WRITERS IN EXILE
369
dom of speech in Russia, do you think it's possible for there to be
an independent peace movement in Russia today that is not a
tool of the Soviet government? Specifically, there is an American
disarmament group in Cleveland that has been corresponding
with a group of women in the Soviet Union who say they are an
independent peace group. In your opinion, and to your knowl–
edge, would this be possible, or would these women be tools of
the Soviet government?
PAVEL LITVINOV: My short answer is, of course, No. An inde–
pendent peace movement is impossible at the present moment in
the Soviet Union. I don't know what this group is, but I would
say it 's very likely an official Soviet group whose purpose is to
fool the American public. The easiest way to find out would be
for the American group in Cleveland to write to the Soviet group
and ask to be invited to the Soviet Union to express their point of
view to the Soviet public, to speak on Soviet
T.
V. together, and
so on.
If
such a meeting could be arranged then I would take
back my accusation.
MIHAJLO MIHAJLOV (University of Virginia): I have three
short questions, and want to clear up something that I feel we
should have cleared up at the outset this morning. First, what is
the difference between dissident movements and all opposition
movements in all right-wing dictatorships? Second, what is the
difference between the dissident movement and all previous op–
position movements in the USSR, even before World War II?
And third, what is the difference between Soviet dissident
movements and similar dissident movements in Poland, Yugo–
slavia, China, and so on? Are all these dissident movements simi–
lar? Does it mean that the dissident movement is international,
or are there separate national movements?
PAVEL LITVINOV: I can't speak for everyone, but it looks like
I've been appointed to answer all these questions.
TRANSLATOR: I have a suggestion: Why doesn't Mr. Mihajlov
answer the questions himself?
PAVEL LITVINOV: That's a very good idea. For those who
don't know, Mihajlo Mihajlov is a former Yugoslavian writer.
He says he's from Virginia, but he is from Yugoslavia and was
originally Russian, from a Russian emigre family in Yugoslavia.
MIHAJLO MIHAJLOV: In answer to my first question, if we
remember the opposition before World War II, first there existed
