Fyodor Viktorovich Vinberg (; – 14 February 1927) was a right-wing Russian military officer, publisher and journalist.

Early life

Born in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

in the family of a general with German background, Vinberg studied in high school in Kiev and in the Alexander Lyceum. From 1891 to 1892, he worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1893, he entered military service. Serving in the cavalry, he rose to the rank of colonel in 1911. In the years before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he became involved in extreme

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

politics, joining the Black-Hundredist Union of Archangel Michael and writing for right-wing publications. During the war, he commanded the Second Baltic cavalry regiment. He became personally acquainted with Tsarina Aleksandra for whom he developed a strong emotional attachment. There were even rumours of an affair. After the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

, he left the army.

Revolutionary Russia

After the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, he was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks for his role in an alleged plot to overthrow the

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

. He pleaded not guilty and pointed to the absurdity of such charges by the Bolsheviks, as they had overthrown the Provisional Government themselves. He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment by the revolutionary tribunal but was released in early 1918. There, he met fellow right-wingers, including

Pyotr Shabelsky-Bork Pyotr Nikolayevich Shabelsky-Bork (, 5 May 1893 – 18 August 1952) was a Russian Empire, Russian officer and writer, active in far-right and anti-Semitic politics in early 20th-century Europe, best known for the Attempted assassination of Pavel M ...

, who became his friend and collaborator. In prison, he kept notes, which he later published. He made a dangerous journey to Kiev to fight with the White Army, where he was arrested and rescued by German forces and accompanied them in retreat to Germany. In 1919 he was in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he published the short-lived right-wing newspapers/magazines ''Prizyv'' ("The Call") and ''Luch Sveta'' ("A Ray of Light"). Vinberg personally introduced the

Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated text purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Imperial Russia in 1903, translated into multip ...

from Russia to Germany, and via his magazines, republished and promoted the Protocols while advocating the destruction of the world's Jewry.

Later life

In the wake of the

Kapp Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an abortive coup d'état against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to ...

of March 1920, Vinberg moved from

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. In 1921 he published in Russian a book, ''Krestny Put'' (The Way of the Cross"), translated into German as ''Via Dolorosa''. There, in 1922, as a leading member of the conspiratorial

Aufbau Vereinigung The Wirtschaftliche Aufbau-Vereinigung (Economic Reconstruction Organization) was a Munich-based counterrevolutionary conspiratorial group formed in the aftermath of the German occupation of Ukraine in 1918 and of the Latvian Intervention of 19 ...

(Reconstruction Organisation) he had lengthy and detailed discussions with

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

on ideological matters. Later that year, under suspicion for his involvement in the assassination of Russian émigré

Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov (; – 28 March 1922) was a Russian criminologist, journalist, and progressive statesman during the last years of the Russian Empire. He was the father of Russian-American author Vladimir Nabokov. Early life ...

, he moved to France, where he died in 1927.

Beliefs

Vinberg was a loyal Russian

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...

with an

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

contempt for the masses. He was much influenced by the antisemitic speculations in

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

's ''

A Writer's Diary ''A Writer's Diary'' (; ''Dnevnik pisatelya'') is a collection of non-fiction and fictional writings by Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded ...

''. He called for "

Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...

peoples" to unite against the "Jewish plan for world domination". For Russia, he advocated a return to the strong authority of the Tsar, which he hoped to restore, with German help. He also wanted Orthodoxy to unite with Catholicism and to learn from its methods in waging ideological war against the enemy, by anathematising the

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and all of Satan's servants "at Easter Week in all the churches and all the cathedrals of our homeland". Burbank comments that it would be "in other words a nationwide pogrom".

Walter Laqueur Walter Ze'ev Laqueur (26 May 1921 – 30 September 2018) was a German-born American historian, journalist, political commentator, and Holocaust survivor. He was an influential scholar on the subjects of terrorism and political violence. Biograph ...

describes his ideas as "a half-way house between the old

Black Hundred The Black Hundreds were reactionary, Monarchism, monarchist, and ultra-nationalist groups in Russian Empire, Russia in the early 20th century. They were staunch supporters of the House of Romanov, and opposed any retreat from the autocracy of the ...

and

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

" and claims that Vinberg distinguished two kinds of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

: the "higher", concerned with restrictive laws against the Jews, and the "lower", the brutal and homicidal behaviour of the lower classes, which was terrible but essential if the Jewish menace, recently responsible for communist revolution, is finally to be laid to rest. David Redles mentions Vinberg's belief that the German and Russian peoples have to unite to defeat the Jews, which would result in world peace.

Norman Cohn Norman Rufus Colin Cohn FBA (12 January 1915 – 31 July 2007) was a British academic, historian and writer who spent 14 years as a professorial fellow and as Astor-Wolfson Professor at the University of Sussex. Life Cohn was born in London, ...

says that "in all his writings Vinberg insists that one way or another the Jews must be got rid of". Although as a political programme his ideas could not be taken seriously, he correctly foresaw the propaganda success of the Protocols of Zion in Germany. According to Kellogg, neither Vinberg nor his Aufbau colleagues publicly proposed "exterminating Jews along the lines of the National Socialist policy that became known as the

Final Solution The Final Solution or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was a plan orchestrated by Nazi Germany during World War II for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official ...

". Nevertheless, his apocalyptic language was so extreme that Laqueur concluded, "Vinberg is quite emphatic about this, the only solution is total physical extermination." Richard Pipes writes that "it was Vinberg and his friends who first called publicly for the physical extermination of the Jews", giving Laqueur as a reference. Notwithstanding Laqueur's conviction that his upper class ideas would have been of little interest or value to Hitler, Vinberg appears to have been responsible for Hitler's conversion to the idea of worldwide Jewish-Bolshevist conspiracy. Also many of

Alfred Rosenberg Alfred Ernst Rosenberg ( – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart and he held several important posts in the Nazi government. He was the head o ...

's own ideas were said to have been lifted straight from the writings of his friend Vinberg. Although his influence on Nazi thought declined following the failure of the

Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and other leaders i ...

in 1923, when anti-Slav sentiment gained ascendancy in Nazi policy, Kellogg argues that the influence revived with the invasion of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1941 and that he bears some responsibility for the horrors that occurred.Kellogg pp. 278-280

Bibliography

Ahad Ha'am Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg (18 August 1856 – 2 January 1927), primarily known by his Hebrew name and pen name Ahad Ha'am (, lit. 'one of the people', ), was a Hebrew journalist and essayist, and one of the foremost pre-state Zionist thinkers. ...

. :''Taĭnyĭ vozhdʹ īudeĭskīĭ.: Perevod s frantsuzskago'' : f Miss L. Fry by Th. Vinberg, being an attempt to prove :the "Protokoly Sīonskikh Mudret︠s︡ov" :published in a work by S. A. Nilus :to be a work by U. Ginzberg">Asher Hirsch Ginsberg">U. Ginzberg :by Leslie Fry; Thedor Viktorovich Vinberg Berlin, 1922. :OCLC: 84780936 * Krestny Put (Via Dolorosa)- 1921

References

Bibliography

* ''The Russian Roots of Nazism'' by Michael Kellogg (Cambridge, 2005) * ''L'Apocalypse de notre temps; les dessous de la propagande allemande d'après des documents inédits'' by Henri Rollin (Paris: Gallimard, 1939) pp. 153 seq. * ''Russia and Germany, a Century of Conflict'' by

(Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1965) pp. 109 seq. * ''Warrant for Genocide'' by

(London:

Eyre & Spottiswoode Eyre & Spottiswoode was the London-based printing firm established in 1739 that was the King's Printer, and subsequently, a publisher prior to being incorporated; it once went by the name of Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & co. ltd. In April 1929, it ...

, 1967) pp. 90, 139-140, 155-156, 184. * ''Intelligentsia and revolution: Russian views of Bolshevism 1917-1922'' by Jane Burbank. (New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986). * ''Russia under the Bolshevik Regime 1919-1924'' by Richard Pipes London: Harvill, 1994.

External links

Hitler’s “Russian” Connection: White Émigré Influence on the Genesis of Nazi Ideology, 1917-1923
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinberg, Fyodor 1868 births 1927 deaths Antisemitism in Russia Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany Members of the Russian Assembly Military personnel from Kyiv People from Kiev Governorate Protocols of the Elders of Zion Russian counter-revolutionaries Russian fascists Russian conspiracy theorists Russian male journalists Russian military personnel of World War I Russian monarchists Russian untitled nobility White Russian collaborators with Nazi Germany White Russian emigrants to Germany White Russian emigrants to France