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Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko (born Mikhail Semyonovich Krasnov, Russian: Михаил Семёнович Краснов; born 15 February 1946) is a Chilean military official involved in human rights violations during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. He held several high-ranking positions in the Pinochet regime, including in the Chilean intelligence agency, DINA. As such, he was responsible for the interrogation, torture, and disappearance of political prisoners at the detention center, Villa Grimaldi. After Pinochet's demise, Krassnoff was convicted by Chilean courts of crimes against humanity.

Biography

Early life

His father, Semyon Krasnov, was a Russian White Army soldier who, after the Empire's defeat in the Russian Civil War, fled to Yugoslavia and then to France, arriving in Nazi Germany in 1942. After the defeat of Germany in World War II, he was extradited back to the Soviet Union along with his father, Pyotr Krasnov. There, both men were put on trial and executed. As a result of this, young Miguel and his mother, Dina Marchenko, fled to Chile.

Semyon's father and Miguel's grandfather, Pyotr Krasnov, was a Don Cossack historian and Lieutenant General who became one of the leaders of the counter-revolutionary White movement and later a Nazi collaborator who mobilized Cossack forces to fight against the Soviet Union during World War II.

He grew up speaking Russian at home and learned about the experiences of his ancestors. He believed that it was his fate to fight against communism but denies that he ever acted in the name of family revenge.

Career

Krassnoff was schooled at the School of the Americas, then located in Panama, before he returned to Chile. Upon returning to Chile, he served as Professor of Ethics at the Chilean Military Academy. On 11 September 1973, still serving his professorship, Krassnoff participated in the assault on the house of Chile's socialist president, Salvador Allende, which culminated in the 1973 Chilean coup d'état.

After the coup, he was appointed to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA)—the Chilean secret police—under Manuel Contreras. Krassnoff became director of the agency's two Halcón (Falcon) units, which were part of the Caupolicán Group. In turn, the group reported to the Brigada de Inteligencia Metropolitana (BIM). The BIM was ultimately responsible for suppressing political opposition in the Santiago region and the operation of detention camps in the region, including the Villa Grimaldi. The fate of the prisoners was decided by the group commanders and then relayed to the DINA headquarters via the BIM.

In 1979, after the dissolution of DINA, Krassnoff was assigned to Defence Intelligence. He later regretted that he was barred from becoming military attaché to the Soviet Union or securing a promotion to the rank of general because of his previous involvement in DINA.

Crimes against humanity and conviction

Krasnoff was one of the army officers involved in planning and administering Villa Grimaldi, the detention camp implicated in the torture of Chilean citizens under the Pinochet regime. He is referenced several times in the testimonies of Luz Arce, a prisoner and torture victim at Villa Grimaldi and later a collaborator with the regime. In 2006, Krassnoff was sentenced to 144 years imprisonment for over 20 counts of crimes against humanity. In 2016, he was also sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for the 1974 abduction of José Ramírez Rosales.

References

1. "Miguel Krassnoff supera los 1.000 años de condenas por violaciones a derechos humanos". 10 March 2023.
2. Goncharenko, Oleg (2005). Between the star and the swastika. The fate of the White Guards( in Russian: Между звездой и свастикой. Судьбы белогвардейцев). Moscow: Вече. pp. 307–308. ISBN 5-9533-0578-8.
3. ^ "Los fantasmas de Miguel Krassnoff". La Tercera. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
4. Kirpichenok, Artem (22 May 2020). "Krasnov, the Cossacks' chief. Who is behind the rehabilitation of the former Nazi collaborator?". RRJ. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
5. Valenzuela, Francisco (15 November 2016). "Gira de estudios de militares chilenos por US$1 millón incluyó cursos en reconocida "escuela de tortura"". El Dinamo (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 February 2017.
6. Lazzara, 2011, p.180
7. "Cuartel Terranova". Villa Grimaldi. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
8. Wyndham, 2014
9. Lazzara, 2011
10. "Chile shuts luxury jail for Pinochet henchmen". Al Jazeera English. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
11. "Chile shuts luxury jail for Augusto Pinochet-era inmates". The Daily Telegraph. Associated Press. 27 September 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
12. "Corte Suprema dictó nueva condena de 10 años de cárcel para Miguel Krassnoff". El Diario. Retrieved 22 February 2017.

Bibliography

• Lazzara, M. J. (2011). Shame and Reconciliation. In Luz Arce and Pinochet's Chile. Palgrave Macmillan US.
• Wyndham, M., & Read, P. (2014). The disappearing museum. Rethinking History, 18(2), 165–180.

• 1946 births
• Chilean Army officers
• Chilean people convicted of crimes against humanity
• Living people
• People from Tyrol (federal state)
• People of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional
• Chilean people of Russian descent
• Prisoners and detainees of Chile
• Chilean people of Ukrainian descent
• Naturalized citizens of Chile
• Chilean anti-communists
• Bernardo O'Higgins Military Academy alumni
• Inmates of Butyrka prison