National Patriotic Front "Memory" Национально-патриотический фронт «Память» | |
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| Abbreviation | NPF "Pamyat" (English) НПФ «Память» (Russian) |
| Leader | Dmitri Vasilyev (1988–2003) Nikolay Skorodumov (2003–2021) |
| Founder | Dmitri Vasilyev |
| Founded | 1980 (1980) |
| Dissolved | 10 June 2021 (2021-06-10) |
| Preceded by | Vityaz |
| Headquarters | Moscow |
| Newspaper | Pamyat |
| Membership | 3,000 |
| Ideology | Russian nationalism Traditionalism Orthodox fundamentalism Orthodox nationalism National conservatism Tsarism Antisemitism |
| Political position | Far-right[1] |
| Religion | Christianity (Orthodoxy) |
| Colours | Black Gold White |
| Slogan | "God! Tsar! Nation!" (Russian:"Бог! Царь! Нация!") |
| Party flag | |
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TheNational Patriotic Front "Memory" (NPF "Memory";Russian:Национально-патриотический фронт «Память»; НПФ «Память», also known as thePamyat Society;Russian:Общество «Память»,Russian:Obshchestvo «Pamyat»,Russian pronunciation:[ˈpamʲɪtʲ]) was aRussianfar-rightantisemitic,[2][3][4][5][6] andmonarchist organization.
Pamyat also identified itself as the "People's National-PatrioticOrthodox Christian movement." The group's stated focus is preserving Russian culture. Its longtime leader,Dmitri Vasilyev, died in 2003. The group had disappeared by the 1990s and split into groups likeRussian National Unity.[7][8]
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At the end of the 1970s, the amateur historical and cultural associationVityaz (Витязь,lit. "Knight") was established by public activists from the Moscow branch of the Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments. One of the purposes of the newly formed association was to prepare for the upcoming celebration of the 600th anniversary of theBattle of Kulikovo.
Some notableVityaz activists inMoscow wereIlya Glazunov and V. Kuznetsov (artists), S. Malyshev (historian), A. Lebedev and A. Lobzov (Colonels of theMVD), G. Frygin (Minaviaprom engineer), Vyacheslav and Yevgeny Popov (musicians), and K. Andreyev (locksmith). Similar groups were created in other regions of theSoviet Union.
Vityaz and some other informal groups foundedPamyat as a public organization inMoscow in 1980.[9][10]Pamyat took its name from the famous essay novel of the same name by Vladimir Chivilikhin.
Paul Klebnikov, in his bookThe Godfather of the Kremlin,Boris Berezovsky, or the Story of the Plundering of Russia, refers toOleg Kalugin and writes that "the nationalist groupPamyat… was formed with the help of the KGB."
At an internal meeting on October 4, 1985,Pamyat split into several factions, many of which attempted to retain the same name as the "true"Pamyat. One of them, the so-calledVasilyev's group, led byDmitri Vasilyev (a former worker in Glazunov's studio), A. Andreyev, and A. Gladkov, focused its activities on themedia.
By the end of 1986,Pamyat's leaders claimed to be the main ideologues of the emergingRussian nationalist movement.
On May 6, 1987,Pamyat activists conducted an unregistered and illegal demonstration onManezhnaya Square in Moscow in support ofperestroika and to demand the end to the construction of an officially sanctioned memorial project atPoklonnaya Hill. The event met little repression from the authorities, and the participants met withBoris Yeltsin, then First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of theCPSU, who listened to them attentively and promised to take into account their wishes.
In 1986–1987, other organizations namedPamyat were formed in cities in theRSFSR. The growth ofMemory's ranks was accompanied by numerous conflicts between its founders and leaders.
In the fall of 1987, the National-Patriotic Front (NPF) was founded with the aim of "renaissance", with the intent to "lead Russian people to the spiritual andnational revival" based on "three traditional Russian values":Orthodoxy, national character and spirituality.
In 1987–1989,Pamyat was split into several groups, which had in common only a belief in the existence of a worldwide "Zionomasonic conspiracy" and thePamyat name. By the early 1990s, several organizations bore this name, including:
After several splits and the imminentdissolution of the Soviet Union, the organization adopted a monarchist position.
In August 1990, a permanent NPF council member,Aleksandr Barkashov (the author ofThe ABC of a Russian Nationalist), caused another split after he announced being "tired to be preoccupied by recollections". He said that "it is time to act". His new group was dubbed "Russian National Unity" (Русское Национальное Единство). Barkashov promoted the veneration of theswastika.
In addition, in 1990, the following broke away from Dmitry Vasilyev's NPF "Pamyat":[11]
According to writer Valery Shambarov, the plurality ofPamyat organizations was organized by the 5th Directorate (ideological) of the KGB of the USSR with the involvement of the CPSU MGK in order to discredit the organization of Dmitry Vasilyev.[11]
In 1991, the organization's newspaper (print run of 100,000) and radio station (both officially registered) were launched.
By the late 1990s, the originalPamyat disappeared from the public scene. Dmitry Vasilyev died on July 17, 2003. The organization reactivated in 2005 and participated in theRussian marches.
On September 1, 2021, it became known about the death of Nikolai Skorodumov: according to a post by Vladimir Basmanov on theVkontakte social network, Nikolai Skorodumov died on June 10, 2021, at the age of 70 in a Zelenograd hospital.
The recurring motive in the group's ideology was the claim of the existence of a so-called "Ziono-Masonic plot" against Russia as "the main source of the misfortunes of Russian people, disintegration of the economy, denationalization of Russian culture,alcoholism, ecological crisis" (according toPamyat). TheZionists were also blamed for the triggering of the revolutions in1905 and1917, the death of millions in the course of theRussian Civil War and forJoseph Stalin'spersonality cult. The contemporary Soviet government apparatus was alleged to be infiltrated by "Zionists and freemasons" working as "agents of Zionism" and serving the purpose of subordinating the Soviet government to the "Jewish capital". The "Zionist Occupation Government" accusation was often used byPamyat.
In 1993, a District Court inMoscow formally ruled thatThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion were a fake, and dismissed alibel suit byPamyat. The organization was criticized for using the document in their publications.[12]
The group disappeared by the 1990s and was split into other groups like The National Patriotic Front and The Russian National Unity.[7][8]
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From the open letter of the NPF "Pamyat" leader D. Vasilyev to the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin:
From the open letter of the NPF "Pamyat" leader D. Vasilyev to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin:
Although Pamyat had a near monopoly on the extreme right in 1987–88, by 1991 it had been overtaken by rival movements.
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