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
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VOLUME 13 |ISSUE 3 |2022 31
governments and the far right. In his delightful
encyclopedia of invented Hitler sympathizers, “Nazi
Literature in the Americas,” Roberto Bolaño talks of a
large estate located south of Chile’s capital—’at the end
of the world’—called Colonia Renacer (Rebirth Colony),
which at first glance seems like many other immigrant
communities in the region. But upon a closer look, one
finds important differences. ‘To begin with, Colonia
Renacer has its own school, medical clinic, and auto repair
shop,’ Bolaño writes. ‘It has established a self-sufficient
economic system that allows the colony to turn its back
on what Chileans, perhaps over-optimistically, like to call
“Chilean reality,” or simply “reality.” Colonia Renacer is a
profitable business. Its presence is unsettling: the colony’s
members hold their festivities in secret no neighbor, be
they rich or poor, are invited. The colonists bury their dead
in their own cemetery.’ But ‘perhaps the most vital,’ Bolaño
continues, is the ethnic origin of its inhabitants: They are
all, without exception, German. Though many of the Hitler
sympathizers in the book are fictional, when it comes to
this German outpost, Bolaño isn’t making anything up. In
South America, colonias is the word used for immigrant
colonies. There were plenty of them, many agricultural in
nature—places where Jews, for instance, relocated from
Poland and other parts of the ‘Pale of Settlement’ starting
at the end of the 19th century. Other immigrants, among
them Germans, Italians, Swiss, French, and Belgians, had
their own colonies too. But one of the most infamous was
Colonia Renacer’s real-world analog: Colonia Dignidad,
on the banks of the Perquilauquén River, a magnet for
Nazi emigrants that, from its founding in 1961 until the
early 1990s, was the site of countless atrocities, a vast
majority of them committed under the auspices, and with
the blessings, of Augusto Pinochet’s military apparatus.
The colony, which in many respects resembled a cult
compound, was led by a Hitler enthusiast who had
served as a medic in a German field hospital in occupied
France its members, including a few Indigenous children
‘accepted’ into the cult in order to be redeemed from their
own fate, believed the place to be an arcadian haven.” (The
Nation, 03/24/22)
Perth Christian rehab facility apologizes after
allegations of psychological abuse, inappropriate
treatment
“The Esther Foundation, a Christian-based residential
rehabilitation centre in Perth, says it will cooperate
with any criminal investigation after a growing number
of women have spoken out about allegations of
psychological abuse and inappropriate treatment at the
facility. Former residents of the centre this week told the
ABC that the program treated their mental health and
addictions by attempting to ‘exorcise demons’. One woman
said she was not allowed to speak for two months. The
women say they did not receive any psychological or
psychiatric care from a qualified medical specialist during
their time at the residential centre for young women from
crisis backgrounds, which claims to provide counselling
for issues including addictions, sexual abuse and mental
health.
“Key points:
• Esther House has issued an apology to former residents
for any ‘hurt’ or ‘abuse’ they might have experienced while
living at the Perth rehabilitation centre
• Former residents have come forward with claims of
psychological abuse and inappropriate treatment
• The centre has parted ways with the former managing
director and founder” (abc.net.au/news, 3/10/22)
Hillsong Church apologises after investigations find
Brian Houston engaged in ‘inappropriate’ behaviour
“Hillsong has been forced to ‘apologise unreservedly’ after
the church’s founder, Brian Houston, was found to have
engaged in conduct ‘of serious concern’ by the church.
Following media reports on Friday, the church’s global
board said in a statement that Houston had breached
Hillsong’s pastor code of conduct in two incidents over
the past decade. ‘We have sadly been dealing with two
complaints made against Pastor Brian over the last 10
years,’ the church’s global board said. The board said the
first incident occurred ‘approximately a decade ago’, in
which ‘inappropriate text messages’ from Houston were
sent to a staff member, ‘which subsequently resulted in
the employee resigning.’ ‘At the time, Pastor Brian was
under the influence of sleeping tablets, upon which he had
developed a dependence,’ the statement said. The board
said it ‘worked with Pastor Brian to ensure he received
professional help to eliminate his dependency on this
medication, and this was achieved successfully.’ The second
investigation concerned a complaint the church received
in 2019, about behaviour which attributed to medication
and alcohol.” (The Guardian, 03/19/22)
Norway will no longer fund the Jehovah’s Witnesses
“A government official cited the Jehovah’s Witnesses’
exclusionary policies as justification for denying them
state aid. In a move that’s both long overdue and shocking,
the Norwegian government said it would no longer
provide funding to the Jehovah’s Witnesses because of
the religious sect’s cult-like practices. Norway, which has
a national Church but no longer has a national religion, is
one of those countries where religion is literally supported
by taxpayers the more members you have, the more
money your preferred religious (or Humanist) organization
receives. Any ‘religious’ group with 50 registered members
are [sic] allowed to apply for state subsidies, and more