Solzhenitsyn Alexander

Alexander Solzhenitsyn TLS Mentioning Soviet Dissidents Andrei Sakharov & Igor Ogurtsov

1p TLS signed by Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) at bottom center. Written in Cavendish, Vermont on August 21, 1979. On an 8.5" x 11" sheet of watermarked white paper, accompanied by the original transmittal envelope. Expected light paper folds, else near fine. The envelope bearing a cancelled 15 cent Oliver Wendell Holmes stamp and postmarked on September 26, 1979 has been letter-opened at top.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote correspondent "Rev. Roger K. Arnold" of Silver Spring, Maryland, in part:

"I heartily welcome your activity for the defense of Igor Ogurtsov and hope that your organization will succeed in widening his defense and obtaining a wide audience here, in America.

As far as I am concerned, I have undertaken a series of actions to save Ogurtsov from prison, where he is perishing. In particular, I have appealed personally to President Carter. I am ready to support the actions of your organization in the matter of aid to Ogurtsov in a form acceptable both to you and to me…

In particular, it is our opinion that the appearance in English of the wonderful pamphlet which your organization published in German and French would be highly desirable and timely…In September, in Washington, the Sakharov Hearings will be held, during which Ogurtsov's case will be heard…"

The subject of Solzhenitsyn's letter was Igor Vyacheslavovich Ogurtsov (born 1937), the founder of the All-Russian Social-Christian Union for the Liberation of People, known by its anglicized acronym, VSKhSON. Ogurtsov and other alumni from Leningrad State University had formed and operated VSKhSON between 1964-1967. The organization aimed to reintroduce institutionalized religion into the atheistic Soviet state, by having its national policies and leaders shaped by Christian ethics. Its members were religious clerics, political dissidents, human rights activists, and individuals from the geographical and social fringes of Soviet society: Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Crimeans, and Jews.

Ogurtsov and VSKhSON members were charged with treason starting in 1967. In February 1967, Ogurtsov was sentenced to 7 years in Vladimir Prison, 8 years in a prison camp, and 5 years in exile, or a cumulative 20 years' punishment. When Solzhenitsyn wrote this letter in the summer of 1979, Ogurtsov was still languishing in prison. He was in poor physical health and had purportedly been denied access to medical care.

Ogurtsov's case, along with other causes célèbres, were avidly discussed at the "Sakharov Hearings" referenced in Solzhenitsyn's letter. The 4-day-long International Sakharov Hearings began a month later, on September 26, 1979 in Washington, D.C. Russian scientist Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989) had become the figurehead of the anti-Soviet dissident movement after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his activism in 1975.

Passionate lobbying on the part of Solzhenitsyn and his correspondent Arnold failed to reduce Ogurtsov's sentence. He remained a prisoner until entering into compulsory exile in Germany. Ogurtsov returned to Russia in 1992, where, four years later, his guilty verdict was publicly reaffirmed. Though the Soviet Union had collapsed, its political legacy of mistrust and persecution remained strong.

Solzhenitsyn was very familiar with the Soviet era justice system. He was imprisoned in a Soviet work camp between 1945-1953, an experience that inspired his most famous work, 1973's the Gulag Archipelago. This work, along with others criticizing historical Soviet leadership and practices, led to Solzhenitsyn's deportation in 1974. The exiled intellectual lived in West Germany, Switzerland, and the United States before returning to Russia in 1994.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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