Aleksandr Kharchikov


Aleksandr Kharchikov is a Russian folk singer-songwriter noted for his controversial songs of Stalinist, nationalist, anti-Ukrainian and antisemitic nature. He is considered a hero and an patriot by Nazbol and neo-Stalinist groups in Russia.

Biography

Alexanr Kharchikov was born on December 21, 1949, in the village of Kensha, in Penza Oblast. He attended primary school in Saransk before enlisting in the Navy. During his naval service he participated in 1968 in the Sinai war between Israel and Egypt, on the Egyptian side, and claims to have been wounded. He graduated in 1974 from the Mordovian state University as an electronic engineer. Kharchikov, now a Saint Petersburg resident, is a leader of the March 17 movement proclaiming the "implementation of the March 17, 1991, referendum on future of the USSR" as its goal.

Career

Kharchikov achieved notoriety in the 1990s after his participation in a TV broadcast of the program "600 seconds", after which his cassette tapes and later CDs achieved wide circulation. He has a repertoire of nearly 300 songs, of which those with extreme chauvinist, nationalistic, Stalinist, antisemitic and anti-Ukrainian content became the best known part of his oeuvre, notably the "Aryan march" , "Epistle to the Khokhly", "Our Stalin – the father, Our Motherland, the mother", "Smite the kikes, smite the dandruffed ones!", "Kikes rule over Russia", "Heart's Sorrow" , "Kill an American!", "Finish off that Asian!", "Do you think a Black one would spare you?". Kharchikov's aficionados, though, regard him as the modern Russia's great Songs of struggle bard. According to V. Vinogradov, he "accumulates in himself the energy of resistance and devotes his whole life to the one superior goal: that of fighting for Russia".
Kharchikov sings in a hoarse voice styled after the Russian bard Vladimir Vysotsky, self-accompanied on guitar, or occasionally a synthesizer. Kharchikov's own songs contain explicit exhortations to violence and are described as defined by "zoological antisemitism". His songs have been used as soundtrack to numerous videos produced by Russian Neonazi groups. Many of these are available on YouTube. Although some see Kharchikov's songs as meeting the prosecutable criteria of Russia's criminal code, up until January 2010 he has never been faced with legal action. This has led to widespread suspicions that he has the Russian government's tacit support.
In March 2012 the song by Kharchivov "Жиды хлебушка не сеют" was declared extremist by a Russian federal court.

Discography