WORLD WORLDWIDE CZECH News Journal Update - (en) Czech, AFED: May Day Hashek, One of the speeches that was given on the anarchist May Day on Strelecky Island (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Yesterday, April 30, we celebrated the 140th anniversary of the birth of the

world's most famous Czech writer, Jaroslav Hashek. At the same time, this year we
commemorate the hundredth anniversary of his death. Although it is mentioned only
marginally, Jaroslav Hashek was an anarchist. Although he was active in the
movement for only a few years, he was a lifelong anarchist by nature. ---- In
many ways, we can look at Hashek through today's eyes, and not only in the sense
that modern anarchists still largely have as positive a relationship to good beer
as he had. ---- Thanks to his vagabond spirit, he would have traveled almost
penniless all over Europe by hitchhiking and on foot, and no doubt he would have
been a persistent visitor to anarchist and squatter centers that did not exist in
his time. Nevertheless, it was he who was referred to by his friend Franta Sauer
at the birth of the squatter Black Hand in Zizkov. He would probably make a
living if he had to, as a salaried journalist and columnist, regardless of where
his stuff came out. As an entertainer, he would spice up various events with his
entertaining lectures and sarcastic slams. He would drink freely in the meanest
of places. And since he always liked to help the poorest, he would quite possibly
cook with Zizkov's Food not Bombs, or at least entertain the collective with
fictional stories while cooking and then eat with relish. He would contribute
funny stories to Existence so that it would not be so dry. His reward would be a
row of beers drunk together. Maybe he would become a well-known figure in the
queer movement, so he could be more himself and shake off one of the burdens of
his personal life. And he would also quite possibly find himself, as he once did,
in uniform in Ukraine, where he would provide propaganda work for the Committee
of Resistance in several languages.

It is letting go of the imagination, but it clearly shows that Hashek is not just
a writer who has been dead for a hundred years.

He also made his mark in the history of the Prague anarchist First Mays. That was
when he was arrested during a demonstration in 1907 during a skirmish with the
fizlams who were protecting the famous Habsburg monarchy - similar to those today
who so vehemently defend the current capitalist regime. He was not helped by the
defense that instead of "Paint him!" he shouted a cheery "See him!", he ended up
serving a month in prison.

While Hashek became famous all over the world and reached millions of readers
with his work, the fizels did not manage to defend the monarchy at the time. In
the same way, those of today will not succeed in protecting the interests of
capital and the fossil oligarchs, for whose interests they fight with such vigor.

And so we shout together with Hashek: "Paint him!"
https://www.afed.cz/text/7927/prvomajovy-hasek
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