11 nov 1919 - Makhno takes Ekaterinoslav, declares free press. revkom paper shreds kontrraz abuse of power. nm demand shooting of reporters, and is barely talked down by Shtarm (what is Shtarm?!). apparently he was aware by this time of Bolshevik moles, hence desire to quiet them. This shows that he was no dictator, and refrained from even repeating the red press.

Description:

Finally, the level of freedom in the Makhnovist region can easily
be grasped by the example of the press. After the second taking of
Yekaterinoslav on November 11, 1919, according to the normal
Makhnovist practice, freedom of speech was declared in the city.
Among other publications, the Yekaterinoslav Gubkom of the
KP(b)U published No. 131 of the newspaper Zvesda (The Star]
which was sharply critical of the Makhnovshchina. Makhno saw this
issue and blew his top. He was going to order Golik or Zinkovsky
to arrest and shoot the authors of the articles as well as the whole
editorial staff. The Shtarm talked him out of this with difficulty. But this case demonstrates that the Batko was not a dictator, in
fact it shows just the opposite. It must be realized that already by
October 18 the nucleus of a Bolshevik conspiracy had been formed
inside the Insurgent Army. According to Belash, the Batko wanted
to shut down Zvesda because he knew about the conspiracy of the
Red underground."17) And yet, faced with such a serious threat,
Makhno nevertheless refrained from suppressing their newspapers.
And the Makhnovist patrols did not interfere with the distribution
of the Red press. '18

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