Nazi Germany and Modern Russia

The topic of the Third and Fourth Reich has been raised before, and looking at the aggravating political situation in the world, its relevance is gaining momentum with every passing day. We are seriously alarmed by the fact that the disastrous history of Hitler’s Germany is currently repeated by present-day Russia. Don’t rush to express your indignation. Read the article to the end and assess the facts with an open mind. Historical parallels look so identical (up to the morning of the treacherous military invasion of another country’s territory) that one gets an impression that these events have one director. After 80 years, he as if put a train without brakes back on the same rails and is pushing it into the abyss, and it is us, dear readers, who are inside its cars. Even though we’re on the other side of the globe geographically, we too are riding this infernal train as passengers. This association is not exaggerated or bizarre: if World War III breaks out, we’ll regret we were born, as it will affect everyone.

Yes, almost a century has passed, yet the pattern of a totalitarian regime’s development with a claim for world domination is repeating itself as if it was carbon copied. Certainly, times have changed, and the geopolitical layout of the world map is completely different today. If fascist Germany, driven by racial ideas of superiority of its leaders, openly sought total domination over other countries, the leaders of modern Russia (rather, at the dictation of those behind them) are trying to justify the beginning of a bloody war by fair, as they believe, arguments of defense against NATO’s expansion to the east. Is everything so unambiguous in this tragic tale? Or is there anything that remains in the shadows? In our opinion, this game is not as simple as it seems.

We will not go into details of political discord, but will consider two highly similar schemes where a familiar mechanism of fight against dissent was employed in implementing someone’s global and covert plans. The subject of our study is anti-cultists. 

In the article Anti-Cultism During the Rise of Fascist Germany, we described the role of German sect-fighters in inciting, aiding, and ideological  support of the Nazi regime. Moreover, we are convinced that the Nazis wouldn’t have become the brutal Nazis they were without instigators such as anti-cultists and Protestant preachers behind their backs. This publication is a logical sequel of the aforesaid article, except that the scene is moved to our time, to the territory of the country that suffered the most at the hands of Hitler’s invaders in World War II — to Russia.

From the previous article it became clear that the attack on the USSR was preceded by a lengthy preparatory period within Germany, in which one can identify several factors or implemented stages:

– Ideology of superiority,

– Establishment of a dominant religion,

– Suppression of dissent,

– Massive war propaganda.

This resulted in unleashing a bloody invasion war that killed about 70 million people all over the planet. 

Pre-war Germany

Using Nazi Germany as an example, we can observe the following facts.

1). Ideology of superiority. In short, the policy of racial discrimination, including ideas of the superiority of the “Aryan race” and the concept of “racial hygiene”, was based on a rattling occult mixture of radical theories of George Gurdjieff, Martin Luther, Josef Lanz, Karl Haushofer and Hans Gunther and manipulation on the part of the influential secret order the Green Dragon. Calling things by their proper names, we must say that the roots of the largest war in the history of humankind, which broke out in the 20th century, go down to the very real anti-cultism. After all, radical anti-cultist views had been shaped long before the emergence of Adolf Hitler.

2). Establishment of a dominant religion. A pro-Nazi church movement, the German Christians, which arose within the Evangelical Lutheran Church, calling themselves the “Storm Troopers of Jesus Christ,” took control of the entire church in 1932 and became the dominant religion in Germany.

3). Fight against dissent. The Apologetic Center for Combating Sects appeared in 1921, and right up to the beginning of World War II it closely cooperated with the Nazis in stirring anti-Semitic attitudes and exterminating dissenters. In our opinion, anti-cultists played one of the main roles in conditioning public consciousness towards war. 

4) Massive war propaganda. From 1933 to 1945, the Nazi minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels consolidated in his hands all the vital levers of control over the press, radio, cinema and other spheres of German culture. Through a combination of demagogical rhetoric, skillfully staged mass events and effective use of modern technology (primarily, radio and cinema) for propagandistic purposes, he succeeded in infecting large strata of the German nation with ideas of National Socialism and defaming Communists, Social Democrats, Jews and members of religious minorities.

Let’s move on to modern Russia

We don’t have a goal to carry out a deep analysis and expose all Russian adherents of fascism because there are far-rightists and nationalists in almost every country. Our task is different; it is to look at the picture globally and try to understand: is this really a scenario written by one “invisible hand” or an incredible series of coincidences that has led to the same outcome — the start of a great war? 

For this purpose, we’ll endeavor to examine the factors started above. 

Let’s start answering the questions.

1. Is there an ideology of racial superiority in present-day Russia?

The answer is yes, absolutely.

The ideas of national “God-chosenness” are present, and they are widely discussed and popularized by ideologists, clergymen, public figures, political scientists in books, in mass media and on numerous Internet portals. They are “coded” in people’s consciousness, which means they are used as a foundation, and this is a very important aspect. There are so many sources that it would be more rational to refer to Wikipedia which, in its turn, has accumulated an exhaustive list of quotes and references.

Let us outline a few theses:

• The Russian Idea ¹ */see the list of references at the end of this article/
• Russian messianism ²
• God-bearing nation ³
• Moscow, the third Rome ⁴
• Slavophilia ⁵
• “Aryan” Idea, the Fourth Reich ¹²

The Russian idea

It’s a philosophical term, a number of concepts expressing the ideas of historical uniqueness, special mission and global purpose of the Russian people and, in a broader sense, the Russian state. The term “Russian idea” became known outside Russia after philosopher Vladimir Solovyov voiced his report “The Russian Idea” in Paris in 1888. This term was widely used in the 19th and 20th centuries by such Russian philosophers as Eugene Trubetskoy, Vasily Rozanov, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Semyon Frank, Georgy Fedotov, Lev Karsavin, Ivan Ilyin, Ivan Solonevich, Nikolai Berdyaev, Nikolai Trubetskoy, Georgy Fedotov, Nikolai Ustryalov and others.

A concept of the Russian idea that is different from traditional Russian philosophy is widespread among supporters of ethnic Russian nationalism, neo-Nazism and neo-paganism. Russians are viewed as the best representatives of the “white” or “Aryan race”, as the most ancient nation (who created culture, written language, and civilization for the entire humanity), or as the purest in the “racial and biological” sense, or who best of all managed to preserve traditional “Aryan” values and culture. Russians are ascribed historical, cultural or racial superiority over other nations. Jews and Judaism are considered the main enemies of Russians and the “Aryan race”.¹

Russian messianism

Russian messianism is an idea according to which the Russian people are considered the only force capable of opposing “universal evil” and leading the rest of the world, including the idea of Russians as a nation of God-bearers. This emphasizes the universal character of the Russian idea, its sobornost (unity in religious and secular life) and universalism. It is argued that Russia has global significance and is important for the salvation of all Christians. Messianism is characteristic of Russian nationalism. ²

God-bearing nation

The “God-bearing nation” is an epithet used in a number of mystical and Slavophile doctrines to denote the Russian people as God-bearers (from the Greek Θεοφόρος) who fulfill a “great religious mission.” ^{3 , 6}

Archimandrite Theodore (Bukharev) emphasized that “Slavic Russians”, whom he viewed as a God-bearing people protected by God and the Mother of God, had a special place in history. In his opinion, the historical mission of this nation was “to reveal the power of Orthodox Christianity to all nations”.

Russian Orthodox fundamentalism includes a pronounced political messianism, stemming from the concept of “Moscow, the third Rome”. ⁴ It preaches the idea of the uniqueness of Russia seen as the center of spiritual truth, virtue and piety, where Russians are a nation of God-bearers, that is, bearers of the true Orthodox Christian faith.

According to Russian Orthodox fundamentalists, the God-bearing nation is persecuted due to its unique moral purity. It is asserted that Russia is a battlefield for the forces of light and darkness, and Russian people undergo suffering for the sake of goodness, truth and justice. Patriotism is given a metaphysical substantiation, while love for the homeland and unity of the people are considered holy feelings. Russian Orthodox fundamentalism has a pronounced state-centered character. Fundamentalists consider unity of the state, church and people (“peoplehood”) to be key for preservation of piety; therefore, they advocate active influence of the church on politics, which should be implemented by merging it with the state. Fundamentalists consider both external and internal social forces and processes to be their enemies. ⁷

Moscow, the third Rome

“Moscow, the third Rome” is a theological, historiographical and political concept asserting that Moscow is a successor of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. It postulates the legitimacy of transfering the political and religious center of the Orthodox Christian world to Russia. According to the concept, the Russian state and its capital are the last (“there will not be a fourth”) earthly manifestation of the “indestructible” Roman kingdom that existed since the advent of Jesus Christ. This spiritual Christian “kingdom” is not localized in space and time. It passes from its one incarnation to another according to the theory of “translatio imperii” (“transfer of rule”), which, in particular, goes back to the Book of Daniel ⁸. The eschatological meaning of Filofei’s concept (“there will not be a fourth”) implied the imminent end of time. ^{4, 10}

Philologist Gasan Guseinov described “Moscow, the third Rome” ideology as follows: “The very idea that the state is more important than individual human destinies, the ideology of a huge state over whose territory the sun never sets, and so on, is the embodiment of the idea of ‘Moscow, the third Rome’.” ⁹

Another striking example reflecting the ideological paradox of this term is the notorious propagandistic website https://3rm.info/. Its design combines the incombinable: God, Orthodox Chrtisrian icons, power, autocracy, patriotism, the beast’s face, khaki camouflage colors, and a live bullet.

Slavophilia

Slavophilia is a literary, religious and philosophical trend of Russian social and philosophical thought, which formed in the 1830s-1840s and focused on discovering Russia’s identity and its characteristic distinctions from the West. Its representatives (Slavophiles) advocated the development of a special Russian path, different from the West European one. By developing on this path, as they believe, Russia will be able to convey the Orthodox truth to the European nations that have fallen into heresy and atheism. Slavophiles also asserted the existence of a special type of culture which emerged on the spiritual basis of Orthodoxy and rejected the thesis of representatives of “westernism” that Peter the Great had returned Russia to the bosom of European countries and that it should follow Europe’s path in political, economic and cultural development ⁵.

The Fourth Reich

“Aryan” idea, the Fourth Reich. In many trends of Slavic neopaganism, Slavs, or Russians, are ascribed historical and cultural or racial superiority over other peoples. This ideology includes Russian messianism where the Russian people are considered the only force capable of confronting universal evil and leading the rest of the world. The “Aryan” idea puts before Russia the task of building an analog of the Fourth Reich, a new “Aryan” empire on a global scale. The Russian Aryan myth rejects any territorial disputes, as the Russian people are portrayed as inherently indigenous to the entire territory of Eurasia. ¹²

The Russian Order newspaper by the Russian National Unity (RNU) organization wrote that Jewish people are under the constellation of Pisces, whereas Russian people are under the constellation of Aquarius, being the bearers of Providence who are destined to defeat universal evil and save humanity (1993). 

Alexander Barkashov, the RNU leader, proclaimed the beginning of the Age of Russia, which would first manifest itself in “bringing order” to Russia itself, and then the country would gain world domination. Russians are the God-bearing people, while the Jews are God-fighters, the embodiment of absolute evil, of the Devil. He claims that Jews organized the genocide of the Russian people after 1917.

“Russia is reviving today not as a ‘common economic space,’ but as a metaphysical entity, the manifested stronghold of God in the world for the final battle against absolute evil, the Devil, and his spawn — the chimerical, God-fighting western civilization led by Israel and the United States.”  ^{12, 13}

lexandr Ivanov-Sukharevsky, leader of the People’s National Party, wrote: “We Russians were the teachers and leaders of all white peoples and civilizations from the very beginning. All white peoples are in kinship with us, and we need to reclaim this primary role of ours, the role of teachers.” He called for throwing off the dominion of “god-chosen” financiers and reviving “Great Rus for 3,000 years to come.” ¹²

2. Is there a dominant religion in Russia?

Answer: Yes, there is.

The Russian Orthodox Church, abbreviated as ROC, is the most numerous local Orthodox Christian Church in the world and the largest religious organization in Russia. It considers itself the only canonically legitimate and administratively independent Orthodox Church in the former Soviet Union. It’s no secret that ROC has completely monopolized the “religious market” in Russia, having suppressed almost all small religious movements over the last 20 years, many of which have been labeled as extremist and terrorist.

As of early 2019, the Russian Orthodox Church had 309 dioceses with 382 archbishops, 35,677 priests, and 4,837 deacons, 38,649 parishes, 474 male and 498 female monasteries with 5,883 monks and 9,687 nuns respectively (including those in the process of taking vows). ¹⁵

At the same time, there were 18,550 religious organizations registered in Russia and affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, including 500 monasteries, active churches, and other prayer facilities. ¹⁴

In conclusion, ROC has totally monopolized the “spiritual salvation market” in Russia and holds absolute power in this realm.

3. Is there suppression of dissent in Russia?

Suppression of dissent by the Russian Orthodox Church has been effectively carried out by anti-cult activists led by Russia’s chief sect-fighter, Alexander Dvorkin. After his return migration from the United States, Dvorkin first created the Center of St. Irenaeus of Lyon under the auspices of ROC in 1993. In 2006, the Russian Association of Centers for the Study of Religions and Sects (RACIRS) was established. RACIRS includes regional public organizations working on the issue of destructive sectarianism (cultism) in post-Soviet countries.

The long-term destructive activities of anti-cult activists led by Alexander Dvorkin and RACIRS are examined in great detail in The Impact documentary, particularly in its first part.

We recommend watching it!

Alexander Dvorkin’s religious intolerance is widely known to the public, human rights advocates, and academic circles. The website of Dvorkin’s brainchild, the Center of St. Irenaeus of Lyon ¹⁸, contains a list of “undesirable sects (cults)”, many of which have been declared extremist organizations and banned in Russia, owing to Dvorkin’s efforts. Quite a few members of small religious groups were imprisoned simply for believing in God in ways not prescribed by ROC.

In essence, during the thirty years of Dvorkin’s anti-cult activities, the same things happened in Russia as in pre-war Nazi Germany:

• Documents and “blacklists” of sects and cults were compiled (in Germany, this was done by the Apologetic Center led by Walter Künneth);
• RACIRS strengthened its cooperation with law enforcement agencies (in Germany, the Apologetic Center collaborated with the Gestapo);
• Ideas of anti-cultists influenced the head of the state, Mr. Putin, who adopted their theories of “satanism” and “sectarianism”, started accusing the West of those evils, and made them part of his state propaganda apparatus (in Germany, ideas of Luther and Lanz influenced Adolf Hitler’s worldview, and after its establishment in 1933, the Gestapo began to adopt practices and exchange documents with Künneth’s Apologetic Center, while radical Protestant pastors urged the Gestapo to toughen its methods against Jews and dissenters);
• As a result, undesirable, dissenting and nonconforming individuals and organizations were suppressed and destroyed to form a unified public opinion with the help of the dominant church. Why? In order to spur the country’s population towards war more easily!

Moreover, Russian anti-cultists worked extensively to exacerbate and destabilize the internal situation in the country, creating an image of a new enemy in public consciousness, embodied by the Ukrainian people. What were the consequences? The onset of war and the beginning of genocide.

We will explore these topics in more detail in our subsequent publications.

4. Is there war propaganda in modern Russia?

A rhetorical question.

Since the beginning of the first armed conflict in Donbas in 2014, the Russian propaganda machine has been ramping up its efforts. Laws became tougher, and missionary activities of small religious groups were banned. This was a preparatory phase where key figures and ideologues of the “Russian world”, such as ROC Patriarch Kirill (Vladimir Gundyaev), Alexander Dugin, Konstantin Malofeev, Vyacheslav Nikonov, Natalya Narochnitskaya, etc., as well as anti-cult activists from RACIRS, including Alexander Dvorkin, Alexander Novopashin, Roman Silantyev, and many others, played an active role in artificially demonizing Ukrainian citizens. It is worth noting that, according to authoritative sources, although RACIRS is a parachurch entity, it is directly subordinate to the ROC Patriarchate.

After the armed invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, mass media including TV and radio channels, literature, pop culture, cinema, and all pro-government online resources fully ramped up their efforts to justify and support the idea that “the war is necessary.” “The war was inevitable!” After all, it’s not even a war, but merely a “special military operation” (SMO) aimed at denazification and demilitarization of the “unruly” neighbor — the people of Ukraine.

However, over time, this rhetoric expanded its geographical scope, revealing the true enemy of the Russian world — the democratic Western civilization.

Two and a half years of war have passed with hundreds of thousands of people dead, millions of destinies destroyed, and dozens of cities and villages wiped off the face of the earth. Yet, few people still understand the goals and objectives of the so-called “special military operation.” Perhaps because, when viewed soberly, these goals seem absurd and unbelievable.

Today, a Russian citizen who disagrees with the government’s decision to wage war faces severe moral and physical hardships. For openly opposing the war, one might receive a prison sentence or be labeled a “foreign agent”, a status remarkably similar in substance to the “yellow star” forced upon Jews in Nazi ghettos. This degrading status, sanctioned at the legislative level, psychologically oppresses any dissenters and often forces them out of the country.

Meanwhile, the most powerful ideological indoctrination today comes from the religious organization ROC, eerily reminiscent of Nazi Germany almost a century ago. When the main Russian church forbids prayers for peace and instead mandates prayers “for victory in the war,” and the voices of protesters are utterly silent, it speaks volumes. It indicates that dictatorship is practically in place.

Who needs a Holy War?

After two years of hostilities, on March 27, 2024, the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church published a Mandate of the 25th World Russian People’s Council “The Present and Future of the Russian World.” It specifically includes the following lines:

“1. Special Military Operation

The special military operation represents a new stage in the national liberation struggle of the Russian people against the criminal Kyiv regime and the collective West behind it, waged on the lands of Southwest Rus since 2014. Through the SMO, with weapons in their hands, the Russian people defend their lives, freedom, statehood, civilizational, religious, national and cultural identity, as well as their right to live on their own land within the borders of a unified Russian state. From a spiritual and moral standpoint, the special military operation is a Holy War where Russia and its people protect the united spiritual space of Holy Rus and fulfill the mission of the “Restrainer”, defending the world from the onslaught of globalism and the victory of the West that has fallen into satanism.

After the SMO completion, the entire territory of present-day Ukraine should fall under the exclusive influence of Russia. Any possibility of existence of a Russophobic regime hostile to Russia and its people, or a political regime controlled by an external center hostile to Russia, must be completely eliminated on this territory.” ¹⁷

Moreover, this extensive document dated March 27, 2024, is prefaced with the following lines:

“This document, summarizing the most significant proposals put forward during the work of expert platforms and the Plenary Session, serves as the program document of the 25th World Russian People’s Council and as a mandate addressed to the legislative and executive authorities of Russia.”

The word “mandate” has several meanings:

– an authoritative directive or command,

– a document containing an assignment from a higher authority to a lower one.

Or did they mean something else?

If we try to evaluate the above, firstly, the document content fundamentally contradicts the teachings of the Gospel, the Christian worldview, and Orthodox theology, serving as a banal justification for anti-Gospel ideas of violence, xenophobia, and genocide. Secondly, the commanding tone of WRPC’s “mandate” leads to a blatant misunderstanding: “who is the master of the house?”

Unfortunately, it must be acknowledged that Orthodox Christianity in Russia today is repeating the history of Protestantism in Nazi Germany, and people need to understand this.

Finally, does Mr. Putin, who issued an order to start the armed invasion, realize that he had fallen victim to hidden manipulations? Who needs this “holy” war, and where will it lead? In any war, it is always ordinary people who suffer.

 

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Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Idea

2. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE

3. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4-%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%B5%D1%86

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow,_third_Rome

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavophilia

6. Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language: https://feb-web.ru/feb/ushakov/ush-abc/02/us116122.htm

7. Volobuev A. V. Russian Orthodox Fundamentalism: Socio-Philosophical Aspects https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/russkiy-pravoslavnyy-fundamentalizm-sotsialno-filosofskie-aspekty

8. https://old.bigenc.ru/domestic_history/text/2232667

9. https://www.colta.ru/articles/mosty/19271-gasan-guseynov-v-rime-ya-uvidel-mesto-iz-svoego-sna-zelenaya-stена-struya-protochnoy-vody-oschuschenie-holoda

10. https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D0%A1%D0%91%D0%95/%D0%A2%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%A0%D0%B8%D0%BC

11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Daniel

12. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A7%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B2%D1%91%D1%80%D1%82%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%85#cite_note-_70ee609bf4b27285-10

13. The Aryan Myth in the Modern World. Viktor Shnirelman https://books.google.ru/books?id=Aa8qCwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=ru&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

14. Russian Statistical Yearbook 2019: https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Ejegodnik_2019.pdf

15. Internal Life and External Activities of the Russian Orthodox Church from 2009 to 2019 http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5359105.html

17. http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/6116189.html