An anarchist had bombed the Bolsheviks’ Moscow Committee building on September 25, 1919, a few months before Berkman and Goldman had arrived in Russia. The assault was denounced by anarchist leaders throughout the Soviet Union, but to little matter. Lenin unleashed the power of the Tcheka, and hundreds were arrested and tried. Lenin personally assured Berkman that “We do not persecute Anarchists of ideas, but we will not tolerate armed resistance or agitation of that character.” But as historian Paul Avrich pointed out, “Unfortunately for the ‘ideological’ anarchists, the Cheka did not bother
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