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Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Ruby Jones.
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And I’m Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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“Are you afraid of death?” In July 2007, the Russian writer, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, was asked this question. He was being interviewed by the internet news website, Spiegel. Alexander replied:
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“No, I am not afraid of death any more. When I was young, the early death of my father was like a darkness over me – he died at the age of twenty–seven – and I was afraid to die before all my literary plans came true. But between thirty and forty years of age, my attitude to death became calm and balanced. I feel it is a natural, but by no means the final, major point of one’s life.”
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On August 3 2008, Alexander died. His heart failed. He was eighty–nine years old. Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s life was not easy. He experienced poverty, prison, exile, and cancer. He struggled against secrecy and political oppression in his home country of Russia. But through all these things, he wrote beautiful, honest literature, telling the truth of his experiences, and of his country.
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Today’s Spotlight is on the life and work of Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
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Alexander Solzhenitsyn did not start as a great writer. He started as a teacher. During World War Two, he served as a weapons officer for the Soviet government of Russia. And twice he earned medals, awards for his courage.
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However in February 1945, before the war ended, Alexander was arrested. The government had read a letter he had written to a friend. In this letter he wrote disrespectful things about Joseph Stalin, a leader in the Soviet Union. When Alexander was arrested, the officers also found hidden stories and writings. They claimed that these opposed and damaged the Soviet government. So, the government sentenced Alexander to eight years in a Soviet labour camp, or Gulag.
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The gulag prison system was very difficult for prisoners. Prisoners were not given enough food, or medical care. They were forced to do hard physical labor. Often, a prison sentence promised death. Over eight years, Alexander served in three different camps. And he experienced many terrible things.
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In his interview with Spiegel, Alexander said he never stopped writing.
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“When I was in the gulag I would sometimes even write on stone walls. I used to write on small pieces of paper. Then I memorized the writing and destroyed the papers.”
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During his time in the third camp, Alexander developed a tumor in his stomach. This hard mass is often a sign of the disease cancer. He was treated, but not for cancer. When Alexander finished his time of service in the gulag, he should have been freed. However, he was exiled to the country of Kazakhstan. He lived in exile for three years. During this time his cancer got much worse. Alexander wrote about it when he accepted the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970.
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“At the end of 1953, I was very near death. I was unable to eat. I could not sleep and was severely affected by the poisons from the tumour. However, I was able to go to a cancer medical centre at Tashkent, where, in 1954, I was cured.”
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During his exile and sickness, Alexander still continued to write in secret. He wrote the truth of his experiences – even though this truth was dangerous. If it had been found, Alexander would have faced severe punishment. Because of this, he never thought he would be able to publish any of his writings. In fact, in his autobiography he said:
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“During all the years until 1961, I was sure that I should never see a single line of mine in print in my lifetime...Finally, at the age of forty–two, this secret writing began to wear me down. The most difficult thing of all was that I could not get my works judged by people with training in literature.”
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In 1956, a military court decided that Alexander Solzhenitsyn could return to the Soviet Union. And in 1961, the Communist party eased their firm laws about literature. In 1962, Alexander’s first book was published: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. This book was based on his experiences in the Gulag. It was this book that made him famous. He told the world the terrible things that took place in the labour camps, by describing one prisoner’s day there.
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Alexander struggled to continue publishing his work. His next two books, The First Circle and The Cancer Ward, were based on his experiences with cancer during exile. In the Soviet Union, the secret police seized these writings. However in 1968, he finally published these books in England and Western Europe.
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In 1970, Alexander was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature. This was an amazing honour. But Alexander was not able to travel to receive his prize. Alexander was afraid that if he left the Soviet Union, the government would not let him return.
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In 1973, Alexander decided to publish another book about his experience in the gulag. He hid The Gulag Archipelago from the Soviet authorities for a long time. It was a series of three books about the Soviet forced labor prison system. They contained true stories about the lives of prisoners. And they described in greater detail how the Soviet prison system worked.
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Alexander finally published The Gulag Archipelago in Paris, France. It caused a new understanding in Western Countries. Many people understood in a new way how the Soviet Union treated its citizens. This release of Soviet secrets to the world made the Soviet government angry. So in 1974, the government once again exiled Alexander. And this time, they said he was no longer a citizen of the Soviet Union.
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So, Alexander lived in Germany and Switzerland before finally moving to the United States. In the U.S. he continued to write. For over seventeen years, he worked on a four part history of the Russian Revolution. It was called The Red Wheel. And while he lived in the United States, he was able to continue publishing all his writing. But, Alexander was never very happy in the United States. He saw many problems in Western countries – in particular, people’s weakness and spiritual emptiness.
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In 1990, changes in the politics of the Soviet Union made it possible for Alexander to become a citizen again. However, he did not return to his home country at this time. He still did not agree with the government.
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In 1991, the Communist government of the Soviet Union was defeated. The Soviet Union broke into many countries. And in 1994, Alexander returned to his home country of Russia.
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In Moscow, Alexander continued to write until he died. Not everyone agrees with Alexander Solzhenitsyn. In fact, many people did not like him or what he wrote. But he knew he must share the truth. And this commitment to the truth has encouraged and inspired people all over the world.
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