Konstantin Rodzaevsky
Encyclopedia
Konstantin Vladimirovich Rodzaevsky (11 August 1907, Blagoveshchensk
– 30 August 1946, Moscow
) was the leader of the Russian Fascist Party
, which he led in exile from Manchuria
, chief editor of the RFP "Nash Put'
".
(across the Amur from China
) in a family of the Siberia
n middle-class, he fled the Soviet Union
for Manchuria in 1925. In Harbin
, Rodzaevsky entered the law academy and joined the Russian Fascist Organization
. On May 26, 1931, he became the Secretary General of the newly created Russian Fascist Party; in 1934 the Party amalgamated with the Russian Fascist Organization
of Anastasy Vonsyatsky
, Rodzaevsky becoming its leader. He modeled himself on Benito Mussolini
, and also used the Swastika
as one of the symbols of the movement.
Rodzaevsky collected around himself personally selected bodyguard
s, and used symbolism of the former Russian Empire
along with Russian nationalist
symbols; like the Italian
Blackshirts
, the Russian Fascists wore black uniform
s with black crossed belts; they were armed with weapons obtained from Japan
's Imperial Japanese Army
. They created an international organization of White émigrés
with a central office in Harbin
, the "Russian Far East
Moscow
", and links in twenty-six nations around the world. The most important of these international posts was in New York City
.
Rodzaevsky had around 12,000 followers in Manchukuo
. During the 2,600nd anniversary of the founding of the Empire of Japan
, Rodzaevsky with a select group paid his respects to Emperor
Hirohito
at the official celebration in the region.
The fascists installed a great swastika
of neon light
at their branch in Manzhouli
(Manchouli), at least 3 km from the Soviet border. It was kept on all day and night to provide a show of power against the Soviet government. Rodzaevsky awaited the day when, leaving these signs on the Russian border, he would lead the White Anti-Soviet forces, joining White General Kislistin and Japanese forces, into battle to liberate the Soviet Union from Soviet rule. Their main military acts involved the training of Asano Detachment, the all ethnic-Russian special forces
in the Kwantung Army, organized for carrying out sabotage against Soviet forces in case of any Japanese invasion of Siberia
and Russian Far East areas; Japan was apparently interested in creating a White Russian state in Outer Manchuria
.
, Rodzaevsky tried to launch an open struggle against Bolshevism, but Japanese authorities limited the RFP’s activities to acts of sabotage
in the Soviet Union. A notorious anti-Semite
, Rodzaevsky published numerous articles in the party newspapers Our way and The Nation; he was also the author of the brochure
"Judas
’ End" and the book "Contemporary Judaisation of the World or the Jewish Question
in the XX Century".
At the end of the war, Rodzaevsky began to believe that the Soviet regime under Joseph Stalin
was evolving into a nationalist
one. He gave himself up to Soviet authorities in Kharbin in 1945, with a letter that shows striking similarities with the doctrines of National Bolshevism
:
He returned to Russia, where he was promised freedom and a job in one of the Soviet newspapers. Instead, he was arrested (along with his fellow party Lev Okhotin
), tried and sentenced to be shot; he was executed in a Lubyanka prison cellar.
In 2001 in Russia
published a book by K. Rodzaevsky Zaveshchanie russkogo fashista
("The Last Will of a Russian fascist").
Blagoveshchensk
Blagoveshchensk is a city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia. Population: -Early history of the region:The early residents of both sides of the Amur in the region of today's Blagoveshchensk were the Daurs and Duchers...
– 30 August 1946, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was the leader of the Russian Fascist Party
Russian Fascist Party
The Russian Fascist Party , sometimes called the All-Russian Fascist Party, was a minor Russian emigre movement that was based in Manchukuo during the 1930s and 1940s....
, which he led in exile from Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
, chief editor of the RFP "Nash Put'
Nash Put' (newspaper)
Nash Put' was a daily newspaper founded by Konstantin Rodzaevsky on 3 October 1933 that was issued in Harbin and Shanghai . The newspaper was the official organ of the Russian Fascist Party. Nash Put was published until July 1943. The newspaper promoted Christian Orthodoxy, nationalism and...
".
Far Eastern Fascism
Born in BlagoveshchenskBlagoveshchensk
Blagoveshchensk is a city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia. Population: -Early history of the region:The early residents of both sides of the Amur in the region of today's Blagoveshchensk were the Daurs and Duchers...
(across the Amur from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
) in a family of the Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n middle-class, he fled the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
for Manchuria in 1925. In Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
, Rodzaevsky entered the law academy and joined the Russian Fascist Organization
Russian Fascist Organization
Russian Fascist Organization was the name adopted by a Russian émigré group active in Manchuria before World War II.The original RFO was formed in 1925 by members of the Law Faculty at Harbin Normal University. Under the leadership of Prof. N.I. Nikiforov, it looked to Italian fascism for...
. On May 26, 1931, he became the Secretary General of the newly created Russian Fascist Party; in 1934 the Party amalgamated with the Russian Fascist Organization
Russian Fascist Organization
Russian Fascist Organization was the name adopted by a Russian émigré group active in Manchuria before World War II.The original RFO was formed in 1925 by members of the Law Faculty at Harbin Normal University. Under the leadership of Prof. N.I. Nikiforov, it looked to Italian fascism for...
of Anastasy Vonsyatsky
Anastasy Vonsyatsky
Anastasy Andreyevich Vonsyatsky , better known in the United States as Anastase Andreivitch Vonsiatsky, was a Russian anti-Bolshevik émigré and fascist leader based in the United States since the 1920s....
, Rodzaevsky becoming its leader. He modeled himself on Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
, and also used the Swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
as one of the symbols of the movement.
Rodzaevsky collected around himself personally selected bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
s, and used symbolism of the former Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
along with Russian nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
symbols; like the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Blackshirts
Blackshirts
The Blackshirts were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II...
, the Russian Fascists wore black uniform
Uniform
A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...
s with black crossed belts; they were armed with weapons obtained from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
. They created an international organization of White émigrés
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
with a central office in Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
, the "Russian Far East
Russian Far East
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
", and links in twenty-six nations around the world. The most important of these international posts was in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
. During the 2,600nd anniversary of the founding of the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
, Rodzaevsky with a select group paid his respects to Emperor
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...
Hirohito
Hirohito
, posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or , was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to...
at the official celebration in the region.
The fascists installed a great swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
of neon light
Neon sign
Neon signs are made using electrified, luminous tube lights that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in December, 1910 by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show. While they are used worldwide, neon signs...
at their branch in Manzhouli
Manzhouli
- Administration :Manzhouli is divided into ten subdistricts and one town. Six of the subdistricts of Manzhouli are grouped into a district. Technically however, only a prefecture-level city can have districts, so Manzhouli's lone district is not officially listed.- History :In ancient times the...
(Manchouli), at least 3 km from the Soviet border. It was kept on all day and night to provide a show of power against the Soviet government. Rodzaevsky awaited the day when, leaving these signs on the Russian border, he would lead the White Anti-Soviet forces, joining White General Kislistin and Japanese forces, into battle to liberate the Soviet Union from Soviet rule. Their main military acts involved the training of Asano Detachment, the all ethnic-Russian special forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
in the Kwantung Army, organized for carrying out sabotage against Soviet forces in case of any Japanese invasion of Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
and Russian Far East areas; Japan was apparently interested in creating a White Russian state in Outer Manchuria
Outer Manchuria
Outer Manchuria , is the territory ceded by China to Russia in the Treaty of Aigun in 1858 and the Treaty of Peking in 1860. . The northern part of the area was also in dispute between 1643 and 1689...
.
World War II and execution
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Rodzaevsky tried to launch an open struggle against Bolshevism, but Japanese authorities limited the RFP’s activities to acts of sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
in the Soviet Union. A notorious anti-Semite
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
, Rodzaevsky published numerous articles in the party newspapers Our way and The Nation; he was also the author of the brochure
Brochure
A brochure is a type of leaflet. Brochures are most commonly found at places that tourists frequently visit, such as museums, major shops, and tourist information. Brochure racks or stands may suggest visits to amusement parks and other points of interest...
"Judas
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
’ End" and the book "Contemporary Judaisation of the World or the Jewish Question
Jewish Question
The Jewish question encompasses the issues and resolutions surrounding the historically unequal civil, legal and national statuses between minority Ashkenazi Jews and non-Jews, particularly in Europe. The first issues discussed and debated by societies, politicians and writers in western and...
in the XX Century".
At the end of the war, Rodzaevsky began to believe that the Soviet regime under Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
was evolving into a nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
one. He gave himself up to Soviet authorities in Kharbin in 1945, with a letter that shows striking similarities with the doctrines of National Bolshevism
National Bolshevism
National Bolshevism is a political movement that claims to combine elements of nationalism and Bolshevism. It is often anti-capitalist in tone, and sympathetic towards certain nationalist forms of communism and socialism...
:
- "I issued a call for an unknown leader, ... capable of overturning the Jewish government and creating a new Russia. I failed to see that, by the will of fate, of his own genius, and of millions of toilers, Comrade J V Stalin, the leader of the peoples, had become this unknown leader".
He returned to Russia, where he was promised freedom and a job in one of the Soviet newspapers. Instead, he was arrested (along with his fellow party Lev Okhotin
Lev Okhotin
Lev Pavlovich Okhotin was a member of the Supreme Council of the Russian Fascist Party, founded by exiles in Manchuria.- Biography :...
), tried and sentenced to be shot; he was executed in a Lubyanka prison cellar.
In 2001 in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
published a book by K. Rodzaevsky Zaveshchanie russkogo fashista
Zaveshchanie russkogo fashista
Zaveshchanie russkogo fashista is a reprint edition published in 2001 of a book by Konstantin Rodzaevsky, the leader of the All-Russia Fascist Party...
("The Last Will of a Russian fascist").