Sinyavsky-Daniel trial

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Sinyavsky-Daniel trial (Russian: процесс Синявского и Даниэля) was the trial against Russian writers Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel, which took place in Moscow Supreme court, between autumn 1965 and February 1966, presided by L.P. Smirnov. The writers were accused of having published anti-Soviet material in foreign editorials using pseudonyms Abram Terz or Абрам Терц (Sinyavsky) and Nikolay Arzhak or Николай Аржак (Daniel). The court sentenced the writers to 5 and 7 years of forced labour.

Daniel and Sinyavsky could not publish their creations in USSR, and they sent them to western countries (mainly, France) for publications under pseudonyms Abram Tertz (Sinyavsky) [1] [2] [3] and Nikolay Arzhak (Daniel) [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]. When KGB revealed the authorship of the novels mentioned, the writers were arrested.

There was a strong pressure on writers through the mass media [9] [10][11], typical for the Soviet show trials. Daniel was sentenced to five years of hard labor. On February 14, 1966, Sinyavsky was sentenced to seven years for "anti-Soviet activity". Unprecedented in the USSR, both writers plead not guilty.

Louis Aragon wrote about the trial: "To make opinion a crime is something more harmful to the future of socialism than the works of these two writers could ever have been. It leaves a bit of fear in our hearts that one may think this type of trial is inherent in the nature of Communism." [12]

The affair was accompanied by harsh propaganda campaign in the media. A group of Soviet luminaries sent a letter to Leonid Brezhnev asking not to rehabilitate Stalinism. Among the signatories were the academicians Andrei Sakharov, Igor Tamm, Lev Artsimovich, Pyotr Kapitsa, Ivan Maysky, writers Konstantin Paustovsky, Korney Chukovsky, actors Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Maya Plisetskaya, Oleg Yefremov, directors Georgy Tovstonogov, Mikhail Romm, Marlen Khutsiyev and others. Several people, including Larisa Bogoraz, sent independent letters in support of Siniavski and Daniel.

As historian Fred Coleman writes, "Historians now have no difficulty pinpointing the birth of the modern Soviet dissident movement. It began in February 1966 with the trial of Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel, two Russian writers who ridiculed the Communist regime in satires smuggled abroad and published under pen names... Little did they realize at the time that they were starting a movement that would help end Communist rule."[13]

The process of Sinyavsky and Daniel brought to the end the period of Khruschev's liberalism (Khrushchev Thaw), and the beginning of Brezhnev's epoch (Brezhnev Stagnation).

[edit] References

  • A Day in the Life of Yuli Daniel. "Time magazine", Friday, Jun. 06, 1969. [10]
  1. ^ 844. Терц Абрам. Фантастические повести: В цирке. Ты и я. Квартиранты. Графоманы. Гололедица. Пхенц; Суд идет; Любимов; Что такое социалистический реализм / Вступ. ст.: Филиппов Б.; Суперобл.: Сафонов Н..- Нью-Йорк: Междунар. Лит. Содружество, 1967.- 455 с. Номер хранения 776. (in Russian) [1]
  2. ^ Абрам Терц. В ЦИРКЕ. (появлениe в самиздате: 1960 - 1965 гг.) [2]
  3. ^ Абрам Терц. ЧТО ТАКОЕ СОЦИАЛИСТИЧЕСКИЙ РЕАЛИЗМ [3]
  4. ^ Николай АРЖАК. Искупление. Рассказ. Inter-Language Literary Associates, New York, 1964, 71 стр.
  5. ^ Аржак, Николай. «Говорит Москва». Повести и рассказы. Нью-Йорк, Inter-Language Literary Associates, 1966.
  6. ^ Аржак Н. Говорит Москва. Повести и рассказы. / Вст. ст. и послесловие Б.Филиппова. Нью Йорк Международное литературное содружество 1966г.168 с.
  7. ^ НИКОЛАЙ АРЖАК — Человек из МИНАПа [4]
  8. ^ The heroism of writers was mentioned by a publisher (Я.Н.Горбов. "Возрождение", #145, 1964). [5]
  9. ^ Андрей Синявский. ДИССИДЕНТСТВО КАК ЛИЧНЫЙ ОПЫТ. [6]
  10. ^ ДИССИДЕНТЫ ЮЛИЙ ДАНИЭЛЬ-АРЖАК, АНДРЕЙ СИНЯВСКИЙ-ТЕРЦ И ПЕРВЫЕ УРОКИ ДЕМОКРАТИИ ДЛЯ СССР (1998) [7]
  11. ^ Secret protocol of Central Committee of Communist party about restriction of publicity of the Daniel-Sinyavsky trail (in Russian). [8]
  12. ^ A Bit of Fear. "Time magazine", Friday, Feb. 25, 1966; [9]
  13. ^ Coleman, Fred (August 15, 1997). The Decline and Fall of Soviet Empire : Forty Years That Shook The World, From Stalin to Yeltsin. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-16816-0.  p. 95