Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes

of the cause which give rise to evil."

Those words were written in prison on December 15, 1913

by Felix Dzerzhinsky, a descendant of Polish gentry who was

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soon to originate the Cherezvichayka60 in the Soviet Union and

to become the greatest idealist among these most famous mur-

derers. Psychopathies surface in all nations.61

If the time ever comes, when “conditions will change” and

“evil will no longer rule”, it could be because progress in the

study of pathological phenomena and their ponerogenic role

will make it possible for societies to calmly accept the exis-

tence of these phenomena and comprehend them as categories

of nature. The vision of a new, just structure of society can then

be realized within the framework and under the control of nor-

mal people. Having reconciled ourselves to the fact that such

people are different and have a limited capacity for social ad-

justment, we should create a system of permanent protection

for them within the framework of reason and proper knowl-

edge, a system which will partially make their dreams come

true.

For our purposes, we should also draw attention to types

with deviant features; these were isolated relatively long ago by

Edward Brzezicki62 and accepted by Ernst Kretschmer63 as

characteristic of eastern Europe in particular. Skirtoids64 are

60 The Cheka was the first secret police set up under Bolshevik rule. Dzerz-

hinsky was its first Commissar. [Editor’s note]

61 Dzerzhinsky is an interesting case. It is said of him that “His honest and

incorruptible character, combined with his complete devotion to the cause,

gained him swift recognition and the nickname Iron Felix.” His monument in

the center of Warsaw in “Dzerzhinsky square”, was hated by the population

of the Polish capital as a symbol of soviet oppression and was toppled down

in 1989, as soon as the PZPR started losing power, the square’s name was

soon changed to its pre-second world war name “Plac Bankowy” (Bank

square). According to a popular joke of that late People’s Republic of Poland-

era “Dzerzhinsky deserved a monument for being the Pole to kill the largest

number of communists”.

62 My professor of psychiatry – Yagiellonian University – Cracow (a friend

of Kretschmer).

63 Ernst Kretschmer is remembered for his correlation of build and physical

constitution with personality characteristics and mental illness. In 1933

Krestchmer resigned as president of the German society of Psychotherapy in

protest against the Nazi takeover of the government. But unlike other promi-

nent German psychologists he remained in Germany during World War II.

Kretschmer further developed new methods of psychotherapy and hypnosis,

and studied compulsive criminality, recommending adequate provision be

made for the psychiatric treatment of prisoners. [Editor’s note.]

64 Greek root skirtaô: to rebel, to jump. [Editor’s note.]

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PONEROLOGY

vital, egotistical, and thick-skinned individuals who make good

soldiers because of their endurance and psychological resis-

tance. In peacetime, however, they are incapable of understand-

ing life’s subtler matters or rearing children prudently. They

are happy in primitive surroundings; a comfortable environ-

ment easily causes hysterization within them. They are rigidly

conservative in all areas and supportive of governments that

rule with a heavy hand.

Kretschmer was of the opinion that this anomaly was a

biodynamic phenomenon caused by the crossing of two widely

separated ethnic groups, which is frequent in that area of

Europe. If that were the case, North America should be full of

skirtoids, a hypothesis that deserves observation. We may as-

sume that skirtoidism is inherited normally; not sex-linked.

This anomaly should be taken into consideration if we wish to

understand the history of Russia, as well as the history of Po-

land, to a lesser extent.

Another interesting question suggests itself: what kind of

people are the so-called “jackals”, hired as professional and

mercenary killers by various groups, and who so quickly and

easily take up arms as a means of political struggle? They offer

themselves as specialists who perform the duty as accepted; no

human feelings interfere with their nefarious plans. They are

most certainly not normal people, but none of the deviations

described herein fits this picture. As a rule, essential psycho-

paths are talkative and incapable of such carefully planned

activity.

Perhaps, we should assume this type to be the product of a

cross between lesser taints of various deviations. Even if we

accept the statistical probability of the appearance of such hy-

brids, taking into account the quantitative data, they should be