30 ICSA TODAY
NEWS SUMMARIES
A ‘right-wing’ back-to-land movement called Anastasia
is making Germans nervous
“The combination of hippie-style rural living with far-right
ties among some of the group’s leadership has anti-
extremism experts concerned. Grabow-bei-Blumenthal,
in the East German state of Brandenburg, is a tiny village
of about 300 people, hardly more than a few streets
surrounded by farmland. Until recently, it had two possible
attractions to outsiders: the old manor house, now a
hotel, and the church, a half-timbered structure that dates
from the late 16th century. But over the past few years,
there’s been an unusual sight in the little town and the
surrounding fields, one that has drawn reporters and TV
crews from around Germany: young families dressed in
what look like peasant clothes of a previous century, who
farm using traditional methods and live according to what
they see as ancient principles. It’s known as the Anastasia
movement, a back-to-the-land group that originated in
Russia in the late 1990s and has been slowly spreading
through Eastern and Central Europe ever since and has
been described as a movement with antisemitic elements
in their beliefs connected to the far-right, by some civil-
society organizations. Grabow, where the group owns
more than 200 acres of land, is the biggest settlement in
Germany, but there are at least 17 throughout the country,
from Bavaria in the south to Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania in the north. The movement is decentralized,
and its practices vary from settlement to settlement,
which nevertheless share core values. Members reject
modern science and technology and practice organic
gardening and herbal medicine. They believe in fresh air,
communion with nature, and the traditional family—along
with esoteric concepts such as the healing power of cedar
trees, mental projection, and ‘telegony,’ the idea that a
woman’s first sexual partner leaves a genetic stamp on
future offspring. And their founding text holds that the
world has for millennia been engaged in a struggle with
dark forces in which the Jews play a leading role. A number
of the group’s German leaders have documented far-right
credentials. Markus Krause, the head of the settlement in
Grabow, has ties to multiple extremist groups, including
the Ludendorffers, a far-right group inspired by Erich
Ludendorff, a World War I general involved in Hitler’s
failed 1923 Munich putsch. Frank Willy Ludwig, another
influential figure in the German Anastasia community, has
attended rallies by neo-Nazis and appeared as a speaker at
Holocaust-denier conferences.” (Vice, 03/11/22)
Jeong Myeong-Seok, a former FFWPU [Family
Federation for World Peace and Unification] member,
started his own cult and is now in jail for multiple rapes
“Jeong Myeong-Seok’s group gave these ‘Vagina
necklaces’ to selected female followers known as
evergreens. (evergreen =someone who won’t get married
because they have fully given themselves over to Jeong.)
His cult is known as Providence (officially Christian
Gospel Mission). Christian Gospel Mission are [sic] known
by different names in different regions. Providence or
Providence Church in Europe and the US, Setsuri (Japanese
for ‘providence’) in Japan, the Bright Moon Church, the
Morning Star Church, and Jesus Morning Star (JMS). Every
year in spring, Providence holds a Flower Festival event in
Wol Myeong-dong, South Korea. In 1999, Jeong founded
the Global Association of Culture and Peace (the GACP). It
also uses front groups called: Elohim Bible Academy and
Save the Earth from A to Z.” (Tumblr, 2018)
Coercive control offence to attract seven years’ jail
under draft NSW law
“People convicted of coercive control in intimate partner
relationships would be jailed for up to seven years under
landmark laws to criminalise the behaviour. The state
government will release a draft bill for public comment as
part of its commitment to outlaw the abusive behaviour,
which is one of the most significant red flags for intimate
partner homicide. Mark Speakman said victim-survivors
of domestic and family violence (DFV) will gain further
protections under the proposed laws targeting repeated
abusive behaviours. ‘Coercive control is complex, is
insidious and causes untold harm for its victims,’ he
said, adding that consultation was critical to avoiding
overreach. Speakman said the lack of a stand-alone
offence was a clear ‘gap’ in the state’s criminal law and
that support for reform spanned the political spectrum.”
(Sydney Morning Herald, 07/20/22)
The dark history of Colonia Dignidad
“The Netflix series A Sinister Sect examines not only
the history of a German community led by a Nazi in
Chile but also the relationship between Latin American
NEWS DESK
SPECIAL REPORTS AND NEWS SUMMARIES
kentoh
©
123RF.com
NEWS SUMMARIES
A ‘right-wing’ back-to-land movement called Anastasia
is making Germans nervous
“The combination of hippie-style rural living with far-right
ties among some of the group’s leadership has anti-
extremism experts concerned. Grabow-bei-Blumenthal,
in the East German state of Brandenburg, is a tiny village
of about 300 people, hardly more than a few streets
surrounded by farmland. Until recently, it had two possible
attractions to outsiders: the old manor house, now a
hotel, and the church, a half-timbered structure that dates
from the late 16th century. But over the past few years,
there’s been an unusual sight in the little town and the
surrounding fields, one that has drawn reporters and TV
crews from around Germany: young families dressed in
what look like peasant clothes of a previous century, who
farm using traditional methods and live according to what
they see as ancient principles. It’s known as the Anastasia
movement, a back-to-the-land group that originated in
Russia in the late 1990s and has been slowly spreading
through Eastern and Central Europe ever since and has
been described as a movement with antisemitic elements
in their beliefs connected to the far-right, by some civil-
society organizations. Grabow, where the group owns
more than 200 acres of land, is the biggest settlement in
Germany, but there are at least 17 throughout the country,
from Bavaria in the south to Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania in the north. The movement is decentralized,
and its practices vary from settlement to settlement,
which nevertheless share core values. Members reject
modern science and technology and practice organic
gardening and herbal medicine. They believe in fresh air,
communion with nature, and the traditional family—along
with esoteric concepts such as the healing power of cedar
trees, mental projection, and ‘telegony,’ the idea that a
woman’s first sexual partner leaves a genetic stamp on
future offspring. And their founding text holds that the
world has for millennia been engaged in a struggle with
dark forces in which the Jews play a leading role. A number
of the group’s German leaders have documented far-right
credentials. Markus Krause, the head of the settlement in
Grabow, has ties to multiple extremist groups, including
the Ludendorffers, a far-right group inspired by Erich
Ludendorff, a World War I general involved in Hitler’s
failed 1923 Munich putsch. Frank Willy Ludwig, another
influential figure in the German Anastasia community, has
attended rallies by neo-Nazis and appeared as a speaker at
Holocaust-denier conferences.” (Vice, 03/11/22)
Jeong Myeong-Seok, a former FFWPU [Family
Federation for World Peace and Unification] member,
started his own cult and is now in jail for multiple rapes
“Jeong Myeong-Seok’s group gave these ‘Vagina
necklaces’ to selected female followers known as
evergreens. (evergreen =someone who won’t get married
because they have fully given themselves over to Jeong.)
His cult is known as Providence (officially Christian
Gospel Mission). Christian Gospel Mission are [sic] known
by different names in different regions. Providence or
Providence Church in Europe and the US, Setsuri (Japanese
for ‘providence’) in Japan, the Bright Moon Church, the
Morning Star Church, and Jesus Morning Star (JMS). Every
year in spring, Providence holds a Flower Festival event in
Wol Myeong-dong, South Korea. In 1999, Jeong founded
the Global Association of Culture and Peace (the GACP). It
also uses front groups called: Elohim Bible Academy and
Save the Earth from A to Z.” (Tumblr, 2018)
Coercive control offence to attract seven years’ jail
under draft NSW law
“People convicted of coercive control in intimate partner
relationships would be jailed for up to seven years under
landmark laws to criminalise the behaviour. The state
government will release a draft bill for public comment as
part of its commitment to outlaw the abusive behaviour,
which is one of the most significant red flags for intimate
partner homicide. Mark Speakman said victim-survivors
of domestic and family violence (DFV) will gain further
protections under the proposed laws targeting repeated
abusive behaviours. ‘Coercive control is complex, is
insidious and causes untold harm for its victims,’ he
said, adding that consultation was critical to avoiding
overreach. Speakman said the lack of a stand-alone
offence was a clear ‘gap’ in the state’s criminal law and
that support for reform spanned the political spectrum.”
(Sydney Morning Herald, 07/20/22)
The dark history of Colonia Dignidad
“The Netflix series A Sinister Sect examines not only
the history of a German community led by a Nazi in
Chile but also the relationship between Latin American
NEWS DESK
SPECIAL REPORTS AND NEWS SUMMARIES
kentoh
©
123RF.com
