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General Pyotr Grigorenko

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The Helsinki Accords groups
Tomas Venclova Poet
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Štai Maskvoje veikia akademikas Sacharovas ir jo grupė, disidentai, kurie nusprendė įkurti grupes sekti, kaip vykdomi tie Helsinkio susitarimai. Ir viešai reaguoti jeigu tie susitarimai yra pažeidžiami, o pažeidimų yra tiesiog tūkstančiai, jeigu ne dešimtys tūkstančių. Yra rašomi dokumentai, kreipiamasi su tais dokumentais į Vakarų vyriausybes ir tap pat į Tarybinę vyriausybę Maskvoje, kad štai, atkreipkit dėmesį – pasirašėte, kad žmogaus teisės bus apsaugotos, o jos anaiptol nėra apsaugotos. Grupės tos yra atviros, tai yra, būna konspiratyvios grupės, ir tokių yra daug pogrindyje, kur, žinoma, žmonės neskelbia savo pavardžių ir saugumas tas pavardes, anksčiau ar vėliau, suseka. O Helsinkio grupės skelbia savo pavardes: štai aš, toks ir toks, esąs ten ir ten, esu Helsinkio grupės narys, priimu skundus jeigu jūsų teisės yra pažeistos ir bandysiu su jūsų nusiskundimais supažindinti pasaulio šalių vyriausybes. Ten yra, reiškia, Maskvos grupė, kurioj dalyvauja Sacharovo žmona. Jis pats nedalyvauja, jis yra toks tarsi globėjas tų grupių, bet nėra narys, o jo žmona yra narė ir vadovė. Yra tokia Liudmila Aleksejava, yra tas pats Ginzburgas, senas pažįstamas, irgi yra grupės narys. Na, ir keletas kitų, Maskvos grupėj yra vienuolika narių, visų jų vardai ir pavardės, ir adresai yra žinomi, taip pat ir Saugumui. Viešai paskelbti, jie nesislepia – jeigu valdžia juos areštuos, tai jinai, reiškia, laužys savo pačios įstatymus.

The academician [Andrei] Sakharov was active in Moscow together with his group, dissidents, who decided to set up groups to follow how the Helsinki Accords were being implemented. And to react publicly if those accords were being violated, and there were literally thousands of violations, if not tens of thousands. Documents were written, and those documents were used to address Western governments and the Soviet government in Moscow, with the intention of saying: pay attention, you signed them declaring that human rights would be protected and they are far from being protected. Those groups were open, that is to say, there were also conspiratorial groups, and there were many of them – in the underground where, of course, people didn't proclaim their surnames and the state security authorities would, sooner or later, find them out. Whereas the Helsinki groups announced their surnames, this is me, I'm so and so, this is where I am, I'm a member of the Helsinki group, I will take on complaints if your rights are being violated and I will try to inform the governments of countries throughout the world of your complaints. There was the Moscow group in which Sakharov's wife took part. He himself didn't take part in it; he was like the guardian of those groups but not a member, while his wife was a member and a leader. There was Lyudmila Alexeyeva, [Alexander] Ginzburg whom I've already mentioned, an old acquaintance, also a member of the group. Well, and several others, there were eleven members in the Moscow group, the first names and surnames and addresses of all them were known, to the security authorities as well. They were made publicly known, they didn't hide them – if the government were to have them arrested, then the government would – it would mean – be breaking its own laws.

 

The academic [Andrei] Sakharov was active in Moscow together with his group, dissidents, who decided to set up groups to monitor the implementation of the Helsinki Accords, and to react publicly if those accords were being violated, and there were literally thousands of violations, if not tens of thousands. Documents were written, and those documents were used to address Western governments and the Soviet government in Moscow, with the intention of saying: pay attention, you signed them declaring that human rights would be protected and they are far from being protected. Those groups were open, that is to say, there were also clandestine groups, and there were many of them in the underground where, of course, people didn't proclaim their surnames and the state security authorities would, sooner or later, find them out, whereas the Helsinki groups announced their surnames: this is me, I'm so-and-so, this is where I am, I'm a member of the Helsinki group, I will register your complaints if your rights are being violated and I will try to inform the governments of countries throughout the world of your complaints. There was the Moscow group in which Sakharov's wife took part. He himself didn't take part in it; he was like the guardian of those groups but not a member, while his wife was a member and a leader. There was Lyudmila Alexeyeva[r1] , [Alexander] Ginzburg whom I've already mentioned, an old acquaintance, also a member of the group and several others. There were 11 members in the Moscow group; the first names and surnames and addresses of all them were known to the security authorities as well. They were made publicly known, they didn't hide them – if the government was to have them arrested, then the government would... it would mean... be breaking its own laws.


 [r1]The following was included in the text which the translator included for clarity – I don't think it's needed:

[her name in Russian is Людми́ла Миха́йловна Алексе́ева – her first name is transliterated as Lyudmila or Ludmila, her surname as Alekseyeva or Alexeyeva]

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: Helsinki Accords, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Andrei Sakharov, Jelena Bonner, Alexander Ginzburg

Duration: 1 minute, 55 seconds

Date story recorded: May/June 2011

Date story went live: 20 March 2012