Echebeere, Mika

Mika, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants, was born February 2, 1902 in the Argentinean Jewish agricultural colony of Mosesville . At the age of 15, she joined the anarchist feminist group in Rosario , named after Louise Michelle . In 1920, while studying for a dentist at the University of Buenos Aires, she met her future husband, Ippolit Echebeere . There, Mika and Hippolytus took part in the creation of a Marxist group associated with Insurrexit magazine. In 1924, they joined the Communist Party of Argentina , but two years later they were expelled due to disagreements with party leaders. After which they spent four years in Patagonia , doing research and political activism.

In June 1931, Mika and Hippolytus moved to Madrid , then in October 1932 through Paris to Berlin , where they witnessed the rise of Nazism . In May 1933, they returned to Paris, where they began to publish the magazine Que Faire .

In July 1936, in Madrid, they joined the Labor Party of the Marxist Association (POUM) to counter the Francoist rebellion . On July 21, 1936, Hippolytus led the POUM Motorized Column , but a month later, on August 16, 1936, he was killed at the front near Atienza .

Mika, who until the death of Hippolytus had a secondary role in the convoy, began to take an active part in hostilities and won the trust of fighters. In the first battle, she showed her leadership qualities, removing the remnants of the squad from the cathedral in Sigüenza after a ten-day siege. After a short break, Mika, in the rank of captain, became the head of a company , most of which were peasants from the pre-war stronghold of the POUM in Lleeren . The company was sent to the Madrid front, where it bravely fought in the sector of Pozuelo , having suffered heavy losses. By September, the number of companies was reduced to 60 fighters. At the beginning of 1937, another POUM company was defeated on the central front. Survivors from two companies became part of the Fourth Company of the 38th mixed brigade . In February 1937, after an attack on Cerro de Aguila , only 80 fighters remained from the original POUM convoy in the central zone. After which Mika and the remaining fighters became part of the 14th division under the command of the anarchist Cipriano Mera .

In the spring of 1937, in connection with the beginning of the repressions against the POUM, Mika was arrested at the front and questioned as an “enemy of the Republic." But soon, thanks to the efforts of friends and, in particular, thanks to the intercession of Cipriano, Mera was released with a ban on returning to the army. Despite this, Mika remained in Madrid, almost until the day the city was surrendered. Mika collaborated with the Free Women women 's anarchist organization, taught literacy classes - taught reading and writing classes for Republican fighters and the Spanish civilian population.

After Franco's troops occupied Madrid, Mika took refuge in France, and then, fearing a possible arrest by the Vichy regime , she returned to Buenos Aires in 1940. In mid-1946, Mika returned to France. Mika took an active part during the May events in France in 1968 - she was seen handing out gloves to students, in which they dug up paving stones and threw them at the police. Thanks to the gloves, my hands remained clean, which means that in the event of an arrest there was no evidence.

In 1975, her autobiography My War in Spain was published ( fr. Ma guerre d'Espagne à moi ).

July 7, 1992 Mika Etchebeere died at the age of 90 in Paris, her ashes were scattered over the Seine .

In 2012, the novel dedicated to Mika was published by the Argentinean writer Elsa Osorio's “Captain” ( Spanish: La Capitana ).

• Andy Durgan. International Volunteers in the POUM Militias . Andreu Nin Foundation Date of appeal September 15, 2013.
• Luis Portela. Mika Etchebéhère: una heroica y desconocida combatiente de nuestra guerra civil (Spanish) (link not available) . Historia y vida (febrero de 1977). Date of treatment September 15, 2013. Archived December 28, 2001.
• Horacio Tarcus. Hipólito Etchebéhère y Mika Feldman, de la reforma universitaria a la guerra civil española. Historia de una pasión revolucionaria (Spanish) . El Rodaballo n ° 11/12 (2000). Date of appeal September 15, 2013.
• Pepe Gutiérrez-Álvarez. Mika Etchebéhere (alias de Mica Feldman): Capitana, mi capitana (Spanish) (link not available) . Kaos en la Red (24 de junio de 2011). Date of treatment September 15, 2013. Archived July 25, 2014.
• Mika Etchebehere ( inaccessible link) . - A short biography of Mika Echebeere. Date of treatment September 15, 2013. Archived March 5, 2016.
• Cynthia Gabbay, "Identidad, género y prácticas anarquistas en las memorias de Micaela Feldman y Etchebéhère", Forma. Revista d'estudis comparatius. Art, literatura, pensament, nº 14, Barcelona, ​​Diciembre 2016, pp. 35-57. http://www.raco.cat/index.php/Forma/article/view/326720/417234