<font>Part II.<\/font> <font>Propaganda.<\/font> Chapter 1. Anti-Semitic press: what is it?

1.1. General characteristics of the national-patriotic and communist press

It is known that the printed word has qualities indispensable for political propaganda and agitation. As is well known, a flame was kindled from Iskra, and the activities of many revolutionary leaders (both left and right) began with editing newspapers ... Since then, the situation in the field of propaganda has, of course, changed. Much more effective and technologically advanced ways of influencing mass consciousness have appeared. However, at the present time in Russia it is almost impossible for radical nationalists to break into television or radio. The printed word is the main, if not the only way for radicals to convey their ideas to the population. With today's spread of computer and copying technology, almost anyone can publish a leaflet with a circulation of several hundred copies. As a rule, when anti-fascist publicists talk about "neo-Nazism", "anti-Semitism" or "extremism", they illustrate the story with scary quotes from such "publications". What is really the national-radical press, which includes from one hundred to two hundred newspapers throughout the country?

In this chapter, we will focus on several issues. First, we will see how massive national-radical publications are, what are their circulations, periodicity, distribution regions. Separately, we will focus on the most obscure issue - the source of funding for nationalist publications. Secondly, we will consider the issue of the content of nationalist propaganda: what topics are mainly discussed in these publications, what is the role of xenophobia in general and anti-Semitism in particular in them. And, finally, the last question that interests us is the position of the state in relation to radical publications.

To begin with, we will try to outline the general panorama of national-radical publications, providing them with short characteristics.

The most popular and influential radical publication is, of course, the Zavtra newspaper (editor-in-chief - writer Alexander Prokhanov). Its circulation is 100,000 copies weekly. "Tomorrow" holds the most diverse audience - it is read by both communists and nationalists of various ideological views. It is impossible to compose an integral ideology from the articles published in the newspaper - it is eclectic by definition. On the one hand, this allows you to maintain a wide readership; but on the other hand, it makes the newspaper unable to really influence, say, the course of elections (because there is always ambiguity in the coverage of various candidates) and makes it shy away from enthusiastic support to unrestrained abuse of certain political figures. "Tomorrow" creates a general emotional background, not an ideology. The editorials of the newspaper, written by its editor-in-chief, are talented impressionist sketches with elements of satire, grotesque and pathos. Prokhanov makes readers resent and admire, resent and sympathize, despise and admire, hate and love (it is clear that negative emotions are exploited much more actively than positive ones). However, it is absolutely impossible to understand, for example, what form of government the publication advocates.

The same applies to the second most popular left-wing nationalist newspaper, Duel (editor-in-chief Yuri Mukhin, circulation 12,000 copies weekly). "Duel" is kept in a narrower niche of "left nationalism" and has no prestige among right-wing nationalists. However, due to the fact that the traditions of Soviet patriotism and nostalgia for the USSR are superimposed in society on acute social and ethno-demographic problems associated with the current system of the Russian Federation, an eclectic combination of elements of Soviet ideology with sovereign nationalism is quite common among the population.

For both "Tomorrow" and "Duel" emotionally negatively colored materials, the "image of the enemy" are of great importance. Due to the pro-communist specificity of these publications, the "enemy" is first of all conceived in social terms, and only then - in national ones. For "Duel" anti-Semitism plays a big role - various stories about how the Jews destroyed the USSR, how they commit atrocities in the Middle East, or how they first nurtured Hitler, set him against the USSR, and then invented the Holocaust to discredit the ideas of nationalism, instilling a sense of guilt and for untying one's hands in Palestine. Duel is the main publication in Russia that preaches the mythology of Holocaust revisionism. For "Tomorrow" the Jewish question is less relevant, although it also constantly pops up on the pages of the newspaper. The refraction of the Jewish question in "Tomorrow" is either social or religious. Characteristic in this regard are two articles published in one of the issues of the newspaper (1) . A. Prokhanov in the editorial of the issue "Let's look for Himmler in the ranks of the Union of Right Forces" writes: "Russian big capital, and even small capital, does not exist at all. Russian today is without money, a beggar ... In today's Russia, big capital is Jewish, and unjustly acquired. And this capital has a huge temptation to establish a dictatorship in order to press Muslim capital, but the main thing is to suppress the growing protest of the robbed indigenous people. In the same issue, Mikhail Nazarov in his article "Fascism from the Shulchan Aruch" discusses the "misanthropy" of the Jewish religion, its cynicism, cruelty, meanness, immorality, and so on.

However, for such publications that claim to have a wide audience, anti-Semitism cannot be the main or even just an important topic. Unlike nostalgia for the Soviet empire or rejection of the West and democratic institutions, anti-Semitism does not perform a consolidating function even among nationalists. Of course, Caucasian phobia and Americanophobia are present on the pages of these publications, but these topics are not the main ones for the authors of these newspapers.

Actually, the nationalist press is focused on a much narrower audience. Since the target group of these publications are already staunch nationalists, the purpose of the materials is not so much to agitate the reader as to maintain a certain temperature of hatred in him. There is a certain category of readers who, like an information drug, are waiting for newspapers that describe the horrors of the "Jewish-Masonic" conspiracy or endlessly repeat stories about schoolgirls raped by Caucasians. It is this audience that the vast majority of national-radical publications work for. The circulation of such newspapers is small, their periodicity is extremely small (we will list the most notable publications below), but they have a formed circle of ardent admirers, whose financial assistance allows the publications to exist. In these publications, there are practically no materials of a positive nature. The basis of these newspapers is aggressive xenophobia, in the first place - anti-Semitism, in the second - Caucasian phobia and anti-Westernism.

Among the newspapers that correspond to the above characteristics, one can single out Our Fatherland, Novaya Sistema (both published in St. Petersburg), Era Rossii, Russkiye Vedomosti, Russkaya Pravda (Moscow), Kolokol ( Volgograd), "Slavyanin" and "Slavic alarm" (Vologda), "Alex-Inform" (Samara), etc.

"Our Fatherland" (editor-in-chief - Yevgeny Shchekatikhin, circulation ranges from 5,500 to 10,000 copies, frequency - twice a month, previously - three times a month) is the flagship of the national anti-Semitic press. Radical, cheeky anti-Semitic publications take up most of the publication's print space. The expressions in which the editor and authors of the newspaper write about Jews are simply shocking. It is simply disgusting to quote the newspaper, however, in order not to be unfounded, we will cite a few statements. "The Jewish authorities do whatever they want with regard to the indigenous Russian population. The Jews," oligarchs ", want to drink and drink Russian blood, they want to kill someone and they kill" (2 ) ; "The slogan "Death to the Jews!" is becoming quite relevant!" (3) ; "the way out of this situation is in the expulsion of all Jews from power" (4) ; and so on.

At the end of each issue, the standard text of gratitude for the material support of the newspaper ends with the words: "Let the AIDS-bearing Jewish-Masonic plague perish from the Russian Land!" The newspaper is full of expressions such as "despicable Jews", "Jewish flock of rats", "there is no limit to the Jews' impudence and their pathological perversity!", "the irreparably flawed, wildly tribal mentality of the Jews" (5 ) .

The same topics and practically in the same terms were exploited by the now closed Vologda newspaper Slavyanin (chief editor - Vladimir Popov, not to be confused with the Novosibirsk-Moscow namesake, editor-in-chief of Era Rossii).

Such unrestrained and unsupported by logical arguments anti-Semitic propaganda is contained in all the publications listed above. For example, in the Samara newspaper "Alex-Inform" (6), an article by the editor-in-chief states that "the Jews have confused us with their slogan "Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood"". The author calls the SPS party the "Union of the Velvety Zionists", and Zionism - "super-fascism, to which it is useless to reach out to Hitler, the Jews have shut him up in this part of the belt by the Jews." The author calls Zionism "the main enemy", and those who deny it - "corrupt Judaizers". The same issue contains a selection of anti-Semitic statements attributed to figures of various eras - from Cicero ("Jews belong to a dark and repulsive force") and the Evangelist John ("they are children of lies, their father is the devil") to Dostoevsky ("Jews will destroy Russia ") and Dühring ("... the solution of the Jewish question lies with the responsibility of all states. The Jews threaten not this or that people individually, but all of humanity"). Further in the same issue, an article by Yu. Slobozhaninov "How to expel the occupiers" was published. The author claims that "our country has been taken over by a Zion-Caucasian gang." The main enemy of the Russian people is the Jews, since "misanthropy is brought up in Jews by Judaism, Talmudism, Zionism and Freemasonry." The author highlights the conclusion in bold type: "Jews have no place in human society, since they have made crimes against humanity their national practice. In Russia, for example, since 1917 they have killed about 200 million people."

It probably makes no sense to characterize all these newspapers in detail. Quotations such as those above can easily be found in any issue of these publications. It is interesting that radical anti-Semitism, pathological in itself, smoothly turns into absolutely schizophrenic concepts.

For example, in one article published in the newspaper "New System" (editor-in-chief - Tamara Mishchenkova, circulation - 6000 copies, frequency - once every two or three months) in issue 21, the author begins with a statement of the Jewish conspiracy ("For 140 years the Jews threw back agriculture: having reached power in Russia ... "), and ends with a story about how the Jews carry out propaganda of a destructive meat diet so that the "goyim" die, in particular, from mad cow disease - a natural reaction of Nature to mistreatment (because "the anti-material body of the Earth is shaped like a cow"). Perhaps this article is still worth quoting: "In the memo to the delegate of the World Zionist Congress, in p. V, paragraph 5, it is said that the goy's blood should be acidic, not alkaline. Acidic blood is poisoned: it kills him. Normal is only alkaline blood: and only vegetarians have it.In the same Memo there is a recommendation in r. X, p. ". As a result, only one in five vegetarians on earth" (7) .

Such an ornate line of thought is not a funny exception, but the rule for rabid anti-Semites. The newspaper "Era Rossii" (editor-in-chief - Vladimir Popov, not to be confused with the namesake in Vologda, the circulation of the newspaper ranges from 2000 to 5000 copies, frequency - twice a month) came to the conclusion that the Jews are the descendants of "bald swamp monkeys" ( 8 ) ...

However, similar obsessed with the Jewish question and xenophobia in general ("Era of Russia" exploits the Caucasian theme no less than the Jewish one, and the now banned "Russian Vedomosti" wrote about the "Ziono-Caucasian mafia" as something internally unified) panorama of the radical press is not limited. Most of the party publications are clearly different from similar newspapers, which are simply obliged, in addition to negative materials, to express some positive concepts and propagate their ideology. Since a political party, by definition, seeks to spread its ideology to the widest possible strata of the population, xenophobia and repulsive materials, such as those cited above, take up less print space in party publications.

The most radical party publications are the newspapers of the National Bolshevik Party ("Limonka", "Smerch"), the People's National Party ("I am Russian", "Izhevsk Division"), Russian National Unity ("Russian Order", "Russian Light", "Evpatiy Kolovrat"), the National Patriotic Front "Memory" ("Memory"), the Black Hundred ("Black Hundred"), the movement "Russian Action" ("Right Resistance"), the National Power Party of Russia ("Russian Front" , "National newspaper"), etc.

During the 1990s, the most widespread was the RNE newspaper "Russian Order" (editor-in-chief - Sergei Poluboyarov, circulation reached 500,000, the publication was distributed free of charge). And it was "Russian Order" that was the most boring nationalist newspaper. Lately, the newspaper has been published once a year, and then for months it was distributed to the population by RNE activists. The main enemy portrayed by the newspaper is "world plutocracy", "Zionoglobalism", "Jewish God-fighting civilization", and the main positive values ​​are Orthodoxy, race, national identity, discipline and order. The Black Hundred newspapers ("Memory", "Black Hundred"), which are published just as rarely, but in much smaller circulations, also sluggishly expose the "Jewish-Masonic conspiracy" or castigate "misanthropic satanic Judaism" (for the "Black Hundred", in addition, Caucasian phobia is relevant), but at the same time they put much more emphasis on the "positive": Russian history, culture, literature, spirituality, Orthodox values ​​and authorities.

The most radical, and at the same time bright and interesting party newspaper was "Limonka" (now - "General Line"; circulation fluctuated around 10,000 copies, frequency - once every two weeks, editor-in-chief - Alexey Volynets, and earlier - Eduard Limonov) . The xenophobia of the Limonovites was directed against the West, the values ​​of modern European civilization, America, various peoples (Croats, Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, Finns - practically anyone) and confessions (Catholics, Protestants, sometimes even Orthodox, various sectarians, etc.) . This xenophobia was expressed in lengthy articles (for example, a series of articles by Limonov "There are bad people!" or A. Volynets (under the pseudonym "Viy"), devoted to why it was necessary to deport the Crimean Tatars, Chechens, or how badly the Finns behaved during Winter War), and in calls like: "Kill the Yankees!". An even greater role for "Limonka" was played by social hatred: towards the rich ("Eat the rich!"; "Kill the bourgeois!"), officials, policemen, journalists, the family as an institution ... At the same time, unlike many publications, when describing social problems, the National Bolsheviks avoid exploiting anti-Semitism and even position themselves as a non-anti-Semitic party, which, of course, is not entirely true: there were some sharp anti-Jewish and/or anti-Israeli passages in the NBP newspaper.

Consciously renounced anti-Semitism and the newspaper of the movement "Russian Action" "Right Resistance" (circulation - 1000 copies, frequency - once every two months, editor-in-chief - Konstantin Kasimovsky, formerly Alexander Eliseev). The newspaper "Shturmovik" that preceded this edition, published by the same people, was very aggressive and unrestrainedly anti-Semitic. In order not to repeat past mistakes and not give rise to a ban, Right Resistance tries to avoid anti-Semitism (which, however, does not always succeed (9) ) and even defiantly supported Israel in its policy in the occupied territories. The main object of xenophobia for the editorial board and authors of "Right Resistance" is Muslims and Caucasian peoples.

The most radical party newspaper in its rhetoric is currently the newspaper "I am a Russian" (founder - Alexander Ivanov, editor - O. Yaroshenko, circulation - 7500 copies, frequency - twice a month). Both Caucasian phobia and anti-Semitism are equally important for the newspaper of the People's National Party. Characteristic in this sense is one of many similar articles (10) , according to which "Yeltsin's liquidocracy" deliberately built "an immigration policy that is openly anti-Russian and criminal in nature." The concept of state immigration policy "was developed by two Jews: Yeltsin's adviser on national issues, Emil Abramovich Pain, and his deputy, Vladimir Izievich Mukomel. This policy is nothing more than a non-military form of seizure of Russian land by foreign occupiers."

An important place in the overall picture of the national-radical press is occupied by the religious press. Quite often, anti-Semitic materials are published in religious publications, as being guided by the so-called. "Orthodox fundamentalism" and neo-pagan versions. Naturally, these materials are mostly anti-Jewish in nature. Actually, it is difficult to say how much the position of these publications can be called anti-Semitic in the proper sense of the word. Still, anti-Semitism is part of the political ideology, and within the framework of the Christian worldview, it, at least declaratively, has the character of confrontation not in the "lower", but in the "higher" world.

Neo-pagan nationalist publications are aimed at a rather narrow audience. The main neo-pagan publications are published quite rarely (Russkaya Pravda by Alexander Aratov - several times a year with a circulation of 3,000 copies, the St. Petersburg newspaper "For the Russian Cause" by Roman Perin and Oleg Gusev - with a circulation of 5,000 copies) and are usually devoted to internal controversy about who honors the "native gods" more correctly, and criticism of Christianity. Anti-Semitic arguments occupy an important place in anti-Christian polemics. A typical quotation from the leading anti-Semitic publication of a pagan orientation - the newspaper Russkaya Pravda: "Christianity is a religion specially invented by the Jews for slaves ... Judeo-Christianity is a Jewish religion that was imposed on the peoples of the world by force. Fire and sword. Bestial hatred for traditional pagan religions are... the basis of all Judeo-Christianity. Read the Hebrew Bible (especially the Old Testament). They are teeming with Jewish chauvinism and hatred of everything non-Jewish" (11) .

Orthodox-nationalist publications are much more widespread: "Orthodox Rus" (St. Petersburg, editor-in-chief - Konstantin Dushenov, circulation - 30,000 copies, periodicity - monthly), "Russian Messenger" (editor-in-chief - Alexander Senin, circulation - 50,000 , frequency - once or twice a month), the magazine "Russian House" (editor-in-chief - Alexander Krutov, circulation - 50,000 copies, monthly frequency). As a positive, these publications proclaim Orthodoxy as a universal and ideal religious, worldview, cultural, political, ideological, moral and everyday model; as a negative - they criticize secular liberalism, irreligion, various religious competitors (practically all - from Catholics to "Satanists") and separately - Jews.

Anti-Judaism occupies an important place in the Orthodox tradition, and any fundamentalist adherence to the teachings of the Eastern Church implies a set of anti-Jewish theses: "the Jews crucified Christ", "the Jews are the enemies of Christianity", "the Jews are waiting for their Messiah, who is the Antichrist", or even "the Jews perform ritual murders", etc. For illustration, we will quote from one issue of the newspaper "Orthodox Rus" (12) .

The identification of the Jewish Messiah with the Antichrist, which is standard for the Christian tradition, is again mentioned in G. Aleksandrov's article "He is already on his way." The author writes: "Church doctrine unequivocally asserts that the coming Antichrist and the Jewish "Messiah" are one and the same person." Further, the author cites quotations from the Fathers of the Church, confirming this position. Then the author tells the readers about the closeness of "Catholic Messianic aspirations with Jewish ones" (for example: "The Vatican recently made an official statement that the Messianic expectations of the Jews are not in vain ... To the question of the Jews: "Should we consider that the Messiah, perhaps, has not yet come ?" the papal representative replied: "Catholics should not think so, but Jews can"") and concludes: "The official recognition by the Vatican of the legitimacy of the messianic aspirations of the Jews looks especially monstrous. humanity to the reign of its terrible master?

However, it is characteristic that the anti-Semitic propaganda of Orthodox fundamentalist publications is not limited to religious motives proper: the authors smoothly move from religion to social issues. Vyacheslav Prokofiev, in the same issue of Orthodox Rus', in the article "You won't be forced to be nice," writes about the "Jewish, frankly pro-Western, anti-Russian and anti-Orthodox newspaper Izvestia." After listing several articles published on the pages of Izvestiya, devoted to criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church, the author writes: you are always trying to teach the Orthodox how they should live." On another page of the newspaper, a caricature was published: a man with ugly, exaggerated Jewish features, wearing a skullcap with a Magen David, under the inscription: "Kremlin speechwriter." And next to it is a photograph from a nationalist picket: two girls are holding a banner "No to Jewish fascism."

More radical Orthodox-fundamentalist newspapers (such as Oprichnina, Tsarskiy Oprichnik, Oprichny Leaf, Russian Partisan, Enlightener, etc.) can also afford more radical anti-Semitism, up to the assertion that " Jews are visible demons" (13) , Hitler is almost a Christian saint, because he destroyed Jews, and it is good and right to kill Jews (14) . True, most of these publications also criticize the Moscow Patriarchate for being "cheesy", and their authors belong to alternative jurisdictions - "catacomb" or "Karlovatsk". Here the general principle works - the more radical the publication as a whole, the more aggressive and radical anti-Semitism. It is clear that such views have little chance of being popular even in the Orthodox fundamentalist environment, the circulation of such publications is up to a thousand copies.

Having considered a wide panorama of national-radical publications, we can state that these newspapers, due to both objective and subjective reasons, occupy a very modest niche in the printed matter market. How do they exist without enjoying considerable popularity among the population and, quite naturally, without arousing interest among advertisers? Let's consider this question in more detail.

1.2. "Nazi Gold"

Very often, when discussing the problem of the anti-Semitic press, one hears: "But someone gives money for these newspapers! Someone benefits from this!" The strange concept of "Nazi money" is extremely common in anti-fascist circles - and at the same time it is as amusing for nationalists as it is for the representatives of the Jewish organizations in Russia that the anti-Semitic press claims that it is they who control the leadership of the country are funny. Let's try to figure out how much nationalist publications are actually published (15) .

The nationalist press is a very specific part of the newspaper market, with its own characteristics, problems and complex relationships. Firstly, all opposition publications (not only national-radical ones) are, by definition, politicized to the limit, this is not a commercial press. The Nationalists and Communists believe they have lost the battle for the media, and "their" newspapers don't actually report the news, they only interpret it and propagate their point of view. However, often, despite small circulations and not always respected periodicity (from weekly to monthly), the publication of nationalist and communist newspapers is by no means unprofitable. It is clear that such publications cannot boast of significant capital investments or a large number of advertisers; however, this does not mean that they are unprofitable.

A feature of the opposition press is its low cost. If we do not take into account the publications that inherited the premises and technical base from the Soviet times ("thick" patriotic literary magazines, communist daily newspapers, and, to some extent, Den / Zavtra), then we can see that the initial capital of opposition publications extremely small. So, Igor Dyakov began to publish the newspaper "Empire" with the money of a certain Fund for the Protection of Depositors, where he was invited to be associated with the press. $ 6 thousand was spent on the release of the first 20 issues of the newspaper - despite the fact that Dyakov, unlike most of his colleagues, paid royalties to the authors. Eduard Limonov was able to start publishing his newspaper "Limonka" on a fee received from the Russian edition of his "Executioner" by the publishing house "Verb" (at the same time, fees are not paid in Limonka itself for fundamental reasons - so that correspondents do not "inflate" materials). Ilya Lazarenko began publishing in 1992 one of the first domestic national socialist newspapers, Our March (with a circulation of 10,000 copies) with money ($ 1,000) received from the American Nazi Gerhard Lauck.

Alexander Aratov, publisher and editor-in-chief of the pagan anti-Semitic and anti-Christian newspaper Russkaya Pravda, got his start-up capital by embezzling money from an Orenburg businessman (according to the latter) destined for a wanted St. Petersburg Nazi. Aratov assured the businessman that he knew the whereabouts of the hiding "patriot". However, the amount was so insignificant ($ 600) that Aratov was able to start publishing the newspaper only a year later, when, with the help of a personal connection (according to another ill-wisher), he received a one-time insignificant amount from the Press Committee.

The turnover of funds is carried out very quickly - many publications after the first issue go to self-sufficiency. The standard model is as follows: newspapers (or magazines) are issued in small circulation, sold at a deliberately inflated price, and after the sale of the first issue, some profit is obtained. At its expense, already from the second issue, the circulation and volume of the publication increase, and already from the fifth to tenth issues, the quality of technical execution and periodicity, while sometimes even the price decreases. This is how the Sturmovik newspaper was gradually "untwisted" (during the first eight months of publication, it increased the frequency from one issue every two months to one issue every two weeks, the circulation from 3,000 to 20,000 copies and the volume of four pages to eight or twelve). This option is possible only if there is a guarantee that the entire circulation will be sold, but when it comes to several thousand (or even hundreds) copies, this is far from uncommon. This option is common when publishing "conceptual" magazines - the price is too high, the frequency does not play a big role, and the second issue is made only when the first edition is sold out. According to this scheme, the journals "Heritage of ancestors", "Attack", "Orientation", "Elements", "Ateney", "Nation" are published and have been published.

Layout, proofreading and all the technical work of such newspapers are usually carried out either by sympathizers completely free of charge, or for symbolic money. So, the layout of the same "Limonka" was initially made up for free by a sympathetic designer who created the original design of the newspaper, logo, emblem, etc. Then Limonov "paid" his common-law wife Lisa Blaise for the layout. Alexander Dugin's magazine "Elements" is typesetted by the editor-in-chief's wife, Natalia Melentyeva, and the "Nation" magazine was typeset for free by Viktoria Vanyushkina, head of the translation and publications department. Often, all technical operations are generally performed by the editor-in-chief personally. Alexander Aratov himself typesetted the newspaper and magazine "Russkaya Pravda", and the National Socialist Konstantin Kasimovsky - the newspaper "Shturmovik" (moreover, he also took orders for typesetting).

Since such newspapers do not require large premises, they are located in the basements (like "Limonka"), offices of institutes (like the "National Newspaper"), or simply in the editors' apartments (like most of these newspapers). If the publication is a party publication, then it is natural that the editorial office is located on the premises of the party. Authors and correspondents, with rare exceptions, do not require fees at all. Accordingly, the only item of expenditure is printing and paper. Often, nationalist publications are printed not in Moscow, but in Tver ("Limonka" in the early years), Vladimir ("Era of Russia", "I am Russian", "Limonka / General Line"), Moscow region ("Russian order"), where in printing houses it is less than the price. It is possible to deliver 10,000 copies of the newspaper from Tver to Moscow even in a personal car (as Limonka, in fact, was delivered).

The next problem is distribution. Despite the fact that large press distribution firms refuse to accept radical publications (except Zavtra and the KPRF press) as unprofitable (or under pressure from the authorities), opposition newspapers cope with this difficulty quite effectively. The distribution, especially in the regions, is greatly facilitated by the presence of the infrastructure of the party that publishes the newspaper, or organizations that are close in spirit. Party members, in contrast to private distributors, regard the sale of the newspaper not as an opportunity to earn money, but as a necessary propaganda work. As a rule, "cheating" on the part of ideological distributors is much less than on the part of distribution firms. It is not uncommon for zealous supporters of an idea to sell newspapers at a loss or even distribute them free of charge at their own expense. At one time, as an entrance fee to the National Bolshevik Party, a new member had to take 50 copies of the newspaper for distribution. Often, the demand for the distribution of newspapers is at a loss in left-wing organizations (Labour Russia, RKRP). And the "ceiling" of the price of a newspaper by distributors, set by the editorial office and minimally exceeding the wholesale price, is a common thing.

Sending newspapers to the provinces in small print runs (50-500 copies), oddly enough, is also quite cost-effective. Most newspapers, due to their rather conditional efficiency, are sent to the regions by mail or by train. Sending 100 copies of a newspaper on a train with a conductor costs a maximum of 20 rubles, and often it is sent completely free of charge. Of course, this implies a local organizational structure capable of taking over the meeting of the train and the further distribution of the newspaper. Therefore, party publications are distributed in this way - "Limonka" (National Bolshevik Party), "Russian Front" (National Power Party of Russia), "I am Russian" (People's National Party). Sometimes, if the publication is irregular, but has a large circulation (like the newspaper of the Russian National Unity "Russian order", published every few months with an official circulation of 500,000 copies), only the original layout is sent to the regions, and the newspaper is printed locally, which further reduces costs . And Russkaya Pravda has set up more or less regular regional issues in Kaluga and Ryazan.

Thus, the cost of opposition newspapers, which are made through the exploitation of enthusiasm, is small, and is often completely covered by sales and targeted subscriptions. However, this does not prevent collecting money from sympathizers and members of organizations. Donations from readers, friends, and often from small and medium-sized entrepreneurs are an integral part of nationalist publishing houses' budget revenues. Almost every opposition newspaper constantly reminds readers that it is published under "blockade conditions", that only the help of sympathizers can save the publications, and so on. As a rule, the names of donors are published, and apparently there are quite a few of them. Thanks to such assistance, the St. Petersburg anti-Semitic newspaper Our Fatherland and the Moscow Black Hundred really managed to survive the "hard times". To the mentioned Igor Dyakov, a completely unknown person on the street (near the Lenin Museum, communal-patriotic "Hyde Park") gave 200 dollars "for a newspaper". The largest donation in the history of the publication of "Empire" was one thousand dollars, handed over by an acquaintance "nationally minded" businessman. Limonov, according to him, was often given money by strangers after a weekly meeting with party members and readers in the premises of the National Bolshevik Party. Aratov received "technical assistance" from sympathizers - a voice recorder, modem, etc.

Direct sponsorship injections from commercial structures are rare; one can only remember the Hermes Concern of blessed memory or German Sterligov's Alisa stock exchange. Among more recent outbursts of sponsorship altruism, one can name a donation to Alexander Dugin (who publishes the magazine "Elements" and the newspaper "Invasion") from ZAO Russkoye Zoloto. More often sponsors for opposition publications are found in the regions - as a rule, from among the "red directorate". Pyotr Romanov, director of the giant Yenisei chemical plant (now Vice-Speaker of the State Duma from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation), sponsored the publication of the newspaper of the Krasnoyarsk branch of the RNE "Russian Nation" (moreover, he took the newspaper for funding in full, provided the editorial office with premises and made it possible to distribute it for free ).

Thus, the low budget and low circulation of radical nationalist and communist publications does not prevent them from being quite profitable projects from a commercial point of view.

True, this medal has a reverse side. First, it would be wrong to consider the publishers of such newspapers as unprincipled and cynical businessmen - as a rule, they themselves are an example of the very "altruistic enthusiasm" that they actively exploit in others. Secondly, pressure from the authorities, both economic and judicial, is not uncommon (practically all radical publications have experienced it to one degree or another).

The economic impact is, first of all, pressure on printing houses, since this is practically the only stage of work on a newspaper that takes place outside "their" structures. After appropriate instructions, the printing houses refused to accept orders from "Limonka", "Era Rossii" and others. Moscow and Moscow region nationalist newspapers were printed only in the Mytishchi, and sometimes in the Timeryazev printing houses. In the last year, almost all Moscow publications have been printed at the Vladimir Regional Printing House.

The authorities resort to judicial measures reluctantly, under pressure from the public, but this method of combating extremist publications has proven to be the most effective. True, in recent years, cases of closing nationalist newspapers can be counted on the fingers. Such frenzied publications as Our Fatherland, Russkaya Pravda and others cited above are published without hindrance. But still, radical propaganda does not go unpunished for everyone. Let's list the publications closed in court.

In 1998, the first sign was the closure of the openly Nazi Moscow newspaper "Shturmovik" (at the peak of its publication, the newspaper was published weekly with an official circulation of 20,000 copies - although this period was rather short, and the circulation figure looks very high). Now its editor-in-chief, Konstantin Kasimovsky, who was also sentenced (conditionally) for inciting ethnic hatred, publishes a rather moderate (at least compared to Sturmovik) and low-circulation newspaper Right Resistance.

In early 1999, on a formal occasion, as part of the general offensive of the authorities against Russian National Unity, the Russian National Unity newspaper was closed down. In 2001, the publication of the newspaper was resumed - it was re-registered on the territory of Belarus. So far, two issues of the renewed edition have been published with a circulation of 500,000 copies, and both - including the first one - are still distributed in the regions by pro-Barkashov activists of the RNU.

At the end of 2001, the Vologda newspaper "Slavyanin" was also closed on a formal occasion. At the beginning of 2002, the editor-in-chief registered a new newspaper, Slavyansky Nabat, and from May of the same year it began to appear.

In July 2002, two more newspapers, Russkiye Vedomosti and Limonka, were banned by court order. In August 2002, the Russian Host magazine was banned.

It would seem that this gives reason to assert that the state has finally paid attention to the frenzied national-radical propaganda and a consistent policy has begun to close radical publications. In our opinion, this is still not the case, and there will be no wave of lawsuits to close down radical publications. Obviously, the rapid closure of the three publications was caused solely by the need on the part of officials to demonstrate to the public and the president that the fight against extremism is in full swing. However, time will tell whether the situation with national-radical publications will remain the same as it has been for the past ten years, or something will change.

In the meantime, dozens of national-radical newspapers continue to sow xenophobia and hatred in the minds of their audience. Thank God that the audience of these publications is very small.

1 Tomorrow , No. 30 (453), July 2002.

2 Vladislavov St. Let the servants of the occupation regime not stand in the way of Russian patriots // Our Fatherland , No. 177, June 2002.

3 Our Fatherland , No. 178 June 2002 (editor's editorial).

4 Our Fatherland , No. 176, May 2002 (editor's comment after A. Zenkin's article "The Ritual Outrage of the Jews").

5 All examples are taken from one issue of the newspaper - No. 176, May 2002.

6 Kitter O. Communion-Zionism// Alex-Inform , No. 20, 2002.

7 The Jews, having taken power, lowered Russia to the level of 1860 in terms of agricultural production / / New system , No. 21, 2001. The article is not signed, but, judging by the inimitable style, it can only be written by the editor-in-chief of the newspaper - Tamara Mishchenkova.

8 See, for example: Era Rossii , No. 12 (80), June 2002.

9 See, for example: I. Lavrinenko, About the Euro and the Jews// Right Resistance , No. 1(8), March 2002.

10 Baryshenko V. About the criminal immigration policy// I am Russian , No. 11 (93), June 2002.

11 Russkaya Pravda , No. 24, June 2002.

12 Orthodox Rus , No. 5-6, May-June 2002.

13 Bychkov R. Thousand-year Empire / / Era of Russia , No. 1 (69), January 2002.

14 See, for example, the issue of the publication of the Brotherhood in the name of St. Rev. Joseph Volotsky: Russian partisan , No. 14, March 2002. A characteristic quote: "So, comrade, with all your might, bring closer the day when, under the pogrom boot, the crystal clinking of the glasses of Jewish houses and shops will be heard, when the last synagogues and cremation chimneys will disappear into ruins the ovens of the new Auschwitz and Sobibórs will once again rise in cheerful smoke. Approach the great day of reckoning of the Jewish people for all the evil they have done to humanity. Approach the day of the "final solution" of the Jewish question!"

15 This section is based on information obtained informally when communicating with representatives of the right-wing radical movement, and therefore this section is left without a reference tool.