and naive, good for nothing but sexual conquest. Not one
among the brothers ever created a healthy family or developed
even average wisdom of life.
The character development of these people also included
many other factors that were dependent upon the time and
place in which they were reared: the turn of the century, with a
patriotic Polish father and German mother who obeyed con-
temporary custom by formally accepting her husband’s nation-
ality, but who still remained an advocate of the militarism, and
customary acceptance of the intensified hysteria which covered
Europe at the time. That was the Europe of the three Emperors:
the splendor of three people with limited intelligence, two of
whom revealed pathological traits. The concept of “honor”
sanctified triumph. Staring at someone too long was sufficient
pretext for a duel. These brothers were thus raised to be valiant
duelists covered with saber-scars; however, the slashes they
inflicted upon their opponents were more frequent and much
worse.
When people with a humanistic education pondered the per-
sonalities of this family, they concluded that the causes for this
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PONEROLOGY
formation should be sought in contemporary time and customs.
If, however, the sister had not suffered brain damage and the
pathological factor had not existed (exclusionary hypothesis),
their personalities would have developed more normally even
during those times. They would have become more critical and
more amenable to the values of healthy reasoning and humanis-
tic contents. They would have founded better families and re-
ceived more sensible advice from wives more wisely chosen.
As for the evil they sowed too liberally during their lives, it
would either not have existed at all, or else would have been
reduced to a scope conditioned by more remote pathological
factors.
Comparative considerations also led the author to conclude
that Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, also known as Stalin,
should be included in the list of this particular ponerogenic
characteropathy, which developed against the backdrop of
perinatal damage to his brain’s prefrontal fields. Literature and
news about him abounds in indications: brutal, charismatic,
snake-charming; issuing of irrevocable decisions; inhuman
ruthlessness, pathologic revengefulness directed at anyone who
got in his way; and egotistical belief in his own genius on the
part of a person whose mind was, in fact, only average. This
state explains as well his psychological dependence on a psy-
chopath like Beria39. Some photographs reveal the typical de-
formation of his forehead which appears in people who suf-
fered very early damage to the areas mentioned above. His
typical irrevocable decisions his daughter describes as follows:
~~~
Whenever he threw out of his heart someone whom he
had known for a long time, classifying him among his
39 L.P. Beria (1899–1953), Soviet Communist leader, b. Georgia. He rose to
prominence in the Cheka (secret police) in Georgia and the Transcaucasus,
became party secretary in these areas, and in 1938 became head of the secret
police. As commissar (later minister) of internal affairs, Beria wielded great
power, and he was the first in this post to become (1946) a member of the
politburo. After Stalin’s death (Mar., 1953), Beria was made first deputy
premier under Premier Malenkov, but the alliance was shaky; in the ensuing
struggle for power Beria was arrested (July) on charges of conspiracy. He and
six alleged accomplices were tried secretly and shot in Dec., 1953. [Editor’s
note.]
POLITICAL PONEROLOGY
117
“enemies” in his soul, it was impossible to talk to him about
that person. The reverse process became impossible for
him, namely persuasion that he was not his enemy, and any
attempts in that direction made him fly into a rage. Redens,
Uncle Pavlusha, and A.S. Svanidze were incapable of doing
anything about it; all they accomplished was to have my fa-
ther break off contacts and withdraw his trust. After seeing
any of them for the last time, he said goodbye as if to a po-
tential foe, one of his “enemies”…40
~~~
We know the effect of being “thrown out of his heart”, as it
is documented by the history of those times.
When we contemplate the scope of the evil Stalin helped to
bring about, we should always take this most ponerogenic
characteropathy into account and attribute the proper portion of
the “blame” to it; unfortunately, it has not yet been sufficiently
studied. We have to consider many other pathologic deviations
as they played essential roles in this macrosocial phenomenon.
Disregarding the pathologic aspects of those occurrences and
limiting interpretation thereof by historiographic and moral
considerations opens the door to an activity of further ponero-
genic factors; such reasoning should be thus regarded as not
only scientifically insufficient but immoral as well.
~~~
Drug-induced characteropathies: During the last few dec-
ades, medicine has begun using a series of drugs with serious
side effects: they attack the nervous system, leaving permanent
damage behind. These generally discreet handicaps sometimes
give rise to personality changes which are often very harmful
socially. Streptomycin41 proved a very dangerous drug; as a
result, some countries have limited its use, whereas others have
taken it off the list of drugs whose use is permitted.
40 Svetlana Alliluieva - Twenty Letters to a Friend.
41 Streptomycin acts by inhibiting protein synthesis and damaging cell mem-
branes in susceptible microorganisms. Possible side effects include injury to
the kidneys and nerve damage that can result in dizziness and deafness. [Edi-
tor’s note.]
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PONEROLOGY
The cytostatic drugs42 used in treating neoplastic43 diseases
often attack the phylogenetically oldest brain tissue, the pri-
mary carrier of our instinctive substratum and basic feelings.44
Persons treated with such drugs progressively tend to lose their
emotional color and their ability to intuit a psychological situa-
tion. They retain their intellectual functions but become praise-
craving egocentrics, easily ruled by people who know how to
take advantage of this. They become indifferent to other peo-
ple’s feelings and the harm they are inflicting upon them; any
criticism of their own person or behavior is repaid with a
vengeance. Such a change of character in a person who until
recently enjoyed respect on the part of his environment or
community, which perseveres in human minds, becomes a
pathological phenomenon causing often tragic results.
Could this have been a factor in the case of the Shah of
Iran? Again, diagnosing dead people is problematic, and the