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Bernard "Ben" Klassen ( — ) was the founder of the racial socialist and white separatist Church of the Creator (COTC).

sen was born in Taurida, Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
 to a Mennonite
Mennonite

The Mennonites are a group of Christianity Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons , though his writings articulated, and thereby, formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders....
 family. At the age of five, he and his family moved to Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
, where they lived for one year. At age six, he moved with his family to Herschel, Saskatchewan
Herschel, Saskatchewan

Herschel is a village in the Canada province of Saskatchewan....
 (in Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
). He attended the German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
-English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 Academy (now Rosthern Junior College
Rosthern Junior College

Rosthern Junior College, an independent high school, has been a landmark institution in the town of Rosthern, Saskatchewan, Canada since 1905. Opening in that year as the German-English Academy, it was founded by Mennonite settlers in response to a need for trained teachers to work in the schools being established in homestead communities in...
).

968, Ben Klassen moved to Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
 to work for George Wallace
George Wallace

George Corley Wallace Jr. , was a Governor of Alabama of Alabama for four terms . He ran for President of the United States four times, running officially as a Democratic Party three times and in the American Independent Party once....
's presidential campaign.






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Bernard "Ben" Klassen ( — ) was the founder of the racial socialist and white separatist Church of the Creator (COTC).

Early life

Klassen was born in Taurida, Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
 to a Mennonite
Mennonite

The Mennonites are a group of Christianity Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons , though his writings articulated, and thereby, formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders....
 family. At the age of five, he and his family moved to Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
, where they lived for one year. At age six, he moved with his family to Herschel, Saskatchewan
Herschel, Saskatchewan

Herschel is a village in the Canada province of Saskatchewan....
 (in Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
). He attended the German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
-English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 Academy (now Rosthern Junior College
Rosthern Junior College

Rosthern Junior College, an independent high school, has been a landmark institution in the town of Rosthern, Saskatchewan, Canada since 1905. Opening in that year as the German-English Academy, it was founded by Mennonite settlers in response to a need for trained teachers to work in the schools being established in homestead communities in...
).

White Racial activism

In 1968, Ben Klassen moved to Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
 to work for George Wallace
George Wallace

George Corley Wallace Jr. , was a Governor of Alabama of Alabama for four terms . He ran for President of the United States four times, running officially as a Democratic Party three times and in the American Independent Party once....
's presidential campaign. In 1973 Klassen founded the original Church of the Creator (COTC). The religious organization was later revived as the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC) in 1996 with Matthew F. Hale
Matthew F. Hale

Matthew F. Hale , more commonly called Matt Hale, was the 2nd leader of the white separatist group formerly known as the World Church of the Creator and now known as the Creativity Movement....
 as its Pontifex Maximus, or Head Priest, and later the name was changed to The Creativity Movement
Creativity Movement

The Creativity Movement , is an often violent White separatism organization that advocates the White separatism religion, Creativity. It was also a descriptive phrase used by Ben Klassen, that included all adherents of the religion....
 (TCM) in 2003 because of a trademark dispute after the TE-TA-MA Truth Foundation trademarked the name Church of the Creator. Klassen attracted several hundred white racial loyalists as members from the US, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
, Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
, Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
, Poland
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
, Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
.

Ben Klassen first popularized the term Racial Holy War
Racial Holy War

A term originally coined by Ben Klassen and used extensively throughout his book the White Man's Bible, Racial Holy War is the ongoing conflict associated with the White separatism religion known as Creativity Movement, in which White people are united in a holy war against Jews and other Person of color....
 (RaHoWa) within the white racialist movement. He also consistently called Black people "nigger
Nigger

Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable as a pejorative term and common ethnic slur for black people, and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts....
s" in public discourse as well as in the literature of the COTC, as opposed to many white nationalist leaders who use relatively more polite terms for the aforementioned group in public. For example, the 7th commandment of the COTC's "16 commandments of Creativity" openly uses the word "nigger".

Ben Klassen was the author of several books - Nature's Eternal Religion (1973), The White Man's Bible (1981), Expanding Creativity (1985), A Revolution of Values Through Religion (1991), the autobiographical
Autobiography

An autobiography is a biography written by its subject . The term was first used by the poet Robert Southey in 1809 in the English language Periodical publication Quarterly Review, but the form goes back to antiquity....
 work Trials, Tribulations and Triumphs (1993) and many others.

Death

Klassen committed suicide
Suicide

Suicide is the intentional taking of one's own life. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"....
 in 1993 after the death of his wife, by overdosing on sleeping pills. In his suicide note, he made reference to his book The White Man's Bible, which describes suicide as "an honorable and dignified way to die for any... of a number of reasons, such as having come to the decision that life is no longer worthwhile."

Works Online

Date Title Notes
1973 The First of the Holy Books of Creativity
1981 The Second of the Holy Books of Creativity
1983 The Third of the Holy Books of Creativity
1985 A collection of articles from Racial Loyalty #1-12
1986 A collection of articles from Racial Loyalty #13-28
1987 A collection of articles from Racial Loyalty #28-39
1988 A collection of letters
1989 A collection of letters
1991A collection of programmatic statements, creeds, and quotes "for Daily reading and affirmation"
1991A comparison of various religious doctrines with Creativity
1991 An Autobiography
1993 A History of the Church of the Creator during the 1980s
1993 A collection of articles from Racial Loyalty #40-81
All Dates A collection of articles, books, audio and visual recordings