Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov
Encyclopedia
Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov (c. 1908/10 - April 24, 1997) was an acclaimed Soviet historian
and writer turned anti-communist. He worked primarily in the fields of Soviet history and History of the CPSU
. He then worked as a Nazi propagandist before joining the staff of the American
-sponsored Radio Liberty after World War II
.
in 1943. He was given the last name of Avtorkhanov in 1923 when he was registered for an orphanage.
The young Avtorkhanov enthusiastically joined the Communist Party
in 1927 and served as a high-ranking party functionary. He later wrote:
He graduated from the elite Moscow Institute of Red Professors
with a major in Russian history in 1937, during which time he wrote six books on the history of the Caucasus.
On the night of August 11, 1937, virtually all intellectual, religious, spiritual, and other Chechen and Ingush leaders, as well as many ordinary Chechens and Ingush, were arrested — in all, 13,000 men and women, or 3% of the population of the Chechen-Ingush region. Most of them were executed afterwards.
Then virtually all Communist Party and State leaders of the region were arrested at the session of the Chechen-Ingush obkom (oblast committee) on October 10. Avtorkhanov was invited to that session as a member of the Chechen-Ingush establishment; he was arrested and groundlessly accused of preparing an armed uprising, espionage, counterrevolutionary propaganda, etc. Some of those accusations carried the death penalty.
He was in jail under investigation for four years while interrogators tortured him to make him confess his fabricated "crimes". Once he was brought out for execution and stood among the others before the firing squad, but at the last second was pushed out from the row by one of the executioners. According his own words, when he found himself alive, he vowed to fight Soviet power for the rest of his life. Finally, in 1942, the Supreme Court found him not guilty and he was released.
The NKVD assigned him to infiltrate the anti-Soviet Chechen movement in which his school friend Khasan Israilov was a leader, but Avtorkhanov joined the uprising instead, and crossed the front line to propose to the Nazis an alliance with the Chechen Resistance against the Soviets. The Nazis rejected the proposal, and Avtorkhanov began to work for Nazi propaganda, writing articles for various newspapers published in Russian by and for emigrants and defectors as well as works on the Caucasus.
After the war ended, in 1948 Avtorkhanov began working for the US Army Russian Institute in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
, Germany. Eventually he became a professor
, the dean of political science
department, and the chairman of the Academy Board. He lectured in the Institute until his retirement in 1979.
He did not forget his vow and managed to combine his academic activity with his fight against Soviet power. Sometimes, that two activities came into conflict.
Avtorkhanov was a cofounder of the Institute for the Study of the USSR in Munich
and participated in the creation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 1951. He wrote numerous books and articles on the history and core issues of Communism. Ironically, there were occasions when he had to hide his authorship not only from the Soviets but from the American government. Thus in the early 1970s he, being an American Army employee, was prohibited from publishing his anti-Soviet works because of U.S. policy at that time, so he published using pseudonyms, some of which still remain unknown.
Avtorkhanov's book Staline au pouvoir (The Reign of Stalin), published in French in 1951, described Stalin
's reign of terror
.http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/isj/1961/no004/coates.htm. His book Stalin and the Soviet Communist Party is regarded as a primary source
for the political background of Stalin's rise to power. He was one of the first authors to claim, in his 1976 book on Stalin's death, that Stalin had been murdered by Lavrentiy Beria
and other Soviet top leaders.
A few months before the dissolution of the Soviet Union
in 1991, Avtorkhanov was granted honorary citizenship by the Chechen-Ingush ASSR, although his name and legacy had been discredited in the Soviet Union
since his defection. The Chechens
and the Ingush
admired Avtorkhanov and his writings.
At the time of the First Chechen War
he maintained a correspondence with the Chechen president
Dzokhar Dudayev. He also urged peace negotiations on Russian President Boris Yeltsin
. He died shortly after the end of the war, in 1997.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and writer turned anti-communist. He worked primarily in the fields of Soviet history and History of the CPSU
History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which evolved out of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1912, can roughly be divided into the following periods; the early years of the Bolshevik Party in clandestinity and exile, the period of the October...
. He then worked as a Nazi propagandist before joining the staff of the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-sponsored Radio Liberty after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Biography
Avtorkhanov's date of birth is unknown. According to his memoirs he was born between 1908 and 1910 in the small Chechen village of Lakha-Nevri, which was destroyed by Soviet troops during the deportation of the Chechen and Ingush populationPopulation transfer in the Soviet Union
Population transfer in the Soviet Union may be classified into the following broad categories: deportations of "anti-Soviet" categories of population, often classified as "enemies of workers," deportations of entire nationalities, labor force transfer, and organized migrations in opposite...
in 1943. He was given the last name of Avtorkhanov in 1923 when he was registered for an orphanage.
The young Avtorkhanov enthusiastically joined the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
in 1927 and served as a high-ranking party functionary. He later wrote:
This was my authority, my party, my apparatus. The social philosophy of Marxism — the creation of a classless social life with economic abundance; the spiritual philosophy of Marxism — the reign of unlimited creative freedom in science, art and literature without any censorship; the legal philosophy of Marxism — the liquidation of the use of violence by man against man and the gradual dying away of the apparatus of that violence: such were our ideals.
When I came to the party apparatus, it still professed those ideals. I was ready to serve them loyally and faithfully, regardless of all the inevitable costs and failures of that great experiment.
He graduated from the elite Moscow Institute of Red Professors
Institute of Red Professors
The Institute of Red Professors was an institute of graduate-level education in the Marxist social sciences located in the Orthodox Convent of the Passion, Moscow. It was founded in February 1921 to address shortage of Marxist professors but only about 25% of its graduates continued an academic...
with a major in Russian history in 1937, during which time he wrote six books on the history of the Caucasus.
On the night of August 11, 1937, virtually all intellectual, religious, spiritual, and other Chechen and Ingush leaders, as well as many ordinary Chechens and Ingush, were arrested — in all, 13,000 men and women, or 3% of the population of the Chechen-Ingush region. Most of them were executed afterwards.
Then virtually all Communist Party and State leaders of the region were arrested at the session of the Chechen-Ingush obkom (oblast committee) on October 10. Avtorkhanov was invited to that session as a member of the Chechen-Ingush establishment; he was arrested and groundlessly accused of preparing an armed uprising, espionage, counterrevolutionary propaganda, etc. Some of those accusations carried the death penalty.
He was in jail under investigation for four years while interrogators tortured him to make him confess his fabricated "crimes". Once he was brought out for execution and stood among the others before the firing squad, but at the last second was pushed out from the row by one of the executioners. According his own words, when he found himself alive, he vowed to fight Soviet power for the rest of his life. Finally, in 1942, the Supreme Court found him not guilty and he was released.
The NKVD assigned him to infiltrate the anti-Soviet Chechen movement in which his school friend Khasan Israilov was a leader, but Avtorkhanov joined the uprising instead, and crossed the front line to propose to the Nazis an alliance with the Chechen Resistance against the Soviets. The Nazis rejected the proposal, and Avtorkhanov began to work for Nazi propaganda, writing articles for various newspapers published in Russian by and for emigrants and defectors as well as works on the Caucasus.
After the war ended, in 1948 Avtorkhanov began working for the US Army Russian Institute in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria...
, Germany. Eventually he became a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, the dean of political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
department, and the chairman of the Academy Board. He lectured in the Institute until his retirement in 1979.
He did not forget his vow and managed to combine his academic activity with his fight against Soviet power. Sometimes, that two activities came into conflict.
Avtorkhanov was a cofounder of the Institute for the Study of the USSR in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
and participated in the creation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 1951. He wrote numerous books and articles on the history and core issues of Communism. Ironically, there were occasions when he had to hide his authorship not only from the Soviets but from the American government. Thus in the early 1970s he, being an American Army employee, was prohibited from publishing his anti-Soviet works because of U.S. policy at that time, so he published using pseudonyms, some of which still remain unknown.
Avtorkhanov's book Staline au pouvoir (The Reign of Stalin), published in French in 1951, described Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's reign of terror
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
.http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/isj/1961/no004/coates.htm. His book Stalin and the Soviet Communist Party is regarded as a primary source
Primary source
Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied....
for the political background of Stalin's rise to power. He was one of the first authors to claim, in his 1976 book on Stalin's death, that Stalin had been murdered by Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Georgian Soviet politician and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years ....
and other Soviet top leaders.
A few months before the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
in 1991, Avtorkhanov was granted honorary citizenship by the Chechen-Ingush ASSR, although his name and legacy had been discredited in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
since his defection. The Chechens
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
and the Ingush
Ingush people
The Ingush are a native ethnic group of the North Caucasus, mostly inhabiting the Russian republic of Ingushetia. They refer to themselves as Ghalghai . The Ingush are predominantly Sunni Muslims and speak the Ingush language...
admired Avtorkhanov and his writings.
At the time of the First Chechen War
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
he maintained a correspondence with the Chechen president
President of Ichkeria
This is a list of Presidents of the unrecognised Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, a pro-independence movement that controlled most of Chechnya from 1991 to 1999...
Dzokhar Dudayev. He also urged peace negotiations on Russian President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
. He died shortly after the end of the war, in 1997.
Quotes
We worshiped false gods and they deceived us... Neither our fathers nor we ourselves, in the intoxication of the Proletarian Revolution and behind the smokescreen of its social demagogy, were able to see its brutish core.