sperber.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Ablovatski, Eliza (2021). Revolution and Political Violence in Central Europe: The Deluge of 1919. Cambridge University Press. pp. ix, 65 (sent), 92 (Rilke), 132 ("Dr."), 135 ("interloper"). Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Bronner, Stephen Eric (2012). Modernism at the Barricades: Aesthetics, Politics, Utopia. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 121, 131-133 (bio), 134 (influence). ISBN 978-023-115-822-0.
  3. ^ a b c d e Winkler, H. A. & Sager, Alexander (2007). Germany: The Long Road West. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 356. ISBN 978-019-926-597-8.
  4. ^ a b Ehrlich, M. Avrum (2008). Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture. Vol. 2. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 847. ISBN 978-185-109-873-6.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Morris, Douglas G. (2005). Justice Imperiled: The Anti-Nazi Lawyer Max Hirschberg in Weimar Germany. University of Michigan Press. pp. 33–34, 41, 45–47, 53, 79, 302, 319. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  6. ^ Wollenberg, Erich (5 July 2021). A Red Guard Before Munich: Reportage from the Munich Soviet Republic. Translated by Ed Walker. independently published. p. 153. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Grundmann, Siegfried (8 February 2006). The Einstein Dossiers: Science and Politics - Einstein's Berlin Period with an Appendix on Einstein's FBI File. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 246. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  8. ^ a b c Grundmann, Wolfgang J.; Grundmann, Jurgen (28 October 2013). Max Weber and His Contempories. Routledge. pp. 373–9. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d Harman, Chris (26 June 2017). The Lost Revolution: Germany 1918 to 1923. Haymarket Books. pp. 373–9. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  10. ^ a b c Löwy, Michael (1 March 2017). Redemption and Utopia: Jewish Libertarian Thought in Central Europe. Verso Books. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  11. ^ a b Leviné, Eugen (1919). Ahasver, Rede vor Gericht, u. anderes. Verlag Junge Garde. p. 37. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  12. ^ a b Leviné, Eugen (1925). Skizzen, Rede vor Gericht und Anderes. Verlag der Jugendinternationale. p. 56. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  13. ^ Leviné, Eugen (1925). Stimmen der Völker zum Krieg. Malik-Verlag. p. 92. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  14. ^ Leviné, Eugen (1981). Stimmen der Völker zum Krieg. Zentralantiquariat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  15. ^ Leviné, Eugen (1981). Stimmen der Völker zum Krieg. Klotz. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  16. ^ Meyer-Leviné, Rosa (1925). Aus der Münchener Rätezeit. Vereinigung Internationaler Verlags-Anstalten. p. 76. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  17. ^ Meyer-Leviné, Rosa (1926). Sovetskaia respublika v Miunkhene. Moscow: Gosizdat. p. 110. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  18. ^ Meyer-Leviné, Rosa (1972). Leviné: Leben und Tod eines Revolutionärs. Carl Hanser Verlag. p. 295. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  19. ^ Meyer-Leviné, Rosa (1973). Leviné: The Life of a Revolutionary. Saxon House. p. 225. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  20. ^ Meyer-Leviné, Rosa (1978). Leviné, the Spartacist. Gordon & Cremonesi. p. 225. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  21. ^ Meyer-Leviné, Rosa (1979). Im Inneren Kreis: Erinnerungen Einer Kommunistin in Deutschland, 1920-1933. Kiepenheuer & Witsch. p. 404. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  22. ^ Fröhlich, Paul (1922). Eugen Leviné. Vereinigung internationaler Verlagsanstalten. p. 58. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  23. ^ Eikhengolts, Elena (1927). Evgeny Levine. TsK MOPR.
  24. ^ Holst, H. Roland. Broeder, ik kan de brief niet aannemen: voorafgegaan van een levensbeschrijving. Mourits en de Weerdt. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  25. ^ Chambers, Whittaker (1952). Witness. New York: Random House. p. 6. LCCN 52005149.

External links

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