Skinhead Russia
Dan Clore
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
Skinhead Russia
http://mnweekly.rian.ru/national/20070906/55273681.html
06/09/2007
Few things can shock society today. One of them was a video recently
posted on the Internet that appears to show the execution of two men.
The three-minute clip, posted by a LiveJournal.com user, signed
"antigipsyone," on August 12, shows a Dagestani (from the North
Caucasus) and a Tajik (from Central Asia) kneeling on the ground with
their arms and legs tied up. A swastika is displayed in the background.
"We were arrested by Russian national socialists," they say in voices
trembling with fear, after which one of them is beheaded and the other
is shot in the back of the head.
Police investigators are currently examining whether the video showed a
real or staged execution. Preliminary examination suggested that it was
probably staged. Whatever the case, the video highlighted the neo-Nazi
threat in Russia.
A Strange Legacy
Russia's skinhead movement appeared in the early 1990s, amidst that
era's social and economic turmoil. As often happens, a subculture that
comes from the West changes beyond recognition in Russia, and that was
true for the skinheads.
The past year saw a record number of crimes that law enforcement
agencies blamed on skinheads. An attack on an environmental camp in
southeast Siberia, which left one person dead and seven injured, and
that grisly video both occurred in the past two months alone. But during
the year there other murders, pogroms, raids, and provocations. The
authorities and society as a whole are confronted with the question of
how to stop a force that is gaining momentum all the time.
Skinheads began as a working-class subculture in Britain in the 1960s.
Originally it had nothing to do with color, race, religion, or national
origin. In subsequent decades, the skinhead subculture spread to other
parts of Europe, North America and other continents.
In the 1970s, both neo-Nazi and anti-Nazi organizations in the UK and
the United States looked on skinheads as potential cannon fodder. Youth
culture, unencumbered by any bans and ready to follow any shiny new
idea, started developing along several lines. The Neo-Nazis came to be
known as boneheads, while those skinheads who identified with the
original 1960s skinhead subculture divided into anti-Nazis and anarchists.
The anti-Nazi movement became known as SHARP (Skinheads Against Racial
Prejudice). The anarchist movement developed into RASH (Red and
Anarchist Skinheads), a left-wing anti-racist, anti-fascist skinhead group.
The history of the early skinhead movements shows that boneheads in
particular became victims of political games. Exploiting youth culture's
responsiveness to new ideas for political purposes is a common practice.
And only fascists were able to unite a critical mass of skinheads under
a single flag.
Today, proactive, assertive anti-Nazi propaganda in Europe and North
America has had a positive effect: fascism as an ideology failed to
acquire a following large enough to cause yet another social crisis.
Skinheads a la Russe
The breakup of the Soviet Union and the subsequent crisis created a
generally negative psychological environment for many people but also an
ideological vacuum that emerged with the collapse of the Communist
ideal, which could be considered a national idea. Since nature abhors a
vacuum, it was filled with trendy borrowings from the West. Young men
with shaved heads appeared in Moscow together with the first democrats.
In 1992, they numbered in the dozens.
Yet by 1994, there were already thousands of skinheads. The reason was
not just the social crisis but also the position of the ruling
establishment, which showed that violence is a legitimate option in any
dispute. The start of the military campaign in Chechnya strengthened the
nationalist mood among teenagers. An external enemy was found, and many
thousands of school-age people were ready to follow the "Russia for
Russians!" slogan.
Ignorance and resentment, as well as the scaling down of anti-Nazi
propaganda, were major factors that contributed to the evolution of the
"Russian skinhead." This type had nothing to do with traditional
skinheads or SHARPs or RUSHes. The majority of Russian skinheads became
boneheads - extremely nationalist skinheads, advocating violence and
racial intolerance.
As in the UK, neo-Nazis needed a social group from which to recruit new
members. Aggressive soccer fans were an ideal recruiting ground. First,
many were already accustomed to violence. Second, educational levels
among them are generally very low. Many soccer hooligans eventually to
embrace neo-Nazi ideas.
Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies categorically refused to treat
crimes committed by boneheads as ethnically motivated, or hate crimes.
The opposing force -- the Russian answer to SHARPs and RUSHes, which
rallied under Antifa banner -- was so small that it wasn't a threat. [In
Europe, especially in the UK, militant anti-fascism advocates the use of
violence against fascists. Within the anti-fascist movement, the term
militant anti-fascism is often used in contrast to liberal anti-fascism;
fascists often use violence and depend on a physical presence in the
streets, and militant anti-fascists believe that an equal counterweight
is essential to stop fascism, and that fascism should be tackled by
communities rather than by the state. -- Ed.]
When boneheads became aware of their strength, they launched large-scale
actions. That included raids on outdoor food and clothes markets, street
riots in downtown Moscow during a Russia-Japan soccer match, and an
ongoing wave of violence and murders.
Antifa vs. Boneheads
Until recently, the government's efforts against the neo-Nazis produced
almost no result. Putting a few dozen people behind bars is not
effective. Meanwhile, representatives of the world's major racist and
neo-Nazi movements, parties and groups, such Ku Klux Klan and the
National Socialist German Workers' Party (a Nazi party) were freely
coming to Russia to share their experience with local youth movements.
The only organization that is officially outlawed in Russia is the
Russian National Unity, which disappeared years ago.
The current stage of the struggle is linked with the implementation of
the Law on Countering Extremist. The case of Maxim "Tesak" ("Hatchet")
Martsinkevich, the leader of Format 18, a bonehead group, appears to
demonstrate that Nazi slogans may not be chanted in public. Tesak was
charged with inciting ethnic hatred and threatening to commit violence
during a debate organized by democratic youth groups at a Moscow club in
February. Martsinkevich arrived with about 20 followers, made Nazi
salutes, and threatened "to slaughter the liberals." A Moscow court
convicted three of his associates in June for the murder of a member of
an anti-fascist organization.
The dual murder video footage shows that it is also against the law to
spread materials fomenting ethnic hatred.
But does the realization of the extent of the problem come too late? How
did Tesak's arrest affect the boneheads? They regard him as a hero who
suffered for the truth. As for the grisly video, quite a few people saw
the brutal murder as a positive step in the struggle against illegal
immigration.
Meanwhile, Format 18's Web site, which featured much illegal material,
was shut down through the efforts of the Antifa movement, not the
authorities. But the anti-fascist movement is still regarded as
unpredictable and uncontrollable, and therefore, the authorities refuse
to notice it or use it in fighting neo-Nazism.
Even worse is that often it is hard to tell a bonehead from an
anti-Nazi. The only distinguishing features of Antifa skinheads are an
image of a Trojan warrior's helmet on the jacket and red boot laces. As
for the boneheads, they use white laces and WP (White Power) and 88
(Heil Hitler) patches. It can be difficult to see these distinctive
marks, especially from a bureaucrat's armchair.
It is noteworthy that neo-Nazis in Russia are not declaring their
political ambitions or attempting to put themselves on the map. Perhaps
they realize that their time has not come yet. They will not have to
wait very long, however, unless new, effective anti-fascism laws are
adopted.
Here is yet another dark touch to an already grim picture: according to
Oleg Yelnikov, the head of the Interior Ministry press service, his
agency does not have reliable data on the number of skinheads in Russia.
Unofficially, however, at the start of 2007, there were believed to be
at least 100,000 skinheads in the RF.
By Anton Grishin
RELATED ARTICLES
20/07/2007 Youth Group Investigated for Fueling Racism
21/06/2007 Killers of Congolese Student in Russia Convicted
13/07/2007 Rabbi Accosted by Neo-Nazis in Ukraine
--
Dan Clore
My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://amazon.com/o/ASIN/1587154838/ref=nosim/thedanclorenecro
Lord We˙rdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://www.geocities.com/clorebeast/
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
"Don't just question authority,
Don't forget to question me."
-- Jello Biafra