On this day in 1923, anarchist miner Kurt Wilckens (1886 - 1923) assassinated Colonel Héctor Benigno Varela after he led government forces that summarily executed 1,500 revolutionary workers in Argentine Patagonia.

Wilckens, a German Wobbly who had immigrated to Argentina a few years prior, was disgusted by the brutal suppression of the Patagonian Uprising. On the morning of January 27th, 1923, Wilckens met Colonel Varela on the street and hurled a bomb at him. Wounded in both legs, Varela attempted to draw his sabre, but Wilckens shot Varela four times, kiling him.

Wilckens was injured during the event after shielding a 10-year old girl from the blast. Due to his wounds, he could not leave the scene and was arrested there. On June 15th, Wilckens was murdered in prison by a member of the fascist paramilitary "Liga Patriótica Argentina".

On the assassination, Wilckens said "It was not vengeance; I did not see in Varela a minor official. No, he was everything in Patagonia: governor, judge, executioner, and undertaker. I tried to hurt him as the naked symbol of a criminal system. But revenge is unworthy of an Anarchist! The dawn, our dawn, claims no quarrels, no crimes, no lies; it affirms life, love, science; we work to hasten that day."