November 29 2001 years
Died Victor Astafiev — a writer who lived through the war and told the terrible, raw truth about it. One of the main chroniclers of the Great Patriotic War.
Don't forget us, former soldiers, protect our graves and don't tarnish our memories with dirty deeds. Don't disturb us with empty, loud words: we are tired of them even in life. Be honest with yourself and with time, as much as you and your courage last. The main thing is that there is no war. The rest, perhaps, you will overcome.
(Astafiev, spiritual testament)
Astafyev went to the front in 1942, as soon as he turned 18. He first served as a driver, then as an artillery scout and signalman. He took part in the battles at Kursk, crossed the Dnieper, and liberated Ukraine and Poland. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star and the Medal "For Courage."
He was wounded three times (two of them seriously). Because of this, he was unable to work in his chosen field—as a railroad worker—after the war ended. After changing several professions, he turned to journalism. Then he became a writer.
I work only at the table, I fight only with a sheet of blank paper
Most of Astafyev's war works are based on his personal memories. He depicted war as it really is—horrible, cruel, and bloody.
We shouldn't show heroic war, but rather frighten people with it, because war is disgusting. We must constantly remind people of war, so they don't forget. We must poke our noses, like blind kittens, into the soiled area, into the blood, the pus, the tears.
So many lies have been told about this war, everything connected with it has been so confused, that in the end, the fabricated war has eclipsed the real war. In the memory of many, much has shifted to a side where war is more beautiful. Where there is nothing but heroism, grandiose words, and praise.
He who lies about the past war brings about the future war.
The writer's work reveals an active rejection of Stalinism as an unnatural system that destroys the human personality and turns the people into an obedient, submissive herd.
There's nothing more vile in the world than Russian dull patience, sloppiness, and carelessness. Back then, in the early 1930s, if every Russian peasant had snubbed the zealous authorities, all this filth would have been washed away. Throw a brick crumb, and our ancient Kremlin, with the lice lurking within, would have been crushed, buried along with the savage gang to the stars.
In 1980, Astafyev, aged 56, moved to his small hometown, the Krasnoyarsk village of Ovsyanka. As he himself put it, he "came back to die."
Here began a new period of creativity—the most productive. It was here that the epic novel "Cursed and Killed"—the crowning achievement of Astafyev's creative legacy—was written. It is one of the most honest, poignant, and vivid books about the war.
He never managed to finish the third and final part of the epic. He admitted that it took too much of his energy.
I want solitude and silence, I'm tired of the oppressive memory of the war, of the expectation of something eternal, something even worse
In his final years, he was seriously ill, but welcomed every guest. He presented a book to a group of first-year journalism students who arrived in 2000 with the inscription: "Write honestly, at least sometimes."
He passed away at the age of 77. He was buried in his native village. Around 20 people came to pay their last respects.
Siberians still honor Astafyev and defend him from attacks: two weeks ago, Krasnoyarsk residents demanded an apology from the historian. Evgenia Spitsyna, who called the writer a "scum" and a "scoundrel" - he didn't like the statements about Stalin and the Soviet army in the novel "Cursed and Killed".
Of all the speculations, the most accessible and therefore the most widespread is speculation in patriotism; love for one's homeland sells the fastest—at all times this commodity is in great demand.
