On November 9-10, 1938 an event took place that marked the beginning of one of the gloomiest pages in the history of 20th century – mass elimination of Jews by the German Nazis. The Jews became an object of furious anti-Semitic propaganda already after Hitler’s coming to power in 1933; economic, social, political sanctions restricting the rights of the Jews were introduced. But on the November night of 1938 the first action of direct physical violence took place and numerous victims were its consequence. More than 90 Jews were killed (according to some estimates, up to 2 thousand people), hundreds were wounded and mutilated. According to various estimates, from 3,5 to 30 thousand Jews were sent to concentration camps. Thousands Jews all around the country were subject to humiliations and tortures. Fascist thugs looted and burned about 300 synagogues (according to other data, about 1,5 thousand), and lots of Jewish houses. The streets were covered with glass from broken shop-windows of Jewish shops and stores (due to this the tragic night got the name “Crystal”).

The pogroms of the youth from Hitlerjugend being arranged and skillfully directed were announced an “outburst of people’s indignation” though the events of the “Crystal night” were the obvious stage of more and more thickening anti-Jewish atmosphere in Germany. It was no coincidence that already on November 14 Hermann Goering stated that the events of this night should entail a complete “Aryanization” of the German nation. On the same days the decrees were signed obliging the Jews to pay enormous fine depriving them of their property and envisaging creation of the ghettos.

Response of governments of the other countries to the events in Germany was generally inert, and indignation of some mass media remained practically unnoticed. Less than in two weeks grievously known agreement on Czechoslovakia was finally signed that actually provided a carte blanche to the Nazi regime for its monstrous plans.

The lesson of the “Crystal night” was an alarm signal that was almost unnoticed and a starting point in a chain of murders of dozens million people – Jews and non-Jews. It seems it had to become an eternal lesson for the mankind. But alas chauvinism prospers in Russia up to now as well as in many other countries of the world, anti-Semitism holds up its head, people are killed having another skin color and another religious views.

“Russian marches” – processions of right-radical nationalistic organizations professing xenophobic and sometimes frankly Nazi ideology – are held for already four years on the Day of national unity. Anti-Semitic, anti-Caucasian slogans were heard during the processions, participants of marches demonstrated Nazi symbols and shouted Nazi salutations.

Despite the appeals of human rights activists and Russian public, up to the present the municipal authorities and law-enforcement bodies in various regions do not always respond properly to the actions of nationalists inciting interethnic dissension and thus being anti-constitutional.

The processions of nationalists that took place in several cities of Russia on November 4, 2009 became again a site for demonstration of ethnic hatred. Xenophobic slogan “Russia is for the Russians” became one of central slogans of the “marches”. The slogans were chanted during the march arranged in Moscow district of Lyublino by Movement against illegal migration (DPNI), Slavic union (SS), Russian nation-wide union (RONS) and their smaller allies like Union of Orthodox gonfalon-carriers and NPF “Memory”: “Well, fuck away from here, Russia is for the Russians, Moscow is for Muscovites”. The other “march’ slogans included: “Migrants today – occupants tomorrow!”, “Russian order to the Russian land, Russian authority to the Russian land!”, “End for occupation! Freedom to Russian nation!”, “This is our city! This is our country! Russian order or war!”, “Kondopoga! Kondopoga!” “Let’s save the Russian nation – let’s close the Southern migration!”, “We make minced meat of our enemies – this is the Russian march, brothers!”, “Our grandfathers drove Poles and Germans away, and we won’t be under a foreign yoke either!”. Participants of “Russian march” took the flags with Nazi symbols several times. Nazi salutations were recorded more than once. The firer was thrown into the column of the movement participants. The meeting participants called upon their companions-in-arms upon arming themselves following the instructions for purchasing smooth-bore arms – the instructions were actively disseminated by Nazi-skinheads.

Though some actions of right radicals were resolutely suppressed by MVD (Ministry of home affairs) forces, and this can be just greeted, Russian public received an evidence again that the permitted processions of right-radicals turn into xenophobic and anti-state actions too.

These actions take place on the background of orgy of criminality and are motivated by xenophobia and ethnic hatred. Thus, during the period from January till October 28, 2009 199 attacks were committed and 64 dead and 262 wounded at least were their results.

  Anti-Semitic incidents are distinguished among xenophobia actions – one has to speak about them 71 year after the Crystal night too.

  In recent January a teenager-Jew was shot from traumatic gun in Moscow.

  On March 9 in St. Petersburg two young people closely cropped and dressed into military type coats attacked two students near the cinema “Khudozhestvenniy”. One of the beaten students proved to be the son of an employee of the Jewish agency in Russia.

  On March 15 a 50-year-old citizen of Israel was brutally beaten in Moscow; he was taken to a hospital in grave condition as a result of this.

  On May 11 unknown persons had beaten the Israeli journalist D. Yaron on the territory of sports complex “Olympic” where the song contest “Eurovision-2009” started.

  On January 21 swastika and anti-Semitic contents inscriptions appeared on facades of several houses in Birobidjan along Parkovaya street.

  On February 17 unknown persons broke a window in the building of synagogue in Yaroslavl.

  On March 11 the damage of memorial sign “Menorah” installed at the old Jewish cemetery in Petrozavodsk in commemoration of the Holocaust victims was discovered.

  In March the Jewish cemetery in Sebezh was desecrated.

  In March the leaflets aimed at incitement of hatred and hostility towards migrants – natives of the Caucasus, Middle Asia, Moslems and Jews were stuck in the coaches of St. Petersburg underground.

  On the night of April 28 21 graves at the Jewish area of Dmitrovo-Cherkassky cemetery in Tver were desecrated.

  On April 30 in Rybinsk the appeal “Kill the Jew” appeared on many houses and fences.

  On May 5 in Norilsk the monument “To the Jews – prisoners of Norillag” was desecrated being a part of memorial complex “Norilsk Golgotha”. The malefactors covered the monument to the prisoners of Norilsk correctional-labor camp with paint, broke the memorial plate and also damaged the pedestal and stele.

  On May 12 a package with extremist contents note was found on the territory of synagogue in Nizhniy Novgorod.

  On May 12 a drawn swastika was found of the door of office of charitable center “Hesed Itzhak” in Pskov.

  On May 13 the Jewish graves were desecrated at Maryina Roshcha cemetery in Nizhniy Novgorod.

  On June 19 the employees and activists of the Jewish community of Abakan city, after arriving to the office in the morning, found the drawn swastika on the iron door.

  On June 30 the Center of Jewish ethnic-cultural autonomy of Komi was subject to attack – heavy cobble-stone flew into the window and broke the glass. It was found out that for the first time such action was conducted in winter 2009.

Early in June a swastika was drawn on the door of the Jewish community center in Ryazan. In several days after that the signboard with the name of the Jewish organization was wrenched out.

On July 30 the Jewish cemetery in Tver was desecrated.

Early in August the drawings of swastika appeared at the central streets of Omsk.

On the night of September 12-13 the skinheads threw the bottles with incensing cocktail into Khabarovsk synagogue and house of an employee of Chief directorate of MVD of Russia for Far-Eastern federal district who was involved into solution of extremist orientation crimes.

On September 1 and 23 the graves on the Jewish cemetery near Tver were desecrated. In first case 1 grave suffered and in second case – 60 graves did.

During the days of work of 22nd Moscow international book exhibition-fair the Moscow bureau for human rights, Fund “Holocaust” and Moscow anti-fascist center made a joint statement where they expressed their anxiety due to the fact that books with frankly black-hundred contents are exhibited at the authoritative exhibition-fair five times in succession (!).

It dealt with presentation of book by former minister of press B. Mironov who was released from criminal liability for instigation of interethnic dissension just due to expiration of statute of limitation for this crime. The text of the book “Russians: the last borderline” issued by publishing house “Algorithm” in 2009 says for itself and needs no comments so we just provide two quotations:

All the peoples of Russia begin understanding at last that all the native peoples of Russia have the common enemy – and this enemy is the yid (p. 53)

Not only Duma but the whole authority – Federation Council, government and Administration of President were turned into yids’ buffoonery and yids’ shady business (p. 175).

The book falls directly and completely within the purview of several clauses of the Criminal code of RF and the Law on counteraction to extremist activity (2002) at once.

Presentation of a book by another odious judophobe O. Platonov “Russian civilization” also took place during the work of the exhibition-fair. Books by other nationalists were also exhibited at the book fair – by anti-Semitic publicist I. Shamir; by editor of the newspaper “Duel” that was closed by a court decision not long ago Yu. Mukhin who got a (suspended) sentence for extremism; Holocaust denier Jurgen Graf whose name was anathematized in Europe and USA; nationalists A. Sevastyanov, I. Froyanov, A. Bragin. Double-dyed xenophobic literature of publishing house “Russian truth” is presented abundantly – its head A. Aratov was convicted for instigation of interethnic dissension.

Symbolic signing of a contract for publication of book “Kondopoga forever” took place at book exhibition-fair between the author A. Belov (Potkin) who got suspended sentence for incitement of interethnic dissension not long ago and the publishing house “Book world”. The same publishing house conducted a meeting with its long-standing favorite person, former deputy of the State Duma and author of racist books and articles Andrey Savelyev.

In the opinion of the statement authors, the Organizing committee of exhibition-fair must be not just morally but also legally liable for such presentations. One of the book exhibition-fair founders is the Federal agency on press and mass communications that is obliged to permit no dissemination of chauvinist literature, and the exhibition itself has the juridical status of a state enterprise. How the appearing of such pogrom books and moreover their advertizing can be possible?

Such black-hundred Sabbath at book fair in Moscow was especially blasphemous in those very days when all the reasonable people condemned the ideology of Nazism in connection with anniversary of the start of the World War II. In Germany and some other democratic countries this criminal ideology is criminally punishable, and the law punishes the authors and disseminators of misanthropic books strictly.

But Nazism holds up its head not only in Russia. A splash of anti-Semitic moods as a sign of revival of Nazism takes place in many European countries. And the most grievous fact is that one can speak about growth of anti-Semitism in the countries where especially many Jews suffered – namely, in new states that appeared on the territory of the former USSR.

Attempts of rehabilitation of Nazism and persons who fought on its side are made in Baltic countries, Ukraine, Moldova. To the great extent these actions are caused by aspiration of ruling elite of the mentioned countries to compose their own version of their national history being contrary to that introduced into public consciousness during the Soviet period. As a result, accomplices of Nazi regime turn into national heroes.

On December 18, 2008 the UN General Assembly, on the initiative of Russia, adopted a resolution condemning glorification of Nazism including that of former “Waffen SS” members as well as desecration of monuments to fighters against fascism.

129 delegations voted “for” the Russian draft resolution “Inadmissibility of some kinds of practice promoting escalation of modern forms of racism, race discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance connected with them”, 54 – abstained from voting and only the United States and Marshall islands voted “against”.

Russia spoke more than once earlier with sharp criticism of policy and actions of authorities of some countries including Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine for glorification of accomplices of Nazism during the World War II as well as for elimination of monuments to the Soviet warriors-liberators.

In particular, the resolution “expresses deep anxiety due to the fact of glorification of Nazi movement and former members of organization “Waffen SS” including that through opening monuments and memorials and conducting public demonstrations with the purpose of glorification of the Nazi past, Nazi movement and neo-Nazism”.

Similar condemnation of UN members was also stated due to the attempts to declare those who cooperated with Nazis and fought against anti-Hitler coalition the heroes of national-liberation movements. The document also states the anxiety due to “incessant attempts of desecration or destruction of monuments” to the fighters against Nazism during the World War II as well as “illegal exhumation or transfer of remains” of those who perished in combat against Nazism.

Fascism is the most dangerous ideology. If all the peoples of the world would not block the way for it, then the future of mankind would be threatened. The lessons of the Crystal night are the evidence of this.