When the Soviet empire collapsed amid a relatively peaceful revolution, my first thought was this is not good for Russian Jews.
The Russians now had the freedom to randomly vent their long hatred of Jews openly and get away with it too. I initially thought the trouble would come from former East Germany and it did but not like it has in Russia. Even if there were few Jews left, that wouldn't bother Russians. They would need someone to blame their status as a third world country on and the economical mess they were in so who better than that old Russian scapegoat--the Jew?
Pogroms were always a past sport in Russia and the signs for revival were all there: the reburial of the anti-semitic last Tsar and his family, the Russian Orthodox Church's veneration of the Tsar (eventually making him a saint, of the lower order but still a saint), the political adulation for the fascist vodka-swilling, ignorant and vicious Vladimir Zhironovsky and his followers, who always wore black because "it's a manly color", and the rampant resentment of those who did well in the face of a Russia left mostly in poverty. It was inevitable that the monsters would come out from under the bed and let loose terror on anyone they perceived as not Russian. I kept thinking Russia and the world might have been better off if no revolution had occured. Now I'm sure of it.
Putin has turned Russia into a near fascist state. He's anihilated media criticsm of his government through censorship and closed all media outlets critical of his rule. The Russian bear, once again greedy and rabid, yearns for an empire.
What should concern all of us is the rise of neo-Nazism in Russia. Time Magazine has a report this week from their Moscow reporter, Yuri Zarakhovich, detailing the chilling rise of these Nazi skinheads and estimating their numbers are now at least 50,000 and growing. That's no street gang. That's heavy groundwork for another circa 1930s Munich. Not only is hatred against Jews rampant, but Asians--students and immigrants--are verbally attacked, beaten and murdered. Zarakhovich reports a poll showed 52% of Russians believe Russia should be for Russians, code words for anti-semitism and hatred of anyone whose native language isn't Russian or skin white.
The law, if you can call it that, has let criminals who commit hate crimes off the hook with a slap and probably a bottle of vodka-to-go.
Putin hasn't helped either. The bombings of apartment buildings that brought on the Russian onslaught into Chechnya never made any sense. Chechen terrorists have always taken credit for these terrorist acts but never said a word about blowing up Russians in their beds. Putin's an old KGB man, devious and sinister enough to come up with something like this. He wanted an excuse to destroy Chechen independence and what better way than to kill a lot of Russians and make them feel they weren't safe in their own homes, then blame it all on the Chechens. What better way to get the public's backing for war therefore an attempt to take back what Putin thought belonged to Russia?
The terrible irony is that all over Russia there are monuments to the fallen who fought Hitler in WWII. How can any Russian not be appalled by Nazis among them? Putin however has been and continues as a benign bystander to the rise of neo-Nazism. He could easily make sure these gangsters are arrested and prosecuted and he could easily insure the safety of their intended victims but nothing has been done. Obviously, Putin doesn't mind these Nazis making way for the full-scale dictatorship he intends to head. He's using the neo-Nazis but you know what happens with these kinds of thugs? Sooner or later they turn on each other so Putin shouldn't be so optimistic; he just might be the first casualty in the grab for power.
Be very scared because we can't stop or won't stop Russia from becoming a very dark blot on the world. At least the Soviets knew the game well and war with the west was sincerely and mutually avoided. The growing neo-Nazi movement is transferring their violent energy from the streets to the political realm too and that bodes badly for Russia and for all of us. Although the Soviets were brutal, they kept the forces of violent hatred among their people at bay. They claimed equality for everyone and were actually embarrassed and defensive when the evidence showed otherwise. Not so any more. These neo-Nazis only claim equality and respect for themselves and don't care what the rest of the world thinks. Better gulags then concentraion camps I say. The second Russian Revolution should never have happened.