The Match Consumed: A Condensed Reading of “Blessed is the Flame”

“A few months ago a comrade and I decided to take on the task of creating a condensed version of blessed is the flame. This was in response to a vast misunderstanding and fash-jacketing of those who post content on nihilist thought. This task turned out to be more difficult than we imagined. Condensing 50+ pages wasn’t easy, at times it felt wrong to even omit some of the passages/stories from the book. On a particular night of working on this project the question came up of whether or not this was a disservice to all people whose stories were told in the book. But we found solace in the ‘afterthoughts’. There will never be enough paper to document all the stories of those who were imprisoned in the camps. Many of them are still relatively unknown and majority of the ones that are ended in tragedy. Most of the prisoners who resisted were met with swift death. So knowing all the tragedy and suffering that happened how did this book become so important to us? Enough for us to spend months trying to compile a shorter read for people to have access to?

Blessed was our introduction to nihilist resistance. On a summer morning in the middle of the desert it became a sacred text to us. We poured over the pages red and reread each section – the stories lit a fire under us. When you pick this up it’s our hope that you may be consumed by that same fire.

“I find it comforting that everything is so hopeless”

-Tal & Skinny”

The Match Consumed_A Condensed Reading of Blessed is the Flame pdf

Blessed is the Flame: An Introduction to Concentration Camp Resistance and Anarcho-Nihilism

From back cover:

“Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame. Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart. Blessed is the heart with strength to stop its beating for honor’s sake.Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame.
—Hannah Senesh, Jewish partisan fighter.

(Zine cover art and booklet format by Little Mouse Fun, http://www.littlemouse.fun/zines.html)

Blessed is the Flame pdf