The Growth of Fascism

Anyone interested in Russian fascism should visit the square in front of the former Lenin Museum near Red Square. There vendors are doing a brisk business in such books as "The Last Testament of Adolf Hitler," "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," a volume entitled "Kikes," the recently republished 1942 volume "The Sources of Hatred: Essays on the History of Jewish Question" and the latest book by Russian National Unity leader Alexander Barkashov.


"What is on these cassettes?" we asked one old woman. "Marches," she answered. "Fascist marches?" "You misunderstand this word. You use it like a curse," explained a young woman standing nearby. "Aryans -- Russians and Germans -- come from the same town, Arheon in Siberia, and their holy symbol, the swastika, also comes from there."


"But are those marches from Hitler's Germany?" "Yes," the old woman finally confirmed.


Most of the vendors are young men, many wearing the swastika pins of Barkashov's Russian National Unity. Passers-by, though, come up and buy things and enter into discussions. It seems insane to see such scenes in the capital of a country that suffered so much from German fascism in the 1940s. However, clearly, this Nazi propaganda is being ever more widely distributed in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and other regions of Russia, while the authorities turn a blind eye to increasingly militant fascist organizations.


When the Federal Counter-Intelligence Service arrested the leaders of a nazi group called "Werewolf" recently, it was announced that the group was plotting the assassinations not only of democrats and communists, but also of Barkashov himself. Inclusion on Werewolf's hit list amounts to something of a mainstreaming of the Russian National Unity. On the other hand, the protocols of Russian Unity have always taken for granted that any member who betrays the movement would be executed.


Recently Barkashov's group held a press conference at the State Duma to announce its up-coming national conference. Barkashov also stated that after the conference ends, Russian National Unity intends to register with the Ministry of Justice as a political party, having already exceeded the necessary 5,000 members.


At a meeting with U.S. Jewish organizations in Washington, D.C. on June 21, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin stated categorically that the Russian government has a program to combat growing anti-Semitism. In response, the leaders of the Moscow Anti-Fascist Center published a statement that wondered why so few people in Russia had heard anything about this program and asked Chernomyrdin: "What is being done in response to Barkashov, who has openly threatened Russia's Jews with genocide? Will Russian National Unity be prevented from publishing its fascist and anti-Semitic literature, which -- in direct contradiction to the criminal code -- contains calls for physical violence?"


This statement concluded with a general appeal: "We are deeply persuaded that anti-Semitism in Russia threatens not only Jews. It is a threat to Russian democracy as a whole and to all the people of our country. We hope that the government will publish its program against anti-Semitism and that concrete steps will be taken against this evil."


At the Washington meeting, Chernomyrdin also stated: "While there are certain fascist and ultra-nationalist elements in Russia, they do not influence or determine the policies of Russian government." Nonetheless, the Russian government has been surprisingly unresponsive to the fascist and anti-Semitic activities of a number of groups.


For example, the newspaper Al-Kods, published in Russia by the Palestinian millionaire Shaaban Khafes Shaaban, was officially registered in 1992 by the Russian Federation's Committee on the Press, even though existing rules do not permit the registration of publications owned by foreigners. Shaaban is a citizen of Jordan who also claims to be the head of the Palestinian Government-in-Exile. He is also a friend of Alexander Rutskoi, Ruslan Khasbulatov and others who were involved in last year's anti-Yeltsin coup attempt.


Al-Kods is distributed throughout Moscow and is particularly popular at the State Duma. It is extremely anti-Semitic. A recent cartoon, for example, featured a typical Russian "everyman" who was unable to achieve anything in life until he was circumcised.


In June, the prosecutor's office announced that it was beginning an official investigation of Al-Kods "because it kindles national hatred." The prosecutor also called on the Press Committee to cancel the paper's illegal registration. However, that announcement seems to be as far as the matter has gone.


A July issue of the paper featured a long article by a professor of history explaining how Jews organized the plague in medieval Europe and lauding the "proud Spanish nation" for eliminating Jews from their country. The same issue featured a caricature of Jews destroying the Russian nation.


The Committee on the Press has so far not responded to the prosecutor's request, and the prosecutor's office itself seems to be making little headway in its investigation. In the meantime, President Yeltsin made a highly publicized visit to an exhibition by nationalist artist Ilya Glazunov. He praised Glazunov's new canvas "Awake, Russia!" which features the same slogans -- "God Is with Us" and "Glory to Russia" -- that are used by Barkashov's movement. This visit was widely interpreted in the press as an attempt by Yeltsin to court support among Russian right-wingers. However, he should be aware that, especially now, he is playing a particularly dangerous game.





Boris Altshuler is a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group and chairperson of the Moscow Human Rights Research Center. He contributed this comment to The Moscow Times.