17 - The Lithuanian and Moscow Helsinki Groups

Summary

HINSEY: During the 1970s, many people in the Soviet Union began to see emigration as one of the only possibilities for living a normal life, in which one might contribute and work productively—

VENCLOVA: In the 1950s and 1960s, emigration was not an option. The USSR's borders were hermetically sealed with watchtowers, barbed wire, and wide patches of raked earth to detect the footprints of Western spies. In reality, the authorities were much more interested in the footprints of would-be Soviet escapees who rarely, if ever, made it to Poland or Hungary (where they were tracked down as well). The armed border guards were under the same orders as prison camp guards. Privately among ourselves, we used to call our country “the big zone” (“zone” meaning “concentration camp” or Gulag in Soviet parlance). While the Berlin Wall is perhaps the best-known symbol of Communist force, one should keep in mind that the entire perimeter of the USSR—many thousands of miles—was essentially the same, even if, as a rule, there were no concrete slabs. Incidentally, the border guards, together with their heroic dogs, used to be praised in popular songs and movies as those on whom the peace and safety of the country depended.

To leave “the big zone,” one had to be issued an exit visa. Permanent exit visas were virtually unheard of, and temporary visas were a privilege accorded the happy few, whose loyalty was beyond suspicion—people such as Ehrenburg or Yevtushenko (or my father, for that matter). Small, closely monitored groups of tourists traveled under surveillance, and had to conform to quite strict rules. Needless to say, defections were infrequent. While many people yearned for the West, most just hoped for a better standard of living (meaning, above all, cars, clothes, and appliances). That said, there were also those who cherished the idea of freedom, however vague that concept might be. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a joke made the rounds: “What would you do if they opened the borders?” “I would climb a tree.” “Why?” “I wouldn't want to be trampled.”