August 11: Alexander Tvardovsky was removed from his post as editor-in-chief of Novy Mir.
On August 11, 1954, the Presidium of the Union of Soviet Writers issued a decree regarding the errors of the magazine Novy Mir. 44-year-old Alexander Tvardovsky was removed from his post as editor-in-chief for "immature articles" by the publication's contributors and for attempting to publish the satirical poem "Tyorkin in the Other World."
The literary community sharply condemned the magazine's publications on contemporary literature, which contained incorrect and harmful tendencies, and articles that questioned the ideological and veracity of Soviet literature.
Reputation as a wayward magazine
The Novomirites earned their reputation as a headstrong magazine back in the 1920s, when they published Boris Pilnyak's "The Tale of the Unquenched Moon," which hinted at Stalin's involvement in the death of the People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, Frunze. The print run was confiscated two days later.
Stalin called Novy Mir the worst of the thick journals. After his death, Soviet writers sincerely hoped for a relaxation of censorship. For four years, the editorial board of Novy Mir had been headed by Alexander Tvardovsky, the author of "Vasily Tyorkin," who tried to raise controversial literary issues.
Criticism of socialist realism
In late 1953 and early 1954, Novy Mir published several articles criticizing socialist realism in literature.
Soviet writers compete with each other to see who can more easily and without evidence depict the transition of a collective farm from partial well-being to complete prosperity.
(Fyodor Abramov, "People of the Collective Farm Village in Post-War Literature")
"On the carpet" at Pospelov's
In June, Tvardovsky was summoned to the carpet by chief party ideologist Pyotr Pospelov. He criticized not only the editorial staff but also Tvardovsky's own poem, "Vasily Tyorkin in the Other World," calling it a "libel on Soviet reality."
Soon after the “party hearing” in Pospelov’s office, Tvardovsky wrote a letter of protest to the Central Committee of the CPSU.
I disagree. Admitting mistakes is done either out of fear of punishment or out of inertia: if you're accused, admit your guilt, whether it's real or not.
The Party's instructions on the need to develop bold criticism of our shortcomings oblige the editorial board to honestly and conscientiously implement them to the best of its ability and understanding.
The editor-in-chief of Novy Mir had a reputation as a legitimate opposition figure, and he described his summonses "to the carpet" with the caustic metaphor "there's soap." Nevertheless, the letter was not without its praise for the Soviet regime.
My pen, the most important thing I have in life, belongs to the Party leading the people to communism. I owe the happiness of my literary calling to the Party.
Resignation
But confessions of loyalty to the regime did not help. On July 23, the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee issued a resolution criticizing "Tyorkin in the Other World" and declaring the general line of Novy Mir magazine to be erroneous.
Tvardovsky requested an audience with Khrushchev, who promised that "there would be no harsh disgrace." A few days later, the editor-in-chief of Novy Mir learned of his resignation and the decree of the Presidium of the Writers' Union. The justification cited was "immature articles" by the publication's authors.
In his article “On Sincerity in Literature,” V. Pomerantsev indiscriminately and unfairly accused Soviet writers of insincerity.
F. Abramov and the editorial board <…> carried out a “scolding” of all the most notable works of Soviet prose
M. Lifshitz, from a lordly aesthetic position, attacks writers who strive to actively intervene in life, and questions the importance of writers' addressing themes of labor and industrial activity.
Critic Shcheglov mocks the fact that the author of the novel "Snegin's Opera" showed the influence of the party's decisions on music on the consciousness and creative activity of the artistic intelligentsia
Meanwhile, everyone understood that Tvardovsky had been fired, in part, for trying to push his sharply satirical poem "Tyorkin in the Other World" into print. The party members saw the bureaucracy of the afterlife as a parody of themselves.
Return
In 1958, Tvardovsky, with the enthusiastic support of Khrushchev, again headed Novy Mir, replacing Konstantin Simonov as editor-in-chief.
And in 1963—shortly before the resignation of the General Secretary and 21 years after the publication of the first part of the poem “Vasily Terkin”—he finally managed to publish “Terkin in the Afterlife,” albeit in a heavily censored version.
He led Novy Mir until 1970, when a new round of persecution and repression against the editorial staff began.
