Andrei Sinyavsky
RUSSOPHOBIA
My remarks here are about anti-Semitism in the U.S.S.R. at the
present time. Ten years ago, the whole world heard about the national-reli–
gious renaissance in Russia. At about the same time, some skeptical judge–
ments and views on this topic appeared in the journal
Syntaxis.
My own
skepticism about this renaissance was that it could in some indirect fashion
lead to a new Russian fascism. The juxta position of orthodoxy and fascism
that I, cy nic that I am, perceived has itself provoked considerable
dissatisfaction among Russian emigres.
Soon after the emergence of this new nationalism, articles appeared on
the subject that were at first positively received by various parties and fac–
tions, as well as by myself and the West. The articles expressed views about
the importance of "the preservation of architectural monuments," a concern
with "environmentalism," "the restoration of the people's historical memory,"
and so on. Yet there was something disquieting in the accents, stresses, and
intonations with which these views were put forth. The same words can, in
principle, be interpreted in different ways.
For example, regarding the idea of restoring the Temple of Christ the
Saviour in Moscow, one could talk only about the desirability of the restora–
tion itself, or one could more precisely talk about who destroyed the Temple
in the first place - the bolsheviks. Further, one could assert that this bar–
barism was committed by Kaganovich, the son of Moses, Lazar; tha t the
temple was actually blown up upon his personal instruction. One could go on
to emphasize that the Jews in general did not respect Russian monuments
and Russian culture. This kind of thinking has led to the creation of the patri–
archal organization,
Parnyat
(Memory), with its anti-Semitic tendencies, and to
the appearance ofblack-shirted youth groups in Russia.
If one discusses these phenomena with liberals from the Soviet Union
who are visiting here, some of whom are very intelligent and decent, they
respond that it is all nonsense and that it will pass. They say that
Parnyat,
for
example, does not play any significant role in shaping contemporary Russian
consciousness. They reassure one that the thinking of the individuals respon–
sible for these phenomena is at such a low level and in such bad taste that
Editor's ote: These remarks were first presented at the Ke nnan Institute,
Washington, D. C., onJanuary 9,1990.
