Extremists Flourish in Gorbachev Era

Under the cover of glasnost , forces of Russian chauvinism make a claim on power in the Soviet Union. Remarkably, it is these extreme nationalists and anti-Semites who are the first to test the limits of the Kremlin’s new tolerance. That they will be able to take over is extremely unlikely. Still, their growing visibility reflects powerful political undercurrents that have been unleashed by Mikhail S. Gorbachev. And the immunity with which the Soviet nationalist right is allowed to operate suggests that it has supporters in high places.

How otherwise can one explain the access to government facilities in Moscow that these extremists enjoy? Unofficial groups normally are not allowed to conduct meetings in clubs that are uniformly controlled by party and state organizations. But the Pamyat (which in Russian means “memory”) Society, an organization of Russian nationalist extremists, regularly gathers hundreds of members and sympathizers in a variety of halls provided courtesy of institutions ranging from the Union of Artists to the Dynamo factory. On May 6, 400 Pamyat members, after a noisy demonstration in downtown Moscow, were granted a two-hour audience with Boris Yeltsin, the Soviet capital’s party boss and a candidate member of the ruling Politburo. There is no precedent since the 1920s for protesters to be received by an official of even remotely similar stature.

And that is despite the fact that Pamyat’s political philosophy is no secret. Created originally under the pretext of protecting historical monuments, the organization now devotes all of its energy to the crusade against “the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy.” Speakers at Pamyat’s gatherings do not stop at reading aloud from the notorious forgery “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” They call for violence against their political opponents--predictably Jews and liberal intellectuals. At one recent Pamyat meeting an appeal to the “Russian people” was adopted calling for demonstrations against Zionists and Masons all over the country, and to “identify and massacre corrupt journalists” who fail to pay tribute to Russian national values.

According to the Soviet media, Pamyat’s membership is in the thousands and the organization has chapters in many Soviet cities. What it does not have--no unofficial group does--is access to a printing press. So Pamyat produces and distributes videocassettes, reaching all Russian areas of the Soviet Union. In addition, it receives help from like-minded emigres in the United States. The New York Russian-language paper, the Russian Self-Conscience, which praises Adolf Hitler for acting against Jewish domination, somehow escapes extensive Soviet customs controls and is used by Pamyat as its substitute voice.

No Soviet publication openly supports Pamyat. And many in the aftermath of the Moscow demonstration have bitterly criticized it. Nevertheless, it would be a profound mistake to dismiss the organization as a bunch of politically irrelevant fanatics.

The truth is that Pamyat says what many influential Russians think--even if not quite in such extreme form. Russian nationalists control several important government literary publications in which they regularly engage in bitter anti-Western polemics, often degenerating into attacks against “alien”--read Jewish--influence. They blame the West and its alleged agent, Zionism, for many ills of Russian society ranging from technological backwardness to alcohol abuse. And absurdly anti-Semitic, anti-Western charges are coming not from some marginal personalities but from the more established--and, unfortunately, sometimes the most talented--Russian writers, like Victor Astafiev and Vasili Belov.

Pamyat’s political connections are more difficult to trace. Soviet journalists make clear that it benefits from the sponsorship of some middle-level party officials. Moscow’s rumor mill has it that Pamyat’s secret patrons include Gorbachev’s party deputy, Yegor Ligachev, and even his own wife, Raisa.

For whatever reason, Pamyat is very high on Gorbachev. Its members demonstrate with signs pledging complete support of the new leadership. That may be partly explained by political opportunism. But it may also mean that glasnost means different things to different people. Moscow insiders claim that many of Gorbachev’s initiatives are genuinely popular among Russian nationalists. His no-nonsense approach at home appeals to their sense of law and order. The general secretary’s relentless effort to ensure Soviet greatness abroad also strikes a responsive chord among Pamyat cohorts.

Americans like to believe that the relaxation of political controls universally leads to freedom and democracy. But, as the experience of Iran indicates, it also provides encouragement to all kinds of xenophobic extremists. Mikhail Gorbachev has opened the Pandora’s box of Soviet politics. What he will get out of it still remains to be seen.

DR, DANZIGER The Christian Science Monitor