On the 7th of january in 1919, the “Semana Trágica” began in Argentina when police attacked striking metalworkers in Buenos Aires, killing five, after workers set the police chief’s car on fire. The city was quickly placed under martial law.

The “Semana Trágica” (Tragic Week in English, not to be confused with the Spanish Tragic Week) was the violent supression of a general workers’ uprising, beginning with the attack on January 7th. In addition to the actions of the police and military, right-wing vigilantes launched pogroms against the city’s Jews, many of whom were not involved, in order to suppress the rebellion.

The conflict began as a strike at the Vasena metal works, an English Argentine-owned plant in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. On January 7th, workers overturned and set fire to the car of the police chief Elpidio González. Militant workers also shot and killed the commander of the Army detachment protecting González. Following this, police attacked, killing five workers and wounding twenty more.

On the same day, maritime workers of the port of Buenos Aires voted in favor of a general strike for better hours and wages. After the police attack at Vasena, a waterfront strike began: all ship movements, and all loading and unloading, came to a halt.

Rioting soon spread throughout Buenos Aires, and workers battled with both state and right-wing paramilitary forces. Police utilized members of the far-right Argentine “Patriotic League”, who targeted the city’s working class Russian Jewish population, which they associated with the rebellion, beating and murdering many uninvolved civilians.

On the 11th, the city was placed under martial law, and the military restored control over the city over the next several days. Estimates of the death toll range from between 141 to over 700. The United States embassy reported that 1,500 people were killed in total, “mostly Russians and generally Jews”

La Semana Trágica - el historiador ancaptain

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      • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.net
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        11 months ago

        Okay no shit; Practice introspection and analyzing your thoughts, feelings, and memories as much as you can. Then get a stuffed toy, schedule 30 minutes or an hour, and then spend that time telling Dr. Flufflessworth about how you’re feeling, and then try to pick apart why you’re feeling that way, how it might tie in to things from your past, how your past experiences might be influencing your current life.

        A lot of therapy, like the actual payoff, is in building skills you can use to better understand what you’re doing and why. Some of that you can actually do yourself, working from books and doing a lot of introspection. Like “The Body Keeps the Score” is a very popular book that talks about how trauma works, and I know a lot of people who have found it very useful for undersatnd what trauma is, how it impacts them, and how they can recognize and work with it.

        You shouldn’t have to DIY your own therapy, you should be able to get help, but there are things you can do on your own, and working alongside other normal people trying to do the same thing.

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.net
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      11 months ago

      My therapist was very concerned when I told her I was doing therapy so I could heal my trauma so I could go back to being a weapon against capitalism.

      “But don’t you want to be happy?”

      anarchista-chad No

      marx-guns-blazing marx-guns-blazing marx-guns-blazing