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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brain-Washing (book) | 1/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book) | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:17:40.558555+00:00 | kb-cron |
Brain-Washing: A Synthesis of the Russian Textbook on Psychopolitics is a Red Scare, black propaganda book, first published by the Church of Scientology in 1955 about brainwashing. The text falsely claims to be a synthesis of existing, actual brainwashing manuals circulating in the Soviet Union. Several different versions were distributed with somewhat different contents. Its actual author is unclear; it is widely believed to have been authored by Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, though radical rightist activist Kenneth Goff claimed to be its compiler and some believe he was the author. In this text, many of the practices Scientology opposes (psychiatry teaching, brain surgery, electroshock, income tax) are described as communist-led conspiracies, and its technical content is limited to suggesting more of these practices on behalf of the Soviet Union. The text also describes the Church of Scientology as the greatest threat to communism. There are some differences in the various versions of the text in circulation. The Church of Scientology withdrew it from publication several months later; it continued to be distributed, largely by far-right groups, based on the version distributed by Goff.
== Background and publication == The text claims to be a synthesis of various existing manuals of the utilization of psychiatry as a means of social control, which it claimed actually circulated in the Soviet Union through Lavrentiy Beria, the chief of the USSR secret police. This is not true and this source book does not exist. The text is a relative copy of the 1953, best-selling, non-fiction book Brain-washing in Red China by journalist Edward Hunter. In late 1955, the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International published the booklet in an emergency basis; their edition was 64 pages, entitled Brain-Washing: A Synthesis of the Russian Textbook on Psychopolitics. Hubbard tried to present the Federal Bureau of Investigation with a copy, but the Bureau expressed skepticism about the document's authenticity, writing that:
the authenticity of this booklet seems to be of a doubtful nature since it lacks documentation of source material and communist words and phrases. Also, there are no quotations from well-known communist works as normally would be used in a synthesis of communist writings. In addition, the author himself admits that he cannot vouch for the authenticity of this booklet. Hubbard sent the material to the FBI, and one unidentified FBI agent gave this review: "[He] appears mental." When the FBI ignored him, Hubbard wrote again stating that Soviet agents had, on three occasions, attempted to hire him to work against the United States, and were upset about his refusal, and that one agent specifically attacked him using electroshock as a weapon. Hunter called the book a hoax, while the evaluator at the Operations Coordinating Board of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's National Security Council thought that "if the booklet is a fake, the author or authors know so much about brainwashing techniques that I would consider them experts, superior to any that I have met to date." Hubbard withdrew all circulation of the manual in January 1956 and asked for all copies to be returned to the Church of Scientology. The radical rightist Christian Identity minister Kenneth Goff began distributing the manual at some point, though it is unclear when; he claimed that he had started distributing it privately in 1955, before Hubbard's publication. It is unclear what connection he had to Hubbard; they used the same publisher, E.E. Manney. While Hubbard had distributed a copy to the FBI, Goff went even further: he distributed copies to congressmen and politicians, alleging that the Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act was a Communist conspiracy, nicknaming the legislation the "Siberia Bill." This drew attention to the manual. Goff alleged that the purpose of the Alaska bill was to create "a prison camp under the guise of mental health for everyone who raises their voice against Communism and the hidden government operating in our nation." Selections of the book were read into the Congressional Record, under the title of "Murder of Human Minds," in which Goff decried the book, but also stated that its methods allowed "unlimited sexual opportunities... over the bodies and minds of helpless patients," and that anyone could purchase a copy for $1 directly from Goff himself. This version became far more popular than Hubbard's and the Church of Scientology even went on to distribute Goff's version.
== Authorship ==
=== L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology === Hubbard claimed that he had not written the book, but merely compiled it from these alleged sources. He falsely claimed an entirely unrelated book was actually the original. The manual contains numerous terms typical of Hubbard's style and past writings. L. Ron Hubbard Jr., estranged son of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, stated: "Dad wrote every word of it. Barbara, Bryan, and my wife typed the manuscript off his dictation." Hubbard's former editor, John Sanborn, agreed with Hubbard Jr.'s testimony. In 1963, the Australian Board of Inquiry regarded the book as written by Hubbard, something that neither Hubbard nor the Church of Scientology's HASI Hubbard Association of Scientologists International refuted at the time. According to Massimo Introvigne, critics of Scientology attribute the Brainwashing manual to Hubbard because of the claim that it was later used to practice actual brainwashing in the church. Hubbard, who was strongly opposed to psychiatry, denounced brainwashing in some of his writing.
=== Kenneth Goff ===