Colin ShindlerWhen the Soviets finally allowed some Jewish emigration from the USSR, they also ensured the expulsion of some of their greatest literary talents, Jewish and non-Jewish. Although there is now a considerable wealth of contemporary Russian language writers in thewest, very little is heard of specifically Jewish writers from the USSR. David Markish’s book is … Read more
Kontinent 1: The Alternative Voice of Russia and Eastern Europe 180pp, published by Andre Deutsch 3.95 Since the Soviet authorities crush all forms of uncontrolled art and literature, it is not surprising to find that the best known of the country’s creative intelligentsia are emigrés. As the only creative literature is samizdat, it was only … Read more
LENIN IN ZURICH, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. (Bodley Head). £3.75. Sozhenitsyn’s latest book consists of chapters extracted from his panoramic history of the Russian Revolution. The first is the is the missing chapter 22 of August 1914. The rest comes from the still-to-be-published parts two and three, October 1916 and March 1917. ‘Lenin in Zurich” parallels … Read more
Colonel Yefim Davidovich, a Red Army hero and one of the Leaders of the Soviet-Jewish exodus movement, died last Saturday in Minsk at the age of 52 after suffering a fifth heart attack. Davidovich symbolised the heroism of the Jewish activists in the USSR. He survived one assault after another on his integrity yet his … Read more
Calls for a change in the basis of the Soviet Jewry campaign has been made frequently in the past few years and have even included demands that it should be turned into an overtly anti-Soviet action. Such a policy would clearly appeal to people whose prime motive is ideological anti-Communism and not concern for the … Read more
MY COUNTRY AND THE WORLD, by Andrei Sakharov. 109 pages (Collins Harvill) £2.25. Academician Sakharov’s latest book shows very clearly how his political views have changed as a result of the experiences suffered for his role as the Soviet Union’s number one dissident. In the summer of 1968, Sakharov first published his ideas on the … Read more
Malcolm Lewis, one of the founders of the campaign in Britain for Soviet Jewry, has been killed at the tragically young age of 29 in a car crash in Israel. He leaves a widow, Yael, and a month-old son. Malcolm was one of the handful of idealistic students in the rnid-1960s who showed the way … Read more
ROSH HASHANA, 1950: an old, frightened Moscow Jew hurriedly passes a scribbled note to a surprised Israeli diplomat stationed in the Soviet capital. Later, in the privacy of the embassy, the diplomat glances at the note. It reads: “You will not see the truth here — only what you are shown. Everything in reality Is … Read more
THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO, Volume II, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, 712 pages (Collins and Harvill Press). £4.95. This is an agonising heavy book to read which leaves the reader cold and empty inside. The great pen of Alexander Solzhenitsyn paints a picture of a different planet, a strange world of ragged “zeks” (camp slang for prisoners) their … Read more
When they brought Leonid Ivanovich into the visiting room, it was impossible to recognise him. His eyes were filled with pain and misery, he spoke with difficulty and brokenly, frequently leaning on the back of the chair in search of support. His effort at self-control was evident as from time to time, he closed his … Read more