Alexander Solzhenitsyn was born in Russia, DECEMBER 11, 1918.
He
was arrested for writing a letter criticizing Joseph Stalin and spent
11 years in labor camps. He began writing and eventually received the
Nobel Prize for Literature.
Speaking in Washington, D.C., June 30, 1975, Alexander Solzhenitsyn gave a warning to the west:
"In
pre-revolutionary Russia...there were attempts of the Tsar's
life...During these years about 17 persons a year were executed...
The Cheka (Communist Secret Police)...in 1918 and 1919...executed, without trial, more than a thousand persons a month!...
At the height of Stalin's terror in 1937-38...more than 40,000 persons were shot per month!
Here are the figures: 17 a year...1,000 a month, more than 40,000 a month!"
Solzhenitsyn continued:
"Roosevelt,
in Tehran, during one of his toasts, said...'I do not doubt that the
three of us' - meaning Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin - 'lead our
peoples in accordance with their desires'...We were astonished. We
thought, 'when we reach Europe, we will meet the Americans, and we will
tell them.'
I
was among the troops that were marching towards the Elbe (River). A
little bit more and I would have...shaken the hands of your American
soldiers. But just before that...I was taken off to prison and my
meeting did not take place...
After a delay of 30 years, my Elbe is here today. I am here to tell you...what...we wanted to tell you then...
There
is a...Russian proverb: 'The yes-man is your enemy, but your friend
will argue with you'...I am the friend...I have come to tell you...
One
of your leading newspapers, after the end of Vietnam, had a full
headline: 'The Blessed Silence.' I would not wish that kind of 'blessed
silence' on my worst enemy...I spent 11 years in the Archipelago (labor
camps)..."
A great gift - American Minute - notable events of American significance
Solzhenitsyn continued:
"It
is not detente (a lessening of tension) if we here...can spend our time
agreeably while over there people are groaning and dying and in
psychiatric hospitals.
Doctors are making their evening
rounds...injecting people with drugs which destroy their brain...There
are tens of thousands of political prisoners in our country...under
compulsory psychiatric treatment."
Solzhenitsyn went on:
"You know the words from the Bible: 'Build not on sand, but on rock'...
Lenin's
teachings are that anyone is considered to be a fool who doesn't take
what's lying in front of him. If you can take it, take it. If you can
attack, attack. But if there's a wall, then go back...
Communist leaders respect only firmness and have contempt and laugh at persons who continually give in to them..."
Solzhenitsyn concluded:
"I...call
upon America to be more careful with its trust...Prevent those...who
are attempting to establish even finer...legal shades of equality -
because of their distorted outlook...short-sightedness
and...self-interest - from falsely using the struggle for peace and for
social justice to lead you down a false road...
They are
trying to weaken you; they are trying to disarm your strong and
magnificent country in the face of this fearful threat - one that has
never been seen before in the history of the world...
I call upon you: ordinary working men of America...do not let yourselves become weak."
Alexander Solzhenitsyn stated:
"If
we don't know our own history, we will simply have to endure all the
same mistakes, sacrifices, and absurdities all over again."
In 1983, Solzhenitsyn received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, stating:
"We can only reach with determination for the warm hand of God, which we have so rashly and self-confidently pushed away."
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