Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich
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Major-General Count Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich (Spiridovitch) (or A. de Tcherep-Spiridovitch) (aka Artur Čerep-Spiridovič) (8 September 1866 – 22 October 1926) was a
major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
in the Imperial Russian Navy (not a major-general 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 The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
. He was a White Russian monarchist, and additionally he was heavily involved in
Pan-Slavism Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had rule ...
, 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.


Arthur held the rank of "count" in the papal nobility

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, 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 The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
, 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.


Biography

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 Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome * Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...
and Queen
Draga Mašin Draginja "Draga" Obrenović ( sr-cyr, Драгиња "Драга" Обреновић; 11 September 1867 – ), formerly Mašin (Машин), was the Queen consort of Serbia as the wife of King Aleksandar Obrenović. She was formerly a lady-in-wa ...
of Serbia before their assassination in 1902, and to have warned
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia (''Сергей Александрович''; 11 May 1857 – 17 February 1905) was the fifth son and seventh child of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. He was an influential figure during the reigns of hi ...
in 1904 before his 1905 assassination. He also claimed to have foreseen the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and in the early 1920s he foresaw another international war. 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 Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
and an opponent of Bolshevism. According to Lord Alfred Douglas, well-known men like
Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...
and newspapers like the ''
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'' in London took him seriously and helped him to reach a fairly wide public. He moved to
Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...
, in 1920 where he was detained at Ellis Island for a special inquiry by the Immigration Bureau before being admitted. 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". He also organized the Universal Gentiles' League among Russians in the US. After his arrival in the US, he became associated with anti-Semite
Boris Brasol Boris Leo Brasol (aka Boris Lvovich Brasol) (or Brazol) (March 31, 1885 - March 19, 1963), lawyer and literary critic, was a White Russian immigrant to the United States. Biography Boris Brasol was born in Poltava, Ukraine (then part of Imperial ...
, who was involved with publication in the U.S. of ''
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' () or ''The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. The hoax was plagiarized from several ...
''. 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 Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...
for his anti-Semitic beliefs.


Confusion of other individuals with Arthur

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 Alexander Ivanovich Spiridovich (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Спиридо́вич; 1873–1952) was a police general in the Russian Imperial Guard. He became a historian after he had left Russia. Life Spiridovitch was bor ...
(Aleksandr Ivanovič Spiridovič) (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), 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

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 he had his mouth and lips stuck around the gas pipe. After further investigation, hotel workers found that at the time of finding his body, the gas was already shut off. There was never an autopsy or second police report. 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. Many Jewish sources including several newspapers from the time, also reported his death as a suicide.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/Count Cherep-Spiridovich, Russian Anti-Semite Agitator, Found Dead in Room, ''
Jewish Daily Bulletin The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service, founded in 1917, serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world as well as non-Jewish press, with about 70 syndication clients listed on its web ...
'' (New York, N.Y.) 25 October 1926, page 2, accessed 14 March 2022 at http://pdfs.jta.org/1926/1926-10-25_601.pdf
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".


Works

*''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 her


References


Sources

*''The Non-Existent Manuscript'' by Cesare G. De Michelis, (University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln and London, 2004), pp. 146, 161; *''Russia and Germany, A Century of Conflict'' by
Walter Laqueur Walter Ze'ev Laqueur (26 May 1921 – 30 September 2018) was a German-born American historian, journalist and political commentator. He was an influential scholar on the subjects of terrorism and political violence. Biography Walter Laqueur was ...
, (Boston/Toronto: Little, Brown and Company: 1965)


External links


"Count Spiridovitch Gives a Luncheon"
twainquotes.com; accessed 21 March 2016. *

osjknights.com; accessed 21 February 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherep-Spiridovich, Arthur 1867 births 1926 deaths American conspiracy theorists Antisemitism in Russia Russian anti-communists Russian conspiracy theorists Russian monarchists Russian nobility American white supremacists White Russian emigrants to the United States Roman Catholics from the Russian Empire American anti-communists Papal counts