The continuing economic crises, the war in the northern Caucasus, mass migration to central Russia, especially of Muslims and Caucasians from former Soviet states, and Islamic revivalism among Russian Muslims, have resulted in a sharp increase in racism among Slavic people, particularly among the young. New, extreme nationalist groups have sprung up throughout the country, but mainly in the large cities. Some, with Nazi ideologies, want “to cleanse Russia of any foreign presence” – Caucasian, Asian or African – with antisemitism still marginal at this time. Skinhead activity has increased, in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk, Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Voronezh and Yaruslavl’. The most militant groups are the RNS (Russian National Alliance), White Power, Totenkopf, United Brigade 88, Hammerskins - Russia, Blood & Honour, Moscow Skin Legion, the Russian Goal, the Russian Fist, National Front Terror, and White Bears. Their activity is similar to that of skinhead groups in the West: physical attacks on foreigners in the streets and markets, sometimes resulting in murder, arson against hostels for foreigners and minorities, demonstrations, marches and disseminating racist propaganda. This has already caused many foreign students to leave Russian universities and brought official protests from diplomatic representatives of the student’s home countries, including the United States and other Western countries....
ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS
There were 35 antisemitic incidents in 19 Russian cities in 2001, compared to 18 incidents in 13 Russian cities in 2000. They included physical attacks, including the attempt to kill – in one case successfully, when Yosef Prosovskii lost his life in May in an arson attack on a well-known Moscow restaurant he ran. In another brutal incident on February Habad representative Abraham Grozman was attacked by 15 thugs near the Marina Rocha synagogue. Nobody was arrested.
There were 12 attacks in eight cities (four in Moscow) on synagogues and community property, including arson or damage by stone-throwing. For example, in July and August there were two attempts to burn the synagogue of Kostroma. In the spring and summer of 2001 there were also two attempts to burn the synagogue of Perm, one on Hitler’s birthday, 20 April. Twice in June the memorial to Holocaust victims in Smolensk was desecrated. The monument was erected to commemorate the memory of three thousand Jews of Smolensk who were murdered during World War II. In addition, there were ten incidents of cemetery desecration in nine cities, including one on 19 August in Krasnoyarsk, where about 50 tombstones in the Jewish cemetery were defaced with Nazi symbols and swastikas. The perpetrators acted only a few days after the visit of the chief rabbi of Russia, Berl Lazar, who said that inter-faith relations in that area were among the calmest in the country. Antisemitic materials bearing Nazi slogans and swastikas were disseminated in six cities; half of the incidents occurred in Moscow, for example, at an anti-globalization rally on 23 May. Valerii Riumin, mayoral candidate in Reazin, used antisemitic propaganda in his election campaign in January.
American racist David Duke made his third visit to Russia in February 2001, and met with heads of ultra-nationalist movements as well as right and left members of parliament. A Russian translation of his book The Jewish Question through the Eyes of an American was published.
Many members of the Duma (parliament), including vice-chairmen Liubov Sliska and Vladimir Zhirinovskii, refused to stand for a moment of silence honoring victims of the Holocaust.
The local authorities in Orial presented awards to Sergei Zarodniev and Yuri Levdikin, reporters for the local paper Orlovskaia Pravda, who had written in support of local neo-Nazi leader Igor Semionov.
responses to antisemitism
In the first half of 2002, 17 incidents of a clearly antisemitic nature were carried out in 12 cities, and were similar in pattern to those in 2001. Putin, who often refers to this subject, said, in a meeting with Jewish leaders on 19 March 2002, that if nationalist and religious xenophobia and extremism could not be stopped “we will not be able to preserve Russia as a state.” He repeated this in a speech to the people on 18 April 2002. Nevertheless the reaction of the authorities to antisemitism and racism in 2002 was as irresolute as in 2001, notwithstanding President Putin’s sharp censure of these manifestations. Although a few legal steps were taken to control antisemitic propaganda, such as warnings sent to the editors of several ultra-nationalistic papers and attempts to prevent the convening of chauvinist congresses in some cities, there was a clear reluctance to take legal action against the disseminators of these materials.
The issue of antisemitic activity has figured prominently in the political rivalry between the heads of the two major Jewish organizations. Rabbi Berl Lazar, head of FEOR, flying in the face of facts, has repeatedly declared that there has been a sharp decline in antisemitic activity, while at a press conference held on 24 April 2002 Evgenii Satanovskii, chairman of REK, expressed his concern that if the authorities did not take drastic steps to curb the atmosphere of antisemitism and racism in respect to both propaganda and physical violence, the country would become Nazified in the near future.
In light of the seriousness of the situation, as well as pressure from the president, the Duma (parliament) is considering toughening the laws against racism and xenophobia, possibly by enforcing a ban on extremist and racist organizations. In February a hearing was held in parliament on bills against political extremism and against the use of Nazi symbols and dissemination of Nazi literature. These laws have been before the legislature since 1998, but were always rejected by the Communists. In this connection, an opinion poll in Moscow revealed that 16 percent of respondents thought there were some positive ideas in National Socialism, and 21 percent thought the activities of Nazi groups should not be curtailed.