"There is no formal structure in the human rights movement in the USSR. There are neither leaders, nor subordinates; no one assigns tasks to others; instead each is prepared to do what is necessary (A, 283)."
In the early years, "Tasks were coordinated between friends, and this ensured mutual trust without which organized activities would be impossible under conditions of constant surveillance. This system made it possible to fill vacancies frequently created by arrests: someone close to te arrested would take over his responsibilities. (A, 283)
"The backbone of the Soviet human rights movement is samizdat which facilitates the dissemination of human rights ideas. The channels of communication used by samizdat provide the connecting links essential for organization work. These channels spread out silently and invisibly; like mushroom spores, they emerge here and there in the form of public statements. (A, 284)"
"Most of the activists' energies are spent on the entire process of samizdat. Because of the lack of sophisticated technology and the necessity of working in secret, the reproduction of samizdat materials requires an enormous amount of labor. Human rights activists have dramatically increased the scope of samizdat distribution by making major changes in this process. They have transformed insolated instances of transmitting manuscripts to the West into an entire system of samizdat-tamizdat-samizdat (A, 284)."
"The first regular contacts with the West were established by Andrey Amalrik. Until 1969 he was practically the only "specialist" in this area. Through him passed most of the human rights documents--transcripts of trials, as well as political and artistic literature. (A, 284)"
What he smuggled-284
"The limited quantities of these books returned home from the West by complicated routes could not possibly satisfy the colossal demand. So tamizdat books were not only read, but used to make copies, usually photographically- a less time-consuming process, but one that requires access to a print shop. Because of the poor quality of Soviet paper, typing ribbons, and carbon paper, the used of typed originals for this process is impossible. The use of copy machines began in the midseventies when people capable of designing and building them could be found. Technical know-how is not enough; the ability and determination to organize the theft of parts not available to the public is also essential. Chanhes in the method of retyping samizdat manuscripts were also made. Side by side with the familiar "cottage industry" typists could be hired because the sale of samizdat works in the demand had become common. People who devoted all their time and effort to reproducing and distributing samizday made their appearance for example, Yulius Telesin (now in Israel), who earned the nickname "Prince of Samizdat" and Ernst Rudenko (now dead). As a rule, price was determined by the cost of typing and materials. Neither the time nor risk involved in distribution were calculated into the price; these were considered a contribution to society. Usually the paid typists were friends of the activists; certain efforts to enlarge the pool of typists were met with disaster. Some new typists, once they realized the nature of what they were typing, turned the manuscripts over to the KGB. After years of painstaking and dangerous work, samizdat channels and thus links between human rights activists were consolidated and greatly enlarged (A, 285)"
"The Chronicle of Current Events, which ten years later Sakharov called the greatest achievement of the movement, was born in 1968, a fruitful and important year for the human rights movement. The first issue appeared on April 30, amid the heat of repression against the signers. Its prototype was the informational bulletin of the Crimean Tartars about which the Moscow activists learned. By the summer of 1983 sixty-four issues of the Chronicle had reached the West. A reliable source of information on the situation of human rights in the USSR, the Chronicle of Current Events is, as its name implies, intended to report violations of human rights in the USSR, human rights statements, and facts relating to the implementation of human rights "without prior official permission." The factual nature of the Chronicle determines its approach to material: in principle it refrains from giving commentary. However, the Chronicle is not only a register for human rights violations in the USSR or a chronicle of the human rights movement, but also, of that emerging movement, as well as between human rights activists and members of other dissident movements, it aided in the dissemination of the ideas and influence (A, 285) ."
Showing posts with label Alexeyeva. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alexeyeva. Show all posts
Friday, September 23, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Soviet Dissent Notes Part 2
119: Soviet vs. dissident texts
167: German samizdat
181: Jewish samizdat
210: Baptist samizdat
226-228: Pentacostal
269: "Samizdat played an immense role in the spiritual emancipation of Soviet society.
It made possible a change in the life-style of Muscovites and others in the late fifties. Under STalin, when informing had become the norm, unofficial contacts between people had been reduced to a bare minimum. As a rule, two or three families would associate only among themselves, and there were very few homes where many people gathered. After the fear of mass arrests had passed, people three themselves at each other, deriving satisfaction from merely being together. A normal Moscow circle numbered forty to fifty "close friends." Although divided into smaller subgroups, teh entire group regularly gathered for parties that were held on the slightest excuse, and everyone knew everything about everyone else. All these circles were connected with other similar circles and the links led to Leningrad, Novosibirisk and other cities. Everyone gathered around the table imbibed tea and more than tea. Affairs were begun; families formed and broken up. Together everyone sang, danced , and listened to music. Tape recorders had gone on sale, and they were not particularly expensive. They facilitated the distribution of song... (A 269)
270: "Large groups that fostered mutual trust created ideal conditions for the spread of samizdat. Samizdat was probably first circulated within such groups and then spread to various others. Although everyone knew it was necessary to be very careful, few, in fact were. Most people confined their effors to awkward attempts at camouflage, which were often the object of humor (A, 270)"-there's a joke
270: 20th party congress, openness
274: Sinyavsky and Daniel
"It was clear that their arrest had been calculated as a declaration of war on samizdat" on its contributors, distributors and readers. Theirs were the first arrests reported by foreign radio stations broadcasting to the Soviet Union. They referred to Daniel as Danielo and from time to time reported on the indignation of the West: Terts and Arzhak had been translated into several European languages and their books were successful.
These foreign radio reports made everyone aware of the arrests and caused consternation among all those connected with samizdat. Everyone, not just friends and family of the arrested, argued hotly over how the incident would turn out: would the authorities quietly dispose of the arrested or would they put on a "show trial" in the Stalinist tradition in which, somehow, defendents were induced to slander themselves monstrously and even ask to be tried without leniency. Afterwards, would new arrests begin? What would the sentences be? Speculation included death by firing squad. (Experience during the Stalinist period taught that the word "enemy" in the newspaper meant just that.
In this uncertain and anxious environment that the first demonstration in the history of the Soviet regime that was accompanied by human rights slogans took plac in Moscow's Pushkin Square on December 5, 1965. A few days prior to December 5, which was celebrated as Constitution Day, typed leaflets containing a "civic plea" appeared...(A 273-275)"
The doc. is there.
276: Trial of S & D
276: "However, when people left the courthouse, either for a lunch break or at the end of a session, everyone rushed up to the wives of the defendants, who told their friends what was going on inside. Both the correspondents and the KGB could hear them. And every evening reports on the trial and commentary were carried by foreign radio broadcasts. Thanks to this procedure, the West learned about the trial, and especially important, so did people all over the Soviet Union. Thus, future human rights activists discovered the only means available to them to spread ideas and information under Soviet Condition. (A, 277)
277: The White Book, protest Methods
167: German samizdat
181: Jewish samizdat
210: Baptist samizdat
226-228: Pentacostal
269: "Samizdat played an immense role in the spiritual emancipation of Soviet society.
It made possible a change in the life-style of Muscovites and others in the late fifties. Under STalin, when informing had become the norm, unofficial contacts between people had been reduced to a bare minimum. As a rule, two or three families would associate only among themselves, and there were very few homes where many people gathered. After the fear of mass arrests had passed, people three themselves at each other, deriving satisfaction from merely being together. A normal Moscow circle numbered forty to fifty "close friends." Although divided into smaller subgroups, teh entire group regularly gathered for parties that were held on the slightest excuse, and everyone knew everything about everyone else. All these circles were connected with other similar circles and the links led to Leningrad, Novosibirisk and other cities. Everyone gathered around the table imbibed tea and more than tea. Affairs were begun; families formed and broken up. Together everyone sang, danced , and listened to music. Tape recorders had gone on sale, and they were not particularly expensive. They facilitated the distribution of song... (A 269)
270: "Large groups that fostered mutual trust created ideal conditions for the spread of samizdat. Samizdat was probably first circulated within such groups and then spread to various others. Although everyone knew it was necessary to be very careful, few, in fact were. Most people confined their effors to awkward attempts at camouflage, which were often the object of humor (A, 270)"-there's a joke
270: 20th party congress, openness
274: Sinyavsky and Daniel
"It was clear that their arrest had been calculated as a declaration of war on samizdat" on its contributors, distributors and readers. Theirs were the first arrests reported by foreign radio stations broadcasting to the Soviet Union. They referred to Daniel as Danielo and from time to time reported on the indignation of the West: Terts and Arzhak had been translated into several European languages and their books were successful.
These foreign radio reports made everyone aware of the arrests and caused consternation among all those connected with samizdat. Everyone, not just friends and family of the arrested, argued hotly over how the incident would turn out: would the authorities quietly dispose of the arrested or would they put on a "show trial" in the Stalinist tradition in which, somehow, defendents were induced to slander themselves monstrously and even ask to be tried without leniency. Afterwards, would new arrests begin? What would the sentences be? Speculation included death by firing squad. (Experience during the Stalinist period taught that the word "enemy" in the newspaper meant just that.
In this uncertain and anxious environment that the first demonstration in the history of the Soviet regime that was accompanied by human rights slogans took plac in Moscow's Pushkin Square on December 5, 1965. A few days prior to December 5, which was celebrated as Constitution Day, typed leaflets containing a "civic plea" appeared...(A 273-275)"
The doc. is there.
276: Trial of S & D
276: "However, when people left the courthouse, either for a lunch break or at the end of a session, everyone rushed up to the wives of the defendants, who told their friends what was going on inside. Both the correspondents and the KGB could hear them. And every evening reports on the trial and commentary were carried by foreign radio broadcasts. Thanks to this procedure, the West learned about the trial, and especially important, so did people all over the Soviet Union. Thus, future human rights activists discovered the only means available to them to spread ideas and information under Soviet Condition. (A, 277)
277: The White Book, protest Methods
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Soviet Dissent: Contemporary Movements for National, Religious, and Human Rights Pt. 1
Alexeyeva, Ludmilla. Soviet Dissent: Contemporary Movements for National, Religious, and Human Rights. Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1987.
"Samizdat completed the data necessary for this book. The source of essential information is the Chronicle of Current Events, which the academic Sakharov has called the principal achievement of the human rights movement. The anonymous editorial board that publishes CCE is renewed approximatley every two years, generally because of the arrests of it's editors. Since 1968, sixty-four issues of Chronicle have appeared; they contain an immense amount of material about the violation of human rights throughout the USSR and about the continuing struggle against these abuses. The excellent quality of the information from Chronicle has withstood investigation. At the trials for those involved in Chronicle, usually on the charges of "slander," teams of KGB agents seeking frounds on these accusation on several occasions checked the reliability of the information of human rights activists. (Al, vii-viii)
Al 9: Birthday of the movement- Dec. 5 1965, Pushkin Square
Al 10: Historical background, Secret Speech,
Al 11: Novy Mir as signal of part of the movement, publication of One Day
Al 12: How Samizdat works
"The more successful a work, the faster and further it is distributed. Of course, samizdat is extremely inefficient in terms of the time and effort expended but it is the only possible way of overcoming the government monopoly on ideas and information (Al, 12)."
"Russian samizdat began with poetry, possibly because poetry is easier to reproduce--brief and easier to memorize. But there may be a deeper cause: spiritual emancipation begins in the area of simple human feelings (Al, 13)."
Al 13: Estimate more than 300 authors most young circulating
Al 15: Zhivago
THE HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT IS INHERENTLY TIED WITH SAMIZDAT
"It was only by virtue of samizdat that the human rights movement itself was able to rise and spread.
The chief functions of the human rights movement are gathering and disseminating information on human rights violations and defending these rights, irrespective of citizens' nationality, religion or social background. In this way contacts are established with other dissident movements. The movement's participants carry out their work with samizdat information journals, the best known of which is the Chronicle of Current Events.
AL 41: Ukranian Chronicle spin off
AL 52: Ukranian dissidents and western journalist
Al 74: Catholic Chronicle
Al 109-114: Comparison between Chronicle and Official Coverage
"Samizdat completed the data necessary for this book. The source of essential information is the Chronicle of Current Events, which the academic Sakharov has called the principal achievement of the human rights movement. The anonymous editorial board that publishes CCE is renewed approximatley every two years, generally because of the arrests of it's editors. Since 1968, sixty-four issues of Chronicle have appeared; they contain an immense amount of material about the violation of human rights throughout the USSR and about the continuing struggle against these abuses. The excellent quality of the information from Chronicle has withstood investigation. At the trials for those involved in Chronicle, usually on the charges of "slander," teams of KGB agents seeking frounds on these accusation on several occasions checked the reliability of the information of human rights activists. (Al, vii-viii)
Al 9: Birthday of the movement- Dec. 5 1965, Pushkin Square
Al 10: Historical background, Secret Speech,
Al 11: Novy Mir as signal of part of the movement, publication of One Day
Al 12: How Samizdat works
"The more successful a work, the faster and further it is distributed. Of course, samizdat is extremely inefficient in terms of the time and effort expended but it is the only possible way of overcoming the government monopoly on ideas and information (Al, 12)."
"Russian samizdat began with poetry, possibly because poetry is easier to reproduce--brief and easier to memorize. But there may be a deeper cause: spiritual emancipation begins in the area of simple human feelings (Al, 13)."
Al 13: Estimate more than 300 authors most young circulating
Al 15: Zhivago
THE HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT IS INHERENTLY TIED WITH SAMIZDAT
"It was only by virtue of samizdat that the human rights movement itself was able to rise and spread.
The chief functions of the human rights movement are gathering and disseminating information on human rights violations and defending these rights, irrespective of citizens' nationality, religion or social background. In this way contacts are established with other dissident movements. The movement's participants carry out their work with samizdat information journals, the best known of which is the Chronicle of Current Events.
AL 41: Ukranian Chronicle spin off
AL 52: Ukranian dissidents and western journalist
Al 74: Catholic Chronicle
Al 109-114: Comparison between Chronicle and Official Coverage
Saturday, September 17, 2011
The Thaw Generation-Notes
Alexeyeva, Ludmilla and Paul Goldberg, trans. The Thaw Generation: Coming of Age in the
Post-Stalin Era. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993.
"Every night, we gathered in cramped apartments to recite poetry, read "unofficial" prose, and swp stories that, taken together, yielded a realistic picture of what was going on in our country (A & G, 4)."
Dissidents have 3 options
"The first was to toe the party line and be allowed to advance professionally; the second was to put a career on hold and wait for another thaw; the third was to stay the course of the thaw and accept the consequences: an aborted career and the life of a pariah (A & G, 5)."
"I had to act. I had to act as an individual. All of us had to. Our leaders were wrong. They needed us. They needed the public. By realizing that, we became citizens (A & G, 19)."
"But at the time we were at school, few of those connections could be called friendships. Going out of the immediate circle of friends --usually limited to two or three-- meant multiplying the chances of having your offhand remarks reported to the authorities (A & G, 32)."
-Mandelstam as an example
A & G 33-34: bond w/ the Decembrists
"Newspapers, books, and journals were now devoted exclusively to praises of Comrade Stalin, our Communist party, the Soviet motherland, the Great Russian People, and Our Valorous Armed Forces. No book could be "idealess." A love story, a poem, or an adventure for its own sake was no longer acceptable. Every work had to be of ideological value. Otherwise, it was classified as "bourgeois diversionism (A & G, 38)."
"As far as I was concerned, the Soviet system was sound, Marxism-Leninsim was the most progressive ideology in the world, and all Russia's problem could be attributed to the large number of "careerists" who had joined the party for personal gain(A & G, 48)."-it's not the system that's broken...this is her early on
A & G 65: Bloodshed in history, but she's no longer cool with it
A & G 66: Dissent begins with Lenin
****A & G 71:**** Beria trial
A & G 72: "In December 1953, Novy mir published an article innocuously title "On Sincerity in Literature." In it, Vladimir Pomerantsev, a little-known writer, accused the Soviet literary establishment of "varnishing reality" and churning out contrived, formulaic work that portrayed universal prosperity."
A & G 73: The Thaw
A & G 76: Secret Speech
A & G 86: Sybarites- dissident group
A & G 96: One Day in the Life...
A & G 97: " Sometime in the mid-1950s, poet Nikolai Glazkov decided to act as his own publisher. Glazkov, a fine poet and a bear of a man who made a living in menial jobs, folded blank sheets of paper and typed his verse on all four sides. Then he took a needle and thread and sewed the pages together at the crease. The result was something like a book.
On the bottom of the first shhet, Glazkov typed "samsebyaizdat" which was both an acronym for "I published myself" and a parody of "gospolitizdat," the name of an official publishing house. Later "samsebyaizdat" lost the reflexive sebya and was shortened to samizdat, "self-publishing."
Samizdat sprung up on its own, arising naturally from kompanii. It could not have existed without them. My friends and I helped each other fill the enormous void of information, and soon the izdat, publishing, part of samizdat became a kompaniya ritual: if you liked a manuscript, you borrowed it overnight and copied it on your typewriter. Generally, I made five copies. Three went to friends, the fourth went to the person who let me borrow the poem, and the fifth remained in my possession."
A & G 99: deals with translations
A & G 110: Daniel!!!
A & G 113: Daniel's publications
A & G 117: S & D arrested
120-leaflet to promote Pushkin Square
"Several months ago the organs of state security arrested two citizens: writers A. Sinyavsky and Yu. Daniel. There are reasons to fear violation of glasnost of the legal process. It is commonly known that violation of the law on glasnost (Article 3 of the Constitution of the USSR and Article 18 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Soviet Federation of Socialist Republic) constitutes an illegal action. It is inconceivable that the work of a writer could constitute a crime against the state.
In the past, unlawful actions by the authorities have taken the lives of millions of Soviet citizens. This blood stained past demands vigilance in the present. It is more prudent to give up oe day of tranquility than to spend years suffering the consequences of lawlessness that has not been stopped in time.
Soviet citizens have a means for resisting capricious actions of the authorities. That method is the Glasnost Meeting whose participants chant only one slogan: WE DE-MAND GLAS-NOST FOR THE TRIAL OF (followed by the last names of the accused)!" or where the participants display a corresponding banner. Any shouts or slogans that depart from demands of strict adherence to laws must be regarded as counter-productive or, possibly, provactional must be halted by participants of the meeting." (A-G, 120_
A & G 124: "It was hard to imagine the number of intermediate steps that went into te production of the book I held in my hands. There was the act of smuggling the manuscript to the West, then the no less dangerous act of smuggling the published books back into the country.
Inside was Yulik Daniel's voice and real people in surrealistic situations. There was the story of a young man who in siring children can guarantee which of them will be boys and which will be girls. If at the moment of ejaculation he visualizes Karl Marx...
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