Some individuals in USSR became informants for the secret police, Boris Pasternak
Some individuals became informants for the secret police. Certain individuals were able to envision Stalin as the personification of History itself. The cultural and intellectual landscape of the Soviet Union during the 1930s exhibited a dichotomy like to the two escalators of Moscow’s metro, each traveling in opposing directions. People who were disillusioned, cynical, shattered, and resigned stood on the descending escalator.
Some individuals in USSR became informants for the secret police, Boris Pasternak
Ascending the escalator were individuals who were youthful, driven, hopeful, and brimming with self-satisfied idealism. The Great Terror of the 1930s served as a significant moment when the rationality of fear and self-preservation among intellectuals and artists served as a strong correction to their objectives and endeavors. Even individuals who had fervently embraced the Revolution and actively supported the Bolshevik dictatorship throughout the periods of war communism, NEP, and the initial stages of Stalinist reforms experienced a sense of confinement.
The regime required every member of the Soviet intelligentsia to individually endorse acts of terror, either by impassioned speeches at rallies or by signing collective letters broadcast in Soviet media. Many academics chose to trash their archives and burn their diaries out of fear of being arrested and interrogated. The personal records within the confidential police archives are inaccessible, however, it can be inferred with certainty that nearly every individual working in the fields of academia, science, education, culture, and engineering possessed a file containing reports of accusations.
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During that period, intellectuals engaged in fierce competition, sacrificing their peers in order to ensure their own existence. Individuals with lineage tracing back to the “former classes,” such as the nobility, clergy, merchants, or kulaks, were susceptible to harm. In 1928, Dmitry Likhachev, a student at Leningrad University, was apprehended for his affiliation with a group of intellectuals who shared a deep appreciation for Russian culture.
Following a two-year period of internment in a concentration camp located on the Solovetsky Islands, as well as at the “correctional works” of the Belomor Canal, he was granted permission to return to Leningrad, the city formerly known as St. Petersburg or subsequently Petrograd. Cognizant of his persistent susceptibility, he secured a discreet position as a proofreader at the Academy of Sciences Press. All the staff members were individuals from previous cohorts who were unable to secure more favorable work.
Following the assassination of Kirov in 1934, Likhachev was informed by a female employee in the personnel department that she was compiling a roster of aristocratic individuals, and he was included in it. Indeed, Likhachev was not a member of the aristocratic class. He volunteered to transcribe the list at his own cost, so preserving his life. Every individual on the roster vanished inexplicably, leaving no evidence behind.
In 1938, Likhachev commenced his employment at the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) in Leningrad. He discovered a pervasive climate of betrayal and treachery, where only a small number of individuals displayed integrity amidst the multitude of dishonest individuals.
Boris Pasternak, like with numerous others, was captivated by Stalin’s ability to revolutionize Russia. He, like with many others, experienced the strong desire to abandon the outdated humanism of the old intellectuals, which he perceived as corrupt. The significance of the Russian Revolution in relation to contemporary European history, the destiny of Russia, and the author’s age enthralled his thoughts. However, his exceptional skill, honesty, and devout religious beliefs prevented him from harboring any false beliefs or misconceptions regarding the true nature of Stalinism.
He witnessed the devastation of the Russian countryside due to Stalin’s implementation of collectivization, with peasants desperately pleading for food and entire families of peasants forcibly removed from their homes and sent to Siberia. In 1933, following Hitler’s rise to power in Germany, Pasternak corresponded with his parents in Berlin, drawing a parallel between the Nazi dictatorship and Stalinism, stating that these two groups operate in coordination and exhibit similar traits.
Furthermore, one exacerbates the other. These represent the conservative and liberal factions of a single materialistic evening. Amidst the expanding terror under Stalin’s rule, Boris Pasternak found himself overwhelmed with misery and teetering on the edge of contemplating suicide. The individual was deeply disturbed when Stalin extended an offer of official acknowledgment, designating him as the foremost poet in the Soviet Union.
The chairman of the Kremlin assigned him one of the initial government-constructed country houses in Peredelkino, a village transformed into a somewhat pleasant enclave for “Soviet writers and poets.” Pasternak ceased his poetic endeavors and dedicated his efforts to translating Shakespearean tragedies, as well as Goethe’s Faust. He declined to peruse Soviet newspapers, which were replete with reports of killings.
In 1937, he abstained from attending the formal commemoration of Pushkin’s centennial. During that year, a significant number of his acquaintances met their demise; a portion resorted to suicide, while others succumbed to the harsh conditions of work camps. During Stalin’s reign, he and his secret police initiated the arrest and killing of prominent Old Bolsheviks.
As a result, all individuals belonging to the Soviet intelligentsia were compelled to sign petitions endorsing these executions and advocating for additional ones. Pasternak declined to sign, asserting: “I have not been bestowed with the authority to determine the fate of others.” He admitted to his acquaintance Kornei Chukovsky that he would prefer death over endorsing such “dishonorable behavior.”
