<< No. 43 : 31 December 1976 >>

FOURTEEN ITEMS

[1]

Dirt by Post

On 8 July the New York paper Russky Golos (The Voice of Russia) printed an article entitled “Madame Bonner – Sakharov’s Evil Genius?”

It is full of malicious and nasty attacks on Yelena Georgievna BONNER, the wife of Andrei Sakharov. It is clear that the author is strangely well-informed about Ye. G. Bonner’s private life. One abusive reference to Ye. G. Bonner is attributed to the late Grigory S. Podyapolsky [¹].

A copy of the paper was sent to Yelena Bonner by an unknown person from the USA. Not wishing to worry her mother, Bonner did not tell her about the lampoon. When Ruth Grigoryevna Bonner, Ye. G. Bonner’s mother, was in the flat on her own, however, someone rang the door-bell at 2 am and advised her to take a look at the paper sent to her daughter from the United States [correction CCE 44.28].

The newspaper Russky Golos is almost unknown among Russian emigrants in the USA.

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[2]

In October 1976 Yelena Bonner received a letter from Kalinin (Central Russia), the author of which demanded 6,000 roubles – which he needed to emigrate from the USSR – by trying to blackmail her. The letter was signed “Semyon Zlotnik”.

Bonner did not reply. In December a large number of Muscovites and Leningraders received letters from Vienna in which “Semyon Zlotnik” tried to “open their eyes” about Ye. G. Bonner. It turned out that there was no one called Semyon in the Zlotnik family to which the author of the letter said he belonged, and that the return address – of someone called “Sandler” – given on the envelopes was imaginary.

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[3]

CHERNIGOV (Ukraine). Lev Grigorevich LUKYANENKO (CCE 33.5-2, CCE 39.2-2), who has served a term of 15 years (1961-1976), now lives in Chernigov under administrative surveillance.

In May Lukyanenko was fined – for having accompanied his wife to the airport – and this was noted as his first “infringement of the surveillance regulations”. His second “infringement” was “arranged” in the following way: because of urgent work (he is working as an electrician in a hospital) he had telephoned the police and asked for permission to report two hours later than arranged; he was told that he need not come that day as he would have an appointment with Gavrilenko at 10 o’clock the next day; however, the next day he was told at the police station that no one had summoned him for an appointment and that perhaps some rascal had played a joke on him. Lukyanenko was fined 30 roubles and his second “infringement” was noted. On 26 November, because of an attack of illness (Lukyanenko had even summoned an ambulance) he was one and a half hours late in reporting. The police threatened that Lukyanenko would be arrested and tried.

At the end of October, a search was carried out at Lukyanenko’s home in connection with the case of P. V. Ruban from the town of Priluki, whom Lukyanenko did not even know. Letters, postal receipts and university lecture notes of twenty years ago (his and his wife’s) were taken away.

L. G. Lukyanenko is a founder member of the Ukrainian Helsinki group (CCE 43.6).

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[4]

CHUNA (Irkutsk Region). The authorities are continuing to persecute Anatoly Marchenko in his Siberian exile.

On 29 October, while he was registering in the regular way, Commandant Korzun showered Marchenko with threats and insults for no reason at all: “People like you should be hanged from pillars,” “I won’t let you get away with nothing but exile,” “If anyone beats you up on the street, I’ll thank him myself.” In addition, Korzun made Marchenko stay in his office by physical force, shaking his fists in his face, trying to provoke him into “resisting the police”. He also boasted: “Complain to whoever you want, it won’t help you” – and he turned out to be right. A complaint from Marchenko’s wife to the MVD was sent to the Irkutsk Regional UVD, and there the officials refused even to look through it.

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[5]

MOSCOW. In the middle of October the local policeman Prudnikov, with some people’s vigilantes, paid a visit to the flat of Irina Zholkovskaya and, on meeting her husband Alexander Ginzburg there, took him to the local police station.

There the policeman drew up a report, charging Ginzburg with violating residence regulations (the fifth report in the past six months). Ginzburg explained that he had not committed any violations, as every three days he was regularly present in the town of Tarusa, where he was registered, and he came to Moscow to visit his wife and children, as well as to work. He refused to sign the report; the vigilantes did not sign it either, considering it unjust. Then Ginzburg was taken to the police station and given the usual warning.

The Tarusa police have also tried to prevent Ginzburg travelling to Moscow to visit his family. Police chief Volodin drew up a “warning”, demanding that he “find work” within a month. Ginzburg is working for A. D. Sakharov, but the Tarusa police do not wish to recognize this work and are threatening him with prosecution for parasitism.

On 13 December a second warning to find work was delivered to him – although Sakharov sent the police documents confirming that Ginzburg was gainfully employed, “You must register your work through a trade union,” he was told. “But I don’t belong to a trade union.” “Then your work doesn’t count for anything.”

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[6]

TARUSA. Volodin, chief of the Tarusa police, has demanded that Valentina Mashkova (wife of Vladimir Osipov) should find work: she is the mother of two children and the youngest is one-and-a-half years old. “I’ve dealt with tougher characters than you here,” he threatened Mashkova.

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[7]

MOSCOW. The chief of police station 96 in Moscow has delivered a demand to Larissa Bogoraz that she find work within a month.

If she does not, he threatens to prosecute her for parasitism: “In our country only the wives of professors can be housewives. There’s a special list showing whose wives can be housewives.” He also informed her that children were considered infants up to the age of one year, but that the mothers of three-year-old children must work (her child is three-and-a-half years old).

At the demand of L. Bogoraz, the record mentioned that she had nineteen years of work behind her, that her husband and eldest son were employed, and that she was willing to find work in her own specialized field (L. Bogoraz is a philologist and a Candidate of Science).

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[8]

MOSCOW. On 25 November a concert in memory of Vera Matveyeva (CCE 42.9 [16]) was to have taken place at the club of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy (Moscow).

Two days before, “officials” told the organizer that the concert was not to take place if Luferov, Berezhkov and Mirzayan (authors of amateur songs and close friends of V. Matveyeva) were on the programme. On 24 November the organizer was informed that the club’s power would be disconnected on the 25th (it would have no light, nor any electricity at all).

In November-December two concerts by A. Mirzayan were banned, at the Institute of Physics & Mathematics and the Institute of Architecture.

At the end of November, the KGB summoned people who had attended the “Sunday concerts” of last summer and autumn near Moscow (CCE 41.13, CCE 42.9 [16]) or the literary gatherings connected with them. During these conversations the KGB showed them photographs of those who had taken part. Among those summoned a certain Ptitsyn and his friend (nicknamed “Lucifer”), who call themselves “hippies”, are willingly ready “to give testimony” (and tell their friends about it afterwards).

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[9]

LENINGRAD. As happened last year (CCE 38.19 [31]), 13 December was chosen for a meeting in memory of the 1825 Decembrist rising by a group of poets and artists.

The evening before, about 50 people received notes summoning them for a talk. At 12 noon seven people assembled on Senate Square: Veretennikova, T. Goricheva, N. Poletayeva, T. Podgayevskaya, L. Rudkevich, Smutkovskaya and N. Sharymova. All seven were taken to a police station (where they were called “Decembrists”). Goricheva and Podgayevskaya were searched and Gospels were confiscated from them. Podgayevskaya wanted to write her protests on to the record, and when she was not allowed to do so she tore the record up. For this she was handed a notification of her trial the following day. On the morning of 14 December, the judge returned her Gospels to her, and talking to her, advised her to “forget this incident”.

Goricheva was also given back her Gospels. Smutkovskaya and Poletayeva, who did not have their passports with them, were taken home to Poletayeva’s flat by the police, who then searched it (without a warrant).

Nothing was confiscated.

Some of the participants in this event are linked with the journal “37” (CCE 43.16 [4]).

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[10]

LENINGRAD. In December, the Russian literary historian Ilya Zakharovich Serman and his wife Ruf Alexandrovna Zernova left the USSR. Serman had not intended to emigrate until he was dismissed from his job at Pushkin House because of his daughter’s emigration (CCE 41.12).

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[11]

ODESSA. Viktor Goncharov (CCE 41.5 [4], CCE 42.3 [15]) was sentenced on 4 October to two years in camps (maximum term) under the Article of the RSFSR Criminal Code “Falsification of Documents”.

At the trial Goncharov tried to say that he had not been arrested at the airport while trying to buy a ticket on a forged student pass (as alleged in the case and reported by CCE 42.3 [15]), but on the street by officials of the KGB. However, the judge interrupted him: “The court is not interested in the circumstances of your arrest.” The appeal court reduced his sentence to one year.

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[12]

LENINGRAD. Gennady Trifonov (CCE 42.3) has been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment under the following articles of the RSFSR Criminal Code: “Sodomy” and “Debauchery”. No episodes linked with Trifonov’s relations with the KGB were investigated in court.

During the pre-trial investigation Trifonov gave abundant testimony on the “Slogans case”. He was also used as a witness in the trial of Okulova (this issue CCE 43.5).

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[13]

LENINGRAD. A search at the home of Professor Ya. S. Lurye, which yielded no results (CCE 41.12), was brought about by the testimony of Mikhail Kazachkov, a former staff-member at the Institute of Physics and Technology, who was arrested in spring this year.

Kazachkov was sentenced in September to 15 years’ imprisonment under three articles of the Criminal Code: “Treason to the Motherland” — according to the indictment he spied for the USA; “Contraband” and “Large-scale speculation” in pictures and antiques. Kazachkov stated during the investigation that Lurye stored anti-Soviet literature.

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[14]

BALTIC FLEET. So far there is no news of the fate of arrested crew-members of the Baltic Fleet patrol ship (port of registration, Kaliningrad) who tried to flee abroad under the command of Captain of 3rd rank Sablin, deputy commander of the ship responsible for political security [²].

On the night of 7-8 November 1975, the ship, which was en route from Riga, changed course for Sweden. On leaving the Gulf of Riga it came under bombardment and surrendered to approaching ships without resisting. Some of the crew were immediately sent to Moscow under arrest, some were transferred to other ships (all officers were demoted in rank). The ship itself was towed into the port of Liepaja, where it was repainted and given the new name “Druzhba”.

At the various consultations and instruction sessions for political officers and commanders of the Baltic fleet which later took place, instructors who had come from headquarters were apparently asked certain questions. In any case (oral?) instructions were received everywhere that no answers and no information about the incident were to be given out. Discussions of what had happened in the fleet were ordered to be stopped.

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NOTES

1. Grigory Podyapolsky (1926-1976) was a founding member of the Action Group and later joined the Committe for Human Rights. A certain mystery remains about the circumstances of his death: “Obituary” (CCE 39.1).
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2. Sablin’s execution was reported later in the Chronicle (CCE 48.10-1 March 1978).
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