At that time this was the only way to bring the forbidden book from Paris to
Russia.
In Krasnoyarsk, they still have one of these unique tiny volumes containing Solzhenitsyn’s “GULAG Archipelago”; it was printed in matchbox size.
The Krasnoyarskian Vladimir Sirotinin brought it from Moscow to Sibiria in 1973. (Today Vladimir Georgievich is a member of the Krasnoyarsk “Memorial” Organization. In Soviet times he, who was working for the local Institut of Science and Research as an engineer, refused to join the Communist Party. He was considered as a dissident and averted the disaster of his arrest and imprisonment as if by a miracle).
- The “GULAG Archipelago” was first published in Paris in 1973, - Vladimir Georgievich told us. – The little booklet you see over there is one of the very first editions of the “GULAG” printed in Paris. Of course, it was difficult and dangerous to bring books of anti-Soviet contents into the country (USSR). Thus, it was decided to print such tiny formates, no bigger than a matchbox: the complete text would fit into it, even though in tiniest letters.
Different kinds of people brought forbidden literature to Russia from abroad –
diplomates, artists, journalists and so on. They would usually hide them between
their belongings. I was handed over the “Archipelago” by some friends from the
Institute in Moscow, after someone else had already taken it to Russia. It was
not really complicated to take it from Moscow to Krasnoyarsk – for their was no
special luggage inspection on the airport. And here the book was passed on from
one hand to the other.
Having returned to Krasnoyarsk, I began to print the “GULAG” myself. I was reached out films and started to take pictures of the pages by means of an enlarger. Once, while I was just waiting for a new series of pictures to get dry, people came to my home for an unexpected search of my rooms.
The “Archipelago” conspiciously lay on the divan, in a black envelope, under some photographic paper. In the twinkling of an eye my wife Sveta accomplished a heroic deed. When the chekists turned round for just a second, she took th elittle bundle containing the “GULAG” and hid it inside her housefrock, somewhere in her underwear. Thankfully, nobody noticed this. In any case, they would have convicted me of being in possession of the “GULAG” – for sure …
Vladimir Sirotinin admits that he was so shocked about the news on Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s death that he had to struggle for a long time to regain his composure.
- Although it did not happen unexpectedly – Alekxander Isaevich reached an old age, after all. Nonetheless – it is very hard for me to accept his death as a fact. All this is part of an era, and now this era has come to an abrupt end. And many people have not even read those masterpieces which we, some time in the past, were risking our freedom for! Though there are so many basic masterpieces, such as “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, which you just have to read. It is a must – no matter which time we live in.
Maria MISHKINA
“Komsomolskaia Pravda” – Krasnoyarsk – 06.08.2008
Photo: Aleksander CHERNYCH