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Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich

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Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich
Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich on a French postcard of 1920
Born(1866-09-08)8 September 1866
Russian Empire
Died22 October 1926(1926-10-22) (aged 60)
Arrochar, Staten Island, New York City, U.S.
OccupationRussian diplomat, political activist.
Notable worksThe Secret World Government, or, "The Hidden Hand" (1926)

Major-General Count Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich (Spiridovitch) (or A. de Tcherep-Spiridovitch) (aka Artur Čerep-Spiridovič) (8 September 1866[1] – 22 October 1926) was a major-general in the Imperial Russian Navy[2][3] (not in the Imperial Russian Army, as is frequently alleged), and an anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist, who moved to the United States following the Bolshevik Revolution. He was a White Russian monarchist, and additionally he was heavily involved in Pan-Slavism, anti-Semitic activism, and various chivalric orders and cultural organizations, especially in the White Russian diaspora community in America. He is perhaps best known for authoring a book titled The Secret World Government, or, "The Hidden Hand" (1926), which presents his conspiracy theory that the world is being clandestinely governed by a group of 300 individuals of "Judeo-Mongol" ancestry.

Biography

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Cherep-Spiridovich claimed to be well versed in international affairs, and claimed a number of political successes and insights. He claimed to have been a Russian major-general, to have warned King Alexander I and Queen Draga Mašin of Serbia before their assassination in 1902, and to have warned Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia in 1904 before his 1905 assassination. He also claimed to have foreseen the First World War, and in the early 1920s he foresaw another international war.[4]

Cherep-Spiridovich was president of the Slavonic Society of Russia and also of the Latino-Slavic League of Paris and Rome. Politically he was a supporter of the Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and an opponent of Bolshevism. According to Lord Alfred Douglas, well-known men like Henry Ford and newspapers like the Financial Times in London took him seriously and helped him to reach a fairly wide public.[5]

He moved to Harlem, New York, in 1920[4] where he was detained at Ellis Island for a special inquiry by the Immigration Bureau before being admitted.[6] In the US, he opened a branch of the Anglo-Latino-Slav League, where he advocated for unification of "white peoples of the globe against the domination of the colored peoples".[7] He also organized the Universal Gentiles' League among Russians in the US.[6]

After his arrival in the US, he became associated with anti-Semite Boris Brasol, who was involved with publication in the U.S. of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Cherep-Spiridovich wrote several anti-Semitic books and leaflets. On 8 February 1922, he stated he was preparing to publish a book titled The Unknown in History, but later on that same day he was stopped by armed men posing as US government officers, who seized a manuscript copy of the book in an effort to stop its publication. However, he had another manuscript copy of the book which was not confiscated. Partly as a reaction to this confiscation of a manuscript copy of his forthcoming book, he began recruiting people into the Universal Gentiles' League (aka the Universal Gentiles' Club), an organization he founded whose primary purpose was to raise awareness of and support for the issues and claims he planned to present in great detail in his forthcoming book. From a room in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City (probably from the headquarters of The Anti-Bolshevist Publishing Association, located at 15 East 128th Street, Manhattan) he began recruiting people into the Universal Gentiles' League. He began his recruitment campaign by mailing circulars to thousands of people (mostly to Russian emigres living in the U. S.), offering details about, and membership in, the League. In 1926 he finally published the book in question, under the title The Secret World Government, or, "The Hidden Hand" - The Unrevealed in History - 100 Historical "Mysteries" Explained. He also claimed the support of Henry Ford for his anti-Semitic beliefs.[6]

Title of Count

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Arthur often referred to himself as "count" Cherep-Spiridovich. This title of "count" had been conferred on him by Pope Pius X, not by the Russian government. Consequently, although he held the title of "count" legitimately as a member of the papal nobility,[8] this title and rank as a member of the papal nobility did not, in fact, confer on him any corresponding noble standing in Russia. In other words, the Russian government did not recognize him as a "count" of the Russian nobility. Arthur was a vigorous defender and promoter of Christianity (in the form of both Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity) against the numerous anti-Christian and anti-gentile doctrines he perceived especially in the Babylonian Talmud, which he believed classified the behavior of Christians as ritually impure. His pro-Catholic activities in this regard were recognized by the Vatican, and formed the basis of his ennoblement by Pope Pius X to the rank of "count" in the papal nobility.

Confusion of other individuals with Arthur

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There were three other individuals alive at the same time as Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich (1866-1926), who were frequently confused with him in various records and accounts of events:

  • (1) Major-General Alexander Spiridovich (Aleksandr Ivanovič Spiridovič)[9] (1873-1952)
  • (2) Albert Ivanovich Cherep-Spiridovich (died in August 1911)
  • (3) Lieutenant-General (or General, or Count) Howard Victor Cherep-Spiridovich (aliases and/or pen-names of Howard Victor Broenstrup) (1886-1963)

Sometime between the death of Arthur on 22 October 1926 and 1930, Howard Victor Broenstrup (von Broenstrupp or von Broens-Trupp) (1886-1963),[10][11] a patent attorney and Nazi propagandist in the United States, started using the aliases and/or pen-names Lieutenant-General (or General, or Count) Howard Victor Cherep-Spiridovich, apparently in an attempt to capitalize on the celebrity and notoriety which had become associated with the name "Count Cherep-Spiridovich" in the United States and Europe. The similarity of Broenstrup's aliases/pen-names with Arthur's name led many people who hadn't known the two men to mistakenly think they were the same person. Broenstrup used this confusion to his advantage - it allowed him to impersonate Arthur on many occasions, and to thereby capitalize on Arthur's celebrity, notoriety, and the mystery surrounding him.

Death

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Cherep-Spiridovich died on 22 October 1926 in his hotel room in the Barrett Manor, a hotel located in Arrochar, Staten Island, New York. The New York Times initially reported his death to be from accidental asphyxiation from a gas line, but after further investigation officials concluded (9 days later) that his death most likely was a suicide, because at the time of his death not only was he penniless and living in abject poverty, but his life's work of attempting to unite the 200 million Slavs in the U.S. and Europe into a republic had met with complete failure.[12] Many Jewish sources including several newspapers from the time, also reported his death as a suicide.[6][13]

Cherep-Spiridovich was buried in Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery and Columbarium (located at 155 Parkinson Avenue and Kramer Street, Grasmere, Staten Island, New York 10307). Since he was penniless at the time of his death, several organizations (including the Russian Naval Club, the Russian Unity Society, and the Russian Editors' Association) came to his aid and paid his funeral and burial expenses, in order to save him from the indignity of being buried as a pauper in "Potter's Field".[citation needed]

Works

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  • A Europe Without Turkey—the Security of France Requires (1913)
  • Towards Disaster: Dangers and Remedies (1914)
  • How to Save England (1920)
  • Let Us Prevent the Second World War Already Prepared! (1921)
  • The Secret World Government, or, "The Hidden Hand" - The Unrevealed in History - 100 Historical "Mysteries" Explained (The Anti-Bolshevist Publishing Association, 15 East 128th Street, New York) (1926) (A transcript may be found here [5]

References

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  1. ^ Although his year of birth is often given as 1858, an article published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on 19 June 1921 states that he was 53 years old at the time. If this information is accurate, it means that Arthur was born in 1867 rather than in 1858. See "For World-Union of White Races" [1] by Frederick Boyd Stevenson, in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (issue of 19 June 1921, p. 64). However, 2 newspaper articles have been located which state that Arthur was 60 at the time of his death: (1) - "Count Issues Plea to Form Slavic Nation - Leader Announces Plans to be Laid at New York Parley"[2] in The Miami News, issue of 28 June 1926, p. 20). In this article Arthur is quoted as follows: "After 35 years of untiring effort in gratuitously aiding and advising the Slavs, I behold the commencement of such coalescence as my 60th birthday approaches". Assuming that 8 September 1866 is the accurate date of his birth, then his 60th birthday would fall on 8 September 1926. Based on this information, Arthur celebrated his 60th birthday on 8 September 1926, but then died on 22 October 1926, which was only about 6 weeks (actually 44 days) later. (2) "Count May Get Pauper Burial - Cemetery Lot Must be Purchased Today for Late Head of Russian Societies" [3], in The Kansas City Star (issue of 26 October 1926, P. 6). This article states the following: "The count, who was head of several Russian societies in the United States, died Tuesday at the age of 60." The information about Arthur's age at the time of his death presented in these 2 articles appears to be more in accord with the truth of the matter than the information on this issue that was given in the newspaper article dated 19 June 1921.
  2. ^ "Spiridovitch's Mission - The Russian General Explains the Purpose of his Visit to America" [4] in The New York Times (issue of 9 April 1907, p. 8). In this article Arthur is quoted as follows: "I am a Major General attached to the Admiralty (a military organization of the Russian Navy)". The military organization he refers to here as the "Admiralty" may have been the Admiralteystv-Sovet (Admiralty Council). See: Admiralty Board (Russian Empire) Admiralty Board (Russian Empire)
  3. ^ See: History of Russian military ranks History of Russian military ranks. Arthur said he was a major-general in the Imperial Russian Navy. According to this Wikipedia article, there was such a rank in the Imperial Russian Navy - it was the Grade IV rank of major general in the department of Naval Artillery and Coastal Defense. Similarly-named ranks were Grade IV (fleet major general) and Grade VIII (admiralty major) in the department of Naval Infantry and Shore Service Personnel. Which one of these ranks Arthur actually held is unknown at this time.
  4. ^ a b "Count Summons Slavs to Formulate a New Empire". The Tampa Tribune. Tampa, Florida. 22 August 1926. p. 33. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  5. ^ Laqueur, Walter Ze'ev (1 January 1965). Russia and Germany. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 9781412833547.
  6. ^ a b c d Count Spiridovich, Rabid Anti-Semite Under Czar Dies in a N.Y. a Suicide at 75, Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 29 October 1926, page 2, accessed 9 October 2017 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14295048/
  7. ^ "For World-Union of White Races". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. 19 June 1921. p. 64. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  8. ^ Papal nobility - See: Papal nobility
  9. ^ Major-General Aleksandr Ivanovič Spiridovič (17 August 1873 – 30 June 1952)
  10. ^ Howard Victor Broenstrup (3 February 1886 – 12 November 1963) - He was born in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, and he died in San Francisco, California. His parents were Frederick Bernhart P. Broenstrup (aka Frederick Bernard Broenstrup) (25 July 1853 - 13/14 November 1935) and Amalie Margaret Rott (17 April 1858 – 24 November 1935). Howard often told reporters that he had been adopted by Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich, and that as Arthur's foster-son he was legally entitled to refer to himself as "Count Howard Victor Cherep-Spiridovich." However, since Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich did not hold the rank of "Count" in the Russian nobility, and as his rank of "Count" in the papal nobility applied only to himself and was not shareable with any of his current relatives or transferable to any of his future descendants, in reality there was no legal basis on which Howard Broenstrup could use the name "Count Howard Victor Cherep-Spiridovich", other than the legal basis of being able to legally use the name merely as an alias or pen-name. Also, contrary to his claim that Arthur had adopted him, documentary evidence (the U.S. Federal Census records for Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, for the year 1900, when Howard was 14 years old) shows that Howard was still living at home with his mother in the year 1900. This fact doesn't prove that Howard wasn't Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich's adopted son, but it casts considerable doubt on Howard's claim that he was.
  11. ^ Fake General Turns Out to be German Stooge, The Fresno Bee, (Fresno, California) 29 July 1941, page 14, accessed 9 October 2017 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14294658/
  12. ^ "Russian Count Ended Own Life, Police Say; New Investigation Said to Point to Cherep-Spiridovich's Suicide -- to be Buried Tomorrow". The New York Times. 31 October 1926.
  13. ^ Count Cherep-Spiridovich, Russian Anti-Semite Agitator, Found Dead in Room, Jewish Daily Bulletin (New York, N.Y.) 25 October 1926, page 2, accessed 14 March 2022 at http://pdfs.jta.org/1926/1926-10-25_601.pdf

Sources

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