Published: 15 April 2019

A former academic with a love of classical allusions and naked poolside Instagram photos, Thierry Baudet has stunned the Dutch political world with his victory in

Read more: The naked populist: Thierry Baudet stuns the Netherlands

Published: 30 November 2018

In anticipation of the Jewish Book Week in London, we interviewed Oleg Kozerod, author of several books on Jewish history, D.Sc. in History, a member of the European Association for Jewish Studies in Oxford.

Corr.: You are one of the experts in the Russian Civil War history, author of the book “Denikin’s rule and Jewish population in Ukraine: 1919-1920”. What is your evaluation of the extent of the tragedy during mass pogroms in that period?

О.K.: The sweep of anti-Jew events conducted by the White movement was unparalleled in human history. Anti-Semitic military units made 887 major and 349 minor pogroms during the Civil War until 1921, as estimated by historian S. Dubnov. At the Genoa Conference (1922), Soviet diplomats revealed the scope of killings of the Jewish people during the Civil War. Half a million of Jews suffered from pogroms in only Podolia, Kiev, Volhynian and Chernigov Governorates. Among them 200 thousand were killed or injured and over 30 thousand women raped. That is how White movement soldiers interpreted the motto “For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland” (photo by Juhani Sierla).

Corr.: It is clear that Civil War events exposed the processes that were running within Russian elite of that time, which surely was a failure of the Russian idea and Russian intelligentsia. And ethnic mass slaughter was a constituent of that process. Could the scope of anti-Jew campaigns have been more extensive?

О.K.: Imagine the situation that the White movement won the Russian Civil War. The whole Russia would have been covered with communal graves of the Jewish people. The mass murders by Denikin’s army and other White movement units was the second largest death toll of the Jewish people in the world history apart from the Holocaust, according to American professor Kenez. Millions of Jews would have suffered if the counter-revolution in Russia had succeeded.

Corr.: Did White Guard soldiers persistently kill Jews for their national identity only?

О.K.: I’d like to recall the only evidence of history of those times – “Chapaev”, a novel by Furmanov that describes Chapaev’s army defeat and death of the famous Red commander. Let me quote from the book: “The resistance was not being maintained any more. Cossacks were chasing the running ones, caught and slashed them on the spot… – Kikes, commissars and Communists, step up! – And they stepped forward wishing to protect Red Army men from execution, but not always rescued them. People stepped out in front of their comrades, so proud and glorious in their silent courage, with exasperate lips and glowing rageful eyes, and died under shashka hits and rifle bullets, damning Cossack whips... Other victims were taken to fields to be shot with machine guns... There’re three huge brick pits outside the stanitsa filled with corpses of the executed to the brim…”.

Read more: Doctor Oleg Kozerod: “If Holocaust events had not happened in Nazi Germany, they could have easily...

Published: 14 April 2019

Italy's hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini called Monday for unity among Europe's far-right parties ahead of European parliamentary elections.

Read more: Italy's Salvini calls for far-right unity ahead of EU parliament elections

Published: 30 November 2018

 As autumn comes closer, more talks emerge about a probable conclusion of an Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine that can come about in as little as a few months in Vilnius. In anticipation of this event, our correspondent interviewed an expert in the politics of Ukraine N., doctor of historical sciences, about the state of affairs in Ukraine and its future.   Being an expert in Ukrainian politics, could you answer why Ukraine marks time for many years and cannot decide which entity to join – the European Union or the Customs Union? By the way, Baltic countries needed very little time for self-determination.” Unfortunately (or luckily), the world’s way is that clerisy cannot compete with criminal groups or big business guys. The latter will dominate in every instance as they have weapons and want to commit crimes; they are mastered in grim business and they reach after getting access to the national budget and material goods resulted from being in power. Everyone in the world would like to have money without working. To steal businessmen’s money on a regular basis through the medium of tax authorities and police…  What can be more alluring than this dream?   Does this only refer to the current government considered as a bad one by the global community? Does Die Zeit have a point when calling for overthrowing the existing dictatorship in Ukraine?   Unfortunately, this tendency is pertinent to both ruling power and the opposition in Ukraine.   Reforms suggested by the European Union are focused on eliminating richness as a result of coming to power. It is required to make sure the clerisy comes to power in this country. It is the only way to create miracle that took place, for example, in Romania. At that time, the national elite practically drew its country, where “people still ride in carts in the cities”, into the European Union.   No matter how educated and developed the Ukrainian nation is, it will reach nothing in the world of international competition and cooperation without a normal elite (photo by A. Franskoy).   However, how would representatives of unarmed Ukrainian intellectuals, modest writers, research officers and university lecturers (economists, lawyers, political experts) come to power?   The revolution of elite is a key factor that will play a crucial part in the European and even Customs and Union Integration. Without it, our country will decay, and the population will work for a “company of one national-wide owner”. Press freedom, absence of selective justice, combating corruption - all these demands by the EU are needed to make sure representatives of the real elite come to power in Ukraine.   Nevertheless, it is a big issue how to move the current elite away from the state budget and easy money within power structures. Perhaps, the European Union may “squeeze out” a solution. As soon as corruption is overcome, it will be possible to beat injustice in courts, and criminal groups will leave the power. Since they cannot make money, there will be no sense for them to stay and “blow cover” yet again.  

Read more: Doctor Oleg Kozerod: “Press freedom, no selective justice, and combating corrupt practices. All...