German Askarov

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German Karlovich Askarov (1882–1935) was a Polish-Jewish anarchist communist. First exposed to anarchist communist ideas during his studies in Ukraine, he was arrested and imprisoned for his activism during the Russian Revolution of 1905. He then spent some years editing newspapers in exile in France, where he adopted an anti-syndicalist position. He moved to Moscow following the February Revolution of 1917 and joined the Moscow Federation of Anarchist Groups, editing its newspaper Anarkhiia before its suppression by the Bolsheviks.

As the Russian Civil War progress, Askarov grew increasingly sympathetic towards the Bolsheviks and became a leading figure of Soviet anarchism, founding the organisation of Universalists in 1920. He was arrested and imprisoned again in the wake of the Kronstadt rebellion but was released in 1924 and permitted limited room to carry out peaceful anarchist activism. Following Joseph Stalin's rise to power, Askarov was again arrested for anti-Soviet agitation and disappeared in the Gulag during the Great Purge.