Inside the League: The Shocking Exposé of how Terrorists, Nazis and Latin American Death Squads have Infiltrated the World Anti-communist League

Scott Anderson and Jon Lee Anderson, New York: Dood, Mead & Co., 1986.

This paper is a summary of the first three chapters of the book, Inside the League, by Scott Anderson and Jon Anderson. The purpose of this book is to expose how leaders of the Nazis and other fascist organizations around the world have changed their allegiances from organizations of terrorism and genocide in their home countries to the more the politically popular World Anti- Communist League. This league was founded in 1966 as a public relations organization for the government of Taiwan and South Korea. They soon adopted methods of unconventional warfare including “assassinations, death squads, and sabotage through out the world.” (Anderson, 11). All of these are methods adopted from the Nazis. Anderson makes the claim that many Eastern Europeans who participated in the holocaust were recruited into high intelligence positions in the United States and England. They changed their rhetoric from complaints of a Communist, Jewish, Freemason conspiracy to buzz words like anti- Bolshevism and anti- Communism to appear respectable.

One example is the story of Chirila Ciuntu, one of the leaders of the Iron Guard. When the Chairman of the Iron Guard was murdered, most of the members fled for the safety of Nazi Germany. Chirila however, went underground with some of his closest followers in Romania. When the Nazis drove the King of Romania out of the country Chirila was free to go on a killing spree in an attempt to rid Romania of the Jews. Members of the Iron Guard took to the streets to torture and then murder every Jew they could find. When the Romanians rebelled and killed many members of the Iron Guard, the Nazis came and helped many of the leaders escape, including Chirila. They were placed under protective custody and given the privileges of a German officer.

Another example is Yaroslav Stetsko, the founder of the Orgnization of the Ukranian Nationalists. The Nazis saw Ukraine as important allies because of their strong racism against ethnic Poles, Russians, and Jews. In 1941 Germany and Ukraine invaded Russia to the delight of the peasants who were under the control of Stalin’s regime. It took little time however, for them to figure out that they were no better off under Hitler and Stetsko. Shortly thereafter, Stetsko declared the creation of the Ukranian State and named himself the ruler. The Nazis were alarmed by this and put him under quarantine. Anderson makes the claim that while under quarantine Stetsko continued to run concentration camps resulting in the execution of 100,000 Jews. However, in his official biography he details escapes form German concentration camps and is now generally perceived as a victim of the Nazis. Today Stetsko is a major player in the World Anti- Communist League and has brought his ruthless tactic form the WWII day with him.

Both Chirila and Stetsko are now leaders in the World Anti- Communist League. They are only two of the many cases of fascists that did not disappear from the political arena after the war. They continue to belong to an anti- Semitic organization, only now they have the front of anti- communist. These are not the only two cases of former leaders of mass genocide, covering their tracks and joining the World Anti- Communist League, only two of the more interesting cases the book mentions. This phenomenon has taken place with numerous people in the World Anti- Communist League.

In more recent history, Stetsko met with Ronald Regan at the White House to urge the U.S. to take a stronger stand against the Kremlin. Chirila now lives in Canada and is still politically active with the World Anti- Communist League. Because of their ability to hide their political past and their current agenda, and their ability to keep a clean reputation for the World Anti- communist League, “…people like Chirila Ciuntu, who helped the slaughter of “Communist Jews’ 45 years ago, can sit down in the same room with an Italian fascist who killed ‘Reds’ 10 years ago and with a Salvadorian who is killing subversives now.” (Anderson, 54)

Summary by Aaron Zaidel