From Mazas to Jerusalem | Zo D'Axa | Wolfi Landstreicher (trans.)

In the early 1890s, Zo d’Axa was the editor of an anarchist weekly called L’Endehors (Outside), which favored fierce, active rebellion against all forms of authority. In 1892, the French authorities arrested and imprisoned him, along with many other anarchist publishers, for writing and publishing material considered dangerous to the French republic. Shortly after his release, he again wrote something the authorities found offensive. Rather than go back to prison, he chose to go on the lam. From Mazas to Jerusalem is his account of his adventures during this time. It expresses his attitude toward life and rebellion, summarized toward the end in these words: “Outside... ...to live outside enslaving laws, outside narrow rules, even outside the theories ideally formulated for the coming age. To live without believing in a divine paradise or hoping too much for a paradise on earth. To live for the present, outside of the mirage of future societies; to live and to feel this existence in the arrogant enjoyment of social conflict. This is more than a state of mind; it is a way of being—here and now... ...Let each of us go on for our own enjoyment... ...As individuals, we rush to the attacks that call us.”