A story beyond good and evil: why Mark Solonin left Russian Free Historical Society

Loud scandal shakes the historical community. The historian Mark Solonin, who became famous for exposing the role of the USSR authorities in unleashing the Second World War, published an Open Letter on his blog:

“On June 14, 2020, I learned from the Internet that the Council of the Free Historical Society (FHS), to whose ranks I was accepted on May 18, 2018, announced to me a warning that“ the continuation (by me) of actions contrary to the principles of the Free Historical Society (FHS) , discrediting the FHS in the eyes of the professional community and civil society, will make it impossible to remain in the composition... "As such actions were called" statements related to social processes in the United States. "At the same time, a hyperlink was given to the article "Red and Black" posted on the Echo of Moscow website on June 13, 2020".

Here is the time to quote from this publication so that it is clear what is at stake:

“...Negroes in the USA are much more than the electorate, who is strongly hooked on a budget freebie, ready to vote for the growth of taxes and benefits. The Negro community of the United States - of course, not all without exception, but its significant part is the power reserve of the "Reds". They are being prepared for what the "Browns" very successfully prepared their "assault detachments" a hundred years ago in Germany.

Of course, it is not the color of the skin that makes a person a drug addict and a bandit. The willingness to smash, set fire to, and even kill does not arise by itself. There is a huge work behind all this: long-term training of white, long-term training of black. One instills a sense of “eternal guilt” and “unpaid debt” to those who will be shown by the media, almost completely captured by the “left”. Others instill instincts of an ever-resentful, evil lumpen.

Of the great many examples of training, we will cite one that is fresh and very remarkable. Journalist E.M. Albats talks about how she attended a rally of progressive anti-racists on Days of Great Tribulation for the murdered Floyd. I quote word for word: “The host quite abruptly, assertively said:“ White men, come here. ”And those white men among the protesters who were all came there. And he turned to them and said: “Do you like black Americans?” And they answered amicably: "Yes". And he said: “Now say it out loud: “We love black Americans”. And I watched and photographed these people, I will publish it all on the website of The New Times magazine. And many of the guys there, men, had tears in their eyes”.

The main charm of this story is the scene. Detroit. The city, once a symbol of the industrial power of America, now turned into a corner of Zimbabwe on American soil: the highest unemployment, the highest percentage of families living below the poverty line, the number of murders per 1000 people. the population is ten times higher than in troubled New York, 30 thousand empty houses, total drug addiction. 83% of today's Detroit population are blacks; Of the 1.6 million white population over the past 30 years, 1.4 million have left.

Evgenia Markovna is not alone in her feelings. In the 21st century, an American university turns into a 13th-century university, where theology and scholasticism were the main disciplines. The discussion is inappropriate. “We are forever indebted to these poor people.” This is the dogma of faith. Anyone who dares to doubt him receives the label "racist", and the word is supposed to react in the same way as in medieval Europe they reacted to the word "heretic"; yes, they haven’t burned yet, but dismissal without a chance to return to the academic environment is guaranteed. There is no one god, but there are holy great martyrs. Today is George Floyd. Before him was Rodney King.

The guy whiled away the time of his parole after the previous robbery. March 3, 1992, having warmed up with alcohol and drugs, Rodney with a breeze (188 km / h) swept through Los Angeles, ignoring traffic signals. During the arrest, he exerted violent resistance to the police. The court reviewed the actions of the police and declared them lawful. The Negro community (including the black mayor of the beautiful City of Angels) outraged the court. For the sake of truth, we note that the criminal "bottom" of various shades of skin color quickly joined the pogrom. Result: 63 killed, 2.383 wounded, about 5 thousand commercial premises were looted, 1150 units were stolen. firearms, the total damage to the city was estimated at $ 1 billion. Rodney King received - no, not a new term, but compensation of $ 3.8 million; With this money he bought a chic house with a pool, in which he drowned while in a state of drug intoxication.

This text was written on June 10, 2020. The day before, the city council of Minneapolis - a city in riots - decided to dissolve the police department. On June 11, in Seattle, with the full connivance of the city and state authorities controlled by the Democratic Party, a full-fledged rebellion began. Revolution on the march. The outcome of the confrontation depends on how soon the "whites" (in all possible senses of the word) understand the price of the issue..."

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Further in his "Open Letter" Solonin writes:

“Since it was difficult to believe in the reality of what was happening (no one from the Council of the VSO personally addressed me, no complaints were raised, no questions were asked and no explanations were accepted), I first of all contacted members of the Council of FHS who I personally knew. No, not a fake and not a hacking site of the VIO - indeed, the FHS Council has discussed and adopted. My next step was to independently clarify the question - did it happen that the FHS has previously issued such Warnings? No, for the 6 years of the existence of FHS this has not happened, I'm the first. In this connection, I consider it appropriate to publicly declare the following:

Applying for joining the FHS, I did not accept any obligations regarding the fidelity of the party line, the fight against left opportunism, right opportunism and conciliation towards them. Based on the Charter of the FHS, I assumed that I was joining the Professional and not the Ideological Community at all. The difference between the two types of associations is enormous.

A professional association of historians (sociologists, political scientists, philosophers) DISCUSSES all sorts of different questions, for example, "social processes in the USA". The ideological community condemns its members who deviate from the only true ideology. A professional association of historians holds debates, conferences, publishes articles, listens to reports. The ideological community examines the "personal matter", demands "disarm before the party", "stigmatizes", announces warnings, pronounces reprimands, expels from the ranks, etc.

With regard to the topic under discussion (my short 2.5-page note, “Red and Black”), any member of the Council of the Supreme Council has had the opportunity to express his personal opinion about the “social processes in the United States”, for example, on the site of the Supreme Council. It is hardly necessary to clarify that I did not interfere, and did not have the intention and ability to prevent a constructive discussion of "social processes." But the right of someone to discuss my "moral character", to teach me the proper kneeling before the memory of an American criminal who died from an overdose, I categorically reject.

Of course, there are situations when a voluntary professional community can and should respond to the actions of one of its members. But our situation is completely different. I didn’t dismember the graduate student, I didn’t crush pedestrians when drunk, I didn’t steal other people's texts, I didn’t speak properly on behalf of the community, I didn’t fabricate fake “documents”. If the members of the Council of the Supreme Council on their secret gathering (from me) revealed the crimes I had committed, then they should have referred to specific articles of the Criminal Code, and not to equally equally boundless and meaningless discussions about the "inconsistency with the tasks of consolidating the community of historians on the basis of norms professional activities and ethics".

After all that has been said, I can only thank the Council of the FHS for, albeit belatedly, but honestly, a warning about where I ended up. In totalitarian sects, such as the CPSU, I had never been a member before, I am not going to be there now. Therefore, I ask from today (June 15, 2020) to consider me voluntarily leaving the ranks of the FHS. But that, dear former colleagues, is not everything. I’ll tell you one clever thing now, you just don’t be offended.

Neither me, nor a single sane person will believe that the REAL REASON for your “collision” was two pages of my evaluative judgments about “social processes in the USA”. It is impossible to believe that the gilded coffin on the other side of the globe made you at such an emergency pace to get rid of FHS from Mark Solonin, whom you had the recklessness to accept into your ranks two years ago. Every sane person understands what "processes" and in which country are behind this shameful, farcical history..."

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Not everyone agreed with the arguments of the historian. Brighter than others, his position was described by an American network analyst Eugene Zuser:

“Dr. Jekyll has turned into Mr. Hyde in front of our eyes.

Mark Solonin, not dwelling on a statement about the delights of slavery for blacks, now publishes new racist articles regularly.

The trouble is, when the shoemaker starts to cook the pies.

Mr. Solonin should have remained in an area in which he deservedly enjoys a reputation as an expert - the history of World War II.

His ideas about modern US society seem to be gleaned from the cheapest racist sites and statements on this subject, and in particular racial issues, in spirit exactly repeat the guards' rebuffs that he receives from supporters of the current Russian official ideology - that is, malice, ignorance and slander.

That is precisely my claim to him that he did not try to cite and analyze the facts. He simply retold the racist crap sucked from his finger. Thus, dropping his reputation as a person who is able to investigate facts and draw conclusions..."

Domestic historians, Solonin’s recent colleagues in the Free Historical Society did not stand aside".

So, Sergey Abashin refers to an outcast:

“You must understand that racism is not a virtue and you will not get sympathy from sane people...”

He is echoed by another famous historian Nikita Sokolov:

“Mark Semyonovich, you are angry. It seems that by the old rule, you are wrong. The decision of the Council of the Supreme Council took place after several days of discussion, when the general voice agreed that you are not just abusing the freedom of expression in the FB, but also the norms of the community..."

Analyst Vlad Aksyonov does not lay the blame from the FHS itself:

“I think that in this whole story, FHS as a professional community of historians has a certain fault: it was not worth joining a person for whom history is not a profession, but just a hobby. It is not surprising that a misunderstanding arose, I am ready to believe that neither Solonin, nor a detachment of his loyal fans sincerely understand the essence of the claims of VIO to his former member. This is like a bewilderment of a person, completely devoid of hearing from the fact that a professional musician makes a remark about falsehood to him. It is worth leaving professional historians the right to make professional assessments of historical judgments..."

Historian Oleg Morozov confesses:

“I did not agree with Mark Solonin on everything, but I always listened to his speeches and read his books about World War II with interest. He cited them as an example to his students at lectures as a very successful format for public history in Russia. The text "Demolition like a mirror" just killed me. It’s very bitter to be disappointed in a man whose opinion you previously respected, although not with all the assessments of WWII history, agreed...”

However, Solonin defenders also found their arguments. So Vytautas Danilyavichus writes:

“How can a scientist be blamed for racism? The science is beyond good and evil. It is impossible to blame a scientist for anything other than scientific dishonesty. Even the accusation of the murder of Professor Sokolov has nothing to do with science ... "

Supports the disgraced historian and Natalia Pyatkova:

“Thank you MS for the response to a community unknown to me”, this made me read it, in fact, a brilliant and honest article. There is no shadow of racism in it, but only an indication of the stupidity of a part of society and the reciprocal impudence of another part of the same society. But pundits - like schoolgirls of former times (some) - saw a word which, out of innocence and ignorance, was considered indecent, and covered their ears, closed their eyes and stomped on their shameless feet...”

From the editor:

We unitedly join in support of the true historian Mark Solonin!