State Machine Versus Vasil Bykov :: Charter'97 :: News

Vasil Bykov never loved those in power. The only Soviet head of state, whom the national writer of Belarus respected, was Mikhail Gorbachev, whom he also criticized quite frequently. This lack of sympathy to Bykov was also manifested by the officials of all levels and times. However, their hatred took on different forms. Let us not concentrate on the Soviet times, but rather turn to the history of independent Belarus.

As if deliberately he didn’t mention personalities, preferring to describe the phenomenon itself: “In Belarus the reanimated communist party retains grip on power. It has its people in all levels and bodies of power without exception: legislative, executive and judicial. The country’s economy is tied to the Russian industry and the common petroleum and energy complex, controlled by Moscow”.

Such a policy is of course denounced by a dissident. His word has always been authoritative, while his independence ideas were applied in practice by the Belarusian Popular Front – Bykov was member of its Sojm since the moment of the organization’s foundation. Bykov calls BPF leader Zyanon Poznyak “an apostle of people’s truth” (a definition, cited in Bykov’s essay “The Leader”). That’s why all hindrances, made by the authorities against BPF, also touched upon the national writer. Defamation campaign, unleashed by state media against the Front, also targeted Vasil Bykov.

“People of my age, especially war veterans, are no longer people of the same mind with me. They are going in a different direction,” – wrote Bykov with bitterness. Nonetheless, the official representatives, realizing well the significance of his personality, never allowed themselves to publicly discredit Bykov. They deprived him of TV and radio air, though continued to issue his books in small numbers.

Cinema actor Vladimir Gostukhin, regime’s adherent, who had once played the role of partisan Rybak in Bykov’s film “Sotnikov” couldn’t refrain from insults. In an interview to one of the Russian editions Gostukhin said about Bykov the following: “He is a talented person, but is currently breathing hatred. He betrayed Sotnikov and I’m not afraid to say that in open”.

Meantime, the state propaganda machine was working at full speed in order to discredit Bykov. The movie, produced a few years ago at the “Belarusfilm” cinema studio – “Na chornyh lyadah” (on one of Bykov’s novels), has never been broadcasted in public.

As a result, having received an invitation from one of the PEN-center’s affiliates abroad, Bykov left for a 1,5 year residence to Finland. Afterwards he moved to Germany and then to the Czech Republic. By the way, a permission to settle down in the latter he received personally from the hands of a then Czech president Vatslav Gavel. At home the authorities kept spreading rumors that Vasil Bykov received a political fugitive’s status there. Moreover, the “Narodnaya Volya” newspaper was even reprimanded for calling Bykov’s departure abroad an “exile”.

In fact, there emanated huge number of all sorts of rumors from them. For instance, they alleged that Bykov hasn’t written anything over the past couple of years. BT correspondent Revytsky repeated that non-sense already after the writer’s demise on June 23 during the midday newscast. In reality, things were quite different, not to say opposite.

Bykov wrote and published three books, when working abroad, one of them being “The Wall”. In May last year the editor-in-chief of the state literature holding, subdued to the presidential administration, called on all state editions (for there are practically no independent ones left as such) not to publish the materials of the authors, critical of the current authorities. Among those, blacklisted by him, Bykov’s name came on top.

But Vasil Bykov didn’t respond to it. Instead, he sought to finish his last book “Long Way Home”. In no time after he ended it, he died.