Talk:Moishe Tokar

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A fact from Moishe Tokar appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 7 November 2008 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that rather than await execution, Russian anarchist assassin Moishe Tokar doused himself in paraffin from his prison cell lamp and burned himself alive?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2008/November.

Wikipedia

Polish anarchist movement vs. Russian anarchist movement

There is disagreement about whether or not Tokar was part of the Russian anarchist movement or the Polish anarchist movement. The best answer is that he was both. Tokar lived in Russian Poland (Poland under de facto annexation of the Russian Empire). The strikes that Tokar would have participated in as part of the International group in Warsaw were part of the Russian Revolution of 1905, but they are also considered the beginnings of the Polish anarchist movement. Since the Rocker source specifically mentions "Russia", I'll revert it back for now. IMO, either wording would be correct though. Kaldari (talk) 00:40, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"In Russia" is more accurate than "in the Russian anarchist movement". Referring to modern-day nations which did not exist at the time is anachronistic, though referring to the Polish anarchist movement is not. My main concern, outside of OR, is that Tokar was recognised throughout the Russia Empire rather than merely the Polish part thereof. Skomorokh 00:43, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It's very unlikely that Tokar would have been known outside of Russian Poland. The anarchist groups in Warsaw spoke Polish and Yiddish, not Russian. Also, if you search Google and Google Books for the Russian version of Tokars name, there are zero hits. I bet if you searched for the Polish spelling (no idea what that would be) you would get some hits though. Kaldari (talk) 00:49, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Russian Revolution of 1905

This article should mention the context of the Russian Revolution of 1905, and the subsequent repression of political dissidents by the Czarist government in Russian Poland, as this seems to be integral to understanding Tokar's actions. Kaldari (talk) 00:46, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

All I had access to when writing it was the page or so on Google Books from the Rocker source. If you've got more on Tokar, go for it! Skomorokh 00:49, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I don't have more on Tokar, but there's more info out there about the group he was part of, International. It was a small group of Jewish anarchists in Warsaw that was founded during the Russian Revolution of 1905. They took over some factories, caused lots of trouble, and then were brutally repressed in the following years. Kaldari (talk) 00:52, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds great; any chance we could squeeze an article out of it? Skomorokh 00:54, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Possibly. It would require some serious research though. I doubt a decent article could be created without consulting some Polish-language sources. When I wrote the article on Gennaro Rubino, for example, I had to hire an Italian translator to get any useful information. Kaldari (talk) 15:47, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Further research

So far, Moishe Tokar has only been found in a single source: Rudolf Rocker's autobiography. If anyone ever happens to get access to some Russian or Polish newspapers from 1905–1910, he should be mentioned somewhere. His name in Russian is Мойше Токар and his name in Polish is Mojsze Tokar (or Mojżesz Tokar). Kaldari (talk) 18:02, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There's also some information in the Polish Wikipedia about the "International" group in Warsaw (in Polish it is either "Międzynarodówki" or "Internacjonał", depending on whether it is translated or transliterated):

Kaldari (talk) 18:56, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The best resource on the "International" group is probably going to be the book Ruch anarchistyczny na ziemiach polskich zaboru rosyjskiego w dobie rewolucji 1905-1907 roku (rough English translation: Anarchist Movement in Poland taking the Russian revolution in the era of 1905-1907) by Tomasz Szczepański. There is an excerpt from it here. Kaldari (talk) 19:07, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]