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in the Soviet Union the so-called counter-revolutionaries and so
on, but what was more important was the opposition within the
Party-Trotsky, Bukharin, and so on. But no one at that time
tried to appeal to Western public opinion or to use Western
media. The one who started this was Djilas. He was really the
father of all dissident movements. Everybody else-Sakharov,
Solzhenytsin-have only followed his lead. He was Vice Presi–
dent of Yug'oslavia in 1953; in 1954 he lost his position, he was
arrested, he continued to write, to speak, to give interviews, and
so on. So one of the most important differences is that dissidents–
Djilas was the first-continued to live in their countries but used
Western public opinion as an instrument in their "struggle from
the inside." Even Trotsky did this.
The difference between the dissident movement and oppo–
sition in right-wing dictatorships is not so crucial, but in gen–
eral, it reflects the difference between authoritarian and totalitar–
ian countries. In authoritarian countries there is generally a
terrible limitation of freedom. But in totalitarian countries up to
ten years ago (and still today in China), there have been "active
unfreedoms"; not only are you limited in what you
can
do, but
you also
have
to do some things that you don't like. And so, to be
passive in the Soviet Union-in a totalitarian country-is some–
times to be a revolutionary, and you can't say the same about au–
thoritarian coun tries.
In answer to the third question, about an international
movement, looking at Solidarity and its proclaimed goals-am–
nesty of political prisoners, freedom of press, free trade unions,
and everything else-none of these has anything to do with Pol–
ish nationalism in any sense, and national independence is only
a precondition for international goals; that is, for democracy.
And so the dissidents' movement is really the new Internationale.
AMY KAUFMANN: I am a member of Amnesty International,
where I coedit the newsletter that goes out to groups working on
behalf of political prisoners in the Soviet Union. And I am also
friendly with an emigre family here in Cambridge, who are dis–
appointed with what they've found here; they don't like their
lives here. One of them would like to write, but, as the Ruman–
ian gentleman said, it's too difficult for Russians to write in
English. I'm starting a magazine here in Boston, and I know
many other editors who are very eager to get material written by
