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Round about 1910 the people of France were greatly startled by the appearance of a form of "banditisme" apparently inspired by theories proposed and defended by the anarchist movement. A few young anarchist militants seemed to have gathered around a certain Jules Bonnot, himself an anarchist wanted by the police and depicted as particularly dangerous.
Bonnot had declared war on Society, his own war, and was causing enough trouble to call attention on himself. He had been compelled to go on the run in order to avoid arrest for offenses which he considered as being caused by unjust social conditions.
Seeking contact and shelter with friends and comrades he knew, shifting from one to the other, he unwillingly compromised a lot of people who had nothing to do with his private activities and law breaking. As a result, the police were easily able to arrest many of these and eventually to implicate a large number in an alleged criminal conspiracy. In particular, they framed a certain Dieudonne and obtained a death sentence for him.
I might mention that at this time the anarchist movement was in a state of fermentation. The first world war was in preparation and the anarchists were evolving, seeking a kind of maturity, adopting new positions and notions, especially after the translation of Stirner's book "The Ego and His Own".
Although the arrested anarchists were treated as an organized gang, in reality there was no gang at all, no instituted organization, only individuals who had analogous opinions. They had no chief, no animators - their only point of contact was through their anarchist views. Bonnot and Garnier, with some of their friends, were united and agreed on certain points as to their attitude and became suspect to the police, but to accuse the anarchist philosophy of being responsible for the crimes committed by them is both absurd and silly. All political parties that have ever existed have practiced violence and organized "extremism"; most Christian sects have and royalists, republicans, socialists, communists, etc., have followed the same tradition.
The particular "doctrine'' of "illegalism" that Bonnot and his friends followed was nothing new. Before 1900 there had appeared quite a number of "illegalists" pretending to snatch from the bourgeoisie some of their superfluous property. But, of course, these "illegalists" had professed pure motives and limited them selves to preying on the enemies of the "people". I might mention some quite picturesque ones like Pini, Duval, Ravachol and especially, Jacob, who was caught after a number of typically romantic operations. (Although a death had resulted from a shot at a police man, he did not receive a death sentence but was sent to French Guiana for life. He was released after being there 25 years.)
I would like to write a bit about Stirner, the real apostle of individualism as I conceive it but I can't possibly do it here now. Stirner supplied the Bonnot Gang with some strong arguments. Nothing is prohibited to his individual., his "I". I quote: "The world on one side and me on the other....I'll show it what I can do." And so on. "I am not an "I" by the side of another "I", I the only one, the "unique''. . . I can do what I please, it is "I" who live, who develops myself, forms myself, etc.," Thus, the ideas of' illegalism took root and the boys found new grounds for discussion.
Well, they discussed and decided they would try. Why should we ..be surprised? That is human and they proved it by remaining men all the time.
The Bonnot affair began on November 11th. 1911, when two men got out of a motor car, assaulted a bank collector on the open street in Paris, snatched his money-bag and shot him when he resisted them. The man was badly wounded and his assailants got away.
By means of denunciations and photographs the man who shot the collector was identified as Garnier, a mate of Bonnot. The police knew the bank robbers were anarchists. They remember the Jacob Gang of 12 years before. It therefore became easy for them to round up and arrest all persons who had dealings with the Bonnot Gang.
At this point there appears the case of Dieudonne, an innocent man who had nothing to do with the business, but who was sent to prison for life after having been sentenced to the guillotine. In his case all the police had to do was frame him and induce the victims to recognize him. Very simple, but not so clever since they did not have the check to carry out the sentence, Dieudonne was finally released from French Guiana 12 years later.
All who took part in the Bonnot Gang were clearly anarchists and hundreds of those who were not actually arrested were persecuted. Some of them had helped Bonnot and when the trial was held on February 3rd, 1913,, 23 people appeared at the Assizes in Paris.
It was quite true that a few of these had helped Bonnot and Garnier to commit certain robberies. They took the field with them. It was "direct-action" and seemed to be justified. Besides, as one of them claimed, they wanted to "live their lives", to get some "pep", some sensation out of it. And they wanted money too. Well, you see, many excuses, God bless their souls.
Anyway, 23 alleged accomplices, 3 women ,among them. struggled with the judges for 3 weeks, from February 3rd. to 27th. Four of these were acquitted, the writer and the three women. The writer was then remanded to another court on another count and spent eight years in penal servitude. He then escaped from French Guiana and is still living, healthy, satisfied and happily free.
As for the rest, four were sentenced to death, three of whom were guillotined and one reprieved to a life sentence. Of the rest, four received a life sentence and the remainder sentences of various lengths.
Amongst those not arrested, a few disappeared and were never heard of again. Bonnot, Garnier, and two others, Valet and Dubois, were killed in battle, dying with guns in their hands. After a year of being hunted, Bonnot and Dubois were besieged in a house and were killed there. Garnier and Valet did not surrender either. Like Bonnot they courageously withstood a siege, wounding a number of the police and soldiers who surrounded them before they died.
I have no room left to detail all these men did. I cannot decide whether they were right or wrong and I don't want to. The Bonnot Gang may have been a failure. That does not matter to me. These men lived their lives, they stood their ground and defied death. They died valiantly., shooting it out with the police and the army, or walking to the guillotine with a smile.
(From a talk given to the Foyer Individualiste d' Etudes Sociales, Paris)