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First and foremost – a poet

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Why I didn't condemn my father, a communist
Tomas Venclova Poet
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Na, dažnai klausia: O kaip gi tu tada galėjai sugyventi su savo tėvu? Tėvas buvo komunistas, jis įstojo į komunistų partiją 50-ais metais, šešeri metai prieš Vengrijos sukilimą ir dar treji metai prieš Stalino mirtį, bet tik tada įstojo į partiją, jau po karo. Ir laikėsi visą laiką labai tokios oficialios pozicijos tiek, kad net parašė Tarybų Lietuvos himną, kuris turėjo tada pakeisti Kudirkos parašytą himną, neseniai grįžusį į Lietuvą. Na, ir buvo oficialus poetas, nors be oficialių eilių rašė ir kitokių, ir tos kitokios eilės iki šiol Lietuvoje yra skaitomos, perspausdinamos, įeina į lietuvių literatūros paveldą. Neseniai buvo vėl išleista tėvo eilių knyga pavadinimu "Erškėtis". Ir jo gimimo 100-ųjų metinių proga įvyko apie jį mokslinė konferencija. Taip kad tėvas, nepaisant savo, taip sakant, komunistinių ryšių, ir savo lojalumo tarybų valdžiai, vis dėlto nėra užmirštas ir nėra pasmerktas. Kartais mane irgi klausia: Kodėl tu nesmerki savo tėvo, kuris, kaip sako, Lietuvoje atvežė į Lietuvą Stalino saulę, vienas iš tų, kurie atvežė Stalino saulę? Jis tikrai važiavo į Maskvą, matė ten Staliną ir taip toliau. Į tai aš atsakau, kad aš esu krikščionis ir laikausi dešimties Dievo įsakymų. Ketvirtas Dievo įsakymas sako: Gerbk savo tėvą ir motiną. Kitaip sakant, smerkiančių mano tėvą atsiras visada pakankamai, bet aš neprivalau sekti jų pavyzdžiu. Tėvas yra tėvas, ir aš turiu stengtis išsaugoti iš jo atminimo tai, kas… ką verta išsaugoti, ką aš visą gyvenimą ir stengiuosi daryti.

Well, I'm often asked, 'And how could you get on with your father then?' My father was a communist, he joined the Communist Party in 1950, six years before the Hungarian uprising and three years before Stalin's death, but he only joined then, already after the war. And he always held to a very official position to the extent that he even wrote the Soviet Lithuanian national anthem, which was supposed to replace the national anthem written by [Vincas] Kudirka, not long after returning to Lithuania. Well, he was an official poet, even though he wrote verse other than the official verse, and that other verse is still read in Lithuania, still published, and has entered the canon of Lithuanian literature. A collection of my father's verse with the title Erškėtis [The Blackthorn] was published recently. And a scholarly conference about him was held on the occasion of the centenary of his birth. So, my father, in spite of his, as it were, communist ties and his loyalty to the Soviet government, has not been forgotten and condemned. I am also sometimes asked, ‘Why did you not condemn your father who, as it is said, brought Stalin's sun to Lithuania, who was one of those who brought Stalin's sun there?' He really did go to Moscow, see Stalin there, and so on. And my answer to that is that I am a Christian and obey the 10 Commandments. The fourth commandment says: Honour your father and your mother. In other words, there will always be enough people to condemn my father but I do not have to follow their example. A father is a father and I have to try to preserve from my memory of him that which… what is worth preserving and that is what I have all my life tried to do.

Born in 1937, Tomas Venclova is a Lithuanian scholar, poet, author and translator of literature. He was educated at Vilnius University and later at Tartu University. As an active participant in the dissident movement he was deprived of Soviet citizenship in 1977 and had to emigrate. Between 1977 and 1980 he lectured at University of California, Berkeley, where he became friends with the Polish poet Czesław Miłosz, who was a professor of Slavic Languages and Literature at the school, as well as the Russian poet Joseph Brodsky. He is currently a full professor at Yale University.

Listeners: Andrzej Wolski

Film director and documentary maker, Andrzej Wolski has made around 40 films since 1982 for French television, the BBC, TVP and other TV networks. He specializes in portraits and in historical films. Films that he has directed or written the screenplay for include Kultura, which he co-directed with Agnieszka Holland, and KOR which presents the history of the Worker’s Defence Committee as told by its members. Andrzej Wolski has received many awards for his work, including the UNESCO Grand Prix at the Festival du Film d’Art.

Tags: Communist Party, 1950, Erškėtis, The Blackthorn, Antanas Venclova, Vincas Kudirka, Joseph Stalin

Duration: 1 minute, 56 seconds

Date story recorded: May/June 2011

Date story went live: 20 March 2012