WORLD Working for the future by — dealing with the past MOSCOW — A minor earthquake shook the Soviet intellectual community last month, though few outside of the USSR seemed to notice. The Soviet state archives announced May 22 that of 1,109,086 files in its pos- session which had formerly been classi- fied as ‘‘restricted,’’ 767,195 will now be opened to the scrutiny of scholars and other serious researchers. A commission has been established to revise and clarify the rules for access to archival materials and to continue the review of files which still remain closed. For Soviet historians and other social scientists, this mass release of the raw materials for historical and sociological inquiry may well be the most momentous development since 1956. Among other things, the newly opened files will shed light on the negative side of the Stalin era, some of the most difficult, painful — and previously unmentionable — topics in Soviet history. Speaking at a recent congress of Soviet journalists, Mikhail Gorbachev declared that “‘there must be no blank pages in our history.”’ In saying so, he was taking dead aim at certain areas of backwardness in Soviet social science. Historiography in particular has suf- fered, with many subjects closed to investigation, important personalities de- leted and their roles denied, and complex historical events reduced to cliches and summed up with labels rather than analysis. Western historians have long dismis- sed and even ridiculed their Soviet counterparts because of this. But Soviet historians have themselves always been aware that their treatment of some as- pects of Soviet history has been stilted and selective. However, they have had no concensus among themselves on how best to open subjects which are fraught with the danger of social division and filled with bitter passions or, indeed, whether it should be done at all. I recall visiting Moscow during the summer of 1970, and going to the cinema to see Liberation, one of the first Soviet films to attempt a presentation of Joseph Stalin in a balanced way as an historical personage. When the Stalin character came on screen, there was a scattering of applause in the audience. But from the other parts of the theatre came low hisses and other noises of scorn and derision. There is the problem in a nutshell. For virtually all Soviets, the tremen- dous achievements of their country and’ their social system are a source of intense pride. This is a land which transformed itself from a semi-feudal backwater to a modern industrial power within the space of decades and which, in the pro- cess, won an almost miraculous victory Over naziism and rose to challenge the global supremacy of the foremost capitalist state, the USA. The simple, unavoidable fact is that many of these towering historic accomplishments are inextricably associated with the name of Stalin. % That there is a dark side to the Stalin era has always been known, but never allowed to be fully examined and analyzed. Soviet scholars now realize, however, that many of the problems Soviet society is wrestling with today have their roots in that period. Economic ° miscalculations, political excess and repression and distortions in science and culture created long-lived bureaucratic structures and styles of work, and left behind people who were wrongly vic- timized as well as some who wrongly benefitted — each of whom remembers 8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JUNE 10, 1987 From Moscow Fred Weir _ events to this day in their own distinct way. : : Now the Communist Party of the Soviet Union has clearly decided that it is time to re-open these old sores in order to heal them. In doing so, however, they are apparently being careful not to repeat the flamboyant and self-serving ico- noclasm with _which Khruschev conducted his ‘‘de-Stalinization’’ cam- paign some 30 years ago. Rather, their approach is to gradually make all the relevant information available, and to create a climate in which scholars, journalists and artists can freely move in and perform their natural social roles. An explosion of re-examination and remembrance is already underway in Soviet culture. The film Repentance, which began playing to mass audiences in February, is a searing allegory of the Stalin era which focusses upon the tragic fate of those who fail to come fully to terms with the past. Made in 1984 by Georgian film producer Tengiz Abuladze, Repentance is one of 12 Soviet movies that were put ‘‘on the shelf’’ by censors in the past and only recently re- leased. | The publishing event of this year is certainly Anatoly Rybakov’s ‘‘Children of the Arbat’’, an autobiographical novel about the Stalinist repressions of the 1930s which went unpublished for 20 years. Currently being serialized in the journal Drughba Narodov, the book has attracted excited comment in the Soviet press for its sharp and uncompromising portrait of Stalin as well as ordinary people at all levels of society, including those who fell victim to the purges. Other literary sensations in the same vein include Vladimir Dudintsev’s Robed in White, a novel about Lysen- koism, and Alexander Bek’s The New Ap- pointment, a picture of moral corruption in the Stalinist bureaucracy. . But it remains for Soviet historians to do the real work of setting the Stalin era in perspective. A delegation of the Communist Party of Canada, currently we in the USSR to study the changes taking place here, has received some astonish- ingly full and frank accounts of the new developments in this area from highly- placed Soviet officials and academics. Among the initiatives already under- Way are a new eight-volume history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union which will go far toward restoring the sense of controversy and struggle,. the messy complexities and purged per- sonalities which were written out of pre- Actor Makharadze in a scene from Abuladze’s film ‘Repentance’. A sear- ing allegory of the Stalin era dealing with the tragic fate of those who fail to come to terms with the past. Put ‘‘on the shelf” by censors in 1984 it is only now reaching mass au- diences in the Soviet Union. vious CPSU histories. And a new history of the USSR for general use in Soviet schools is also in preparation. Teams of scholars are working on these books and, in some cases, competing with each other. The idea that there is one, infiex- ible interpretation of history is giving ground to a subtler, richer methodology of discussion and comparison of differing views. Far-reaching changes are also under- way in the Soviet educational system. The goal is to put an end to rote-learning and encourage debate and individual creative thought among students, and this includes previously constrained to- pics in Soviet history. “If a textbook merely lays out pre- scribed facts: one, two, three, four — like the Criminal Code — then it isn’t a textbook at all,’ one professor told us. These developments are building slowly, and they are not being rushed. The deliberate, thorough pace of the pro- cess seems to testify to its permanence. Still, it remains a painful and jarring transition for many. Author Rybakov, now 76 years old and a witness to much history, has crystallized the feelings of many: “Though often bitter,’’ he recently said, ‘‘medicine has to be administered to stop the disease from pervading the body. History, too, is not all glory. There are times to feel proud about, and years to be ashamed of. But it is imperative to remember these years to avoid a recur- rence of the past. And for me it is of crucial importance that people be brought up on truth.” MDs say no nukes MOSCOW (APN) — Over 3,000 doctors from 60 coun- tries meeting here last week is- sued a call for a ban on nuclear weapons. ‘*There can be no half meas- ures’’, Nobel laureate Dr. Bernard Lown told a press =| conference. ‘‘The theory of nuclear deterrence is an ab- surdity. Those who argue that deterrence promotes peace ig- nore the mathematical certain- ty that deterrence inevitably leads to nuclear catastrophe.” The co-chair of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War cited a U.S. Defence Department survey which found that 4,000 of the 100,000 personnel directly en- gaged with nuclear weapons suffered from alcoholism or other psychiatric disorders. ‘The probability of an un- sanctioned nuclear war is | great,’ said Lown. “Therefore | we have called for the abolition | of nuclear weapons. They have no justifiable use’’. Since the organization’s 1981 founding conference in Washington, IPPNW has grown to a mass organization representing 170,000 physi- cians. In 1986 Dr. Lown, along with organization co-president Soviet Dr. Mikhail Kuzin won the Nobel prize for peace. Union leader shot in back SAN SALVADOR § (Sal- press) — Prison guards fired on a peaceful protest outside Mar- ion Prison May 31 wounding Julio Portillo, a member of the. executive of the National Union of Salvadoran Workers. About 100 people, including children, were demanding am- nesty for political prisoners and backing their hunger strike. The marchers, mostly relatives of prisoners or UNSW members, were singing songs and shouting slogans when the guards opened fire. The protesters, including a woman breast-feeding her baby, scrambled into a nearby ditch as bullets spattered around them. Portillo, bleeding heavily from a wound in his back, was taken away by union colleagues. His condition is unknown. Administration knew: Secord WASHINGTON . «+, — Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Secord, told a U.S. Con- gressional hearing that Oliver North pressed him to divert profits from the Iran arms sale to the anti-Nicaraguan contras. “This administration knew of my conduct and approved of it’’, Secord said referring to the airlift of weapons to the contras as well as to Teheran. He described a network of airbases, cargo planes and crews, safe houses and tele- phone encryption devices he and North assembled to exe- cute President Reagan’s covert wars.