Parental artifact #14–a letter of resignation by my grandfather to the American-Russian Institute.
For those who would rather not not squint at Grandaddy’s cursive, here is the text of the letter:
611 9th Street
Santa Monica, Calif
Dec 17 1948
Dear Miss Mucha
Please present this statement at the meeting of the Board of Directors tomorrow.
I have been a member of the A.R.I of Southern California since its beginning. During this time, I have done what I could to help the Institute in its efforts to maintain and improve cultural relations between the people of the USA and the USSR. This I looked upon as the main function of the ARI. Of late, it appears to me that the institute, through no fault of its own, was placed in the position of an apologist. It is either ignoring or apologizing for acts of barbarism that are committed officially against culture in the USSR.
My own position is that such acts are a threat to society and must be condemned whenever and wherever they occur. It is evident that I can no longer remain a member of this organization. I am therefore resigning from the board of directors and from membership in the ARI as of this day.
Because of the high regard I have for the original ideals of the ARI and for all those who have worked sincerely to carry them out, it is painful for me to take this step. However, in view of the present circumstances, I cannot act otherwise.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) David Appleman
Grandaddy Appleman was not one to shy away from exposing himself to career risk or losing friendship in order to stand up for his expansively humanist ideals. The turbulence of the twentieth century, and his long migration from shtetl to California academia, gave him plenty of opportunities to test his resolve. He was left-leaning all his life, beginning with socialist Zionism as a kid, and went on to associate with pacifist Quakers, unions, socialists, communists, the Israeli Labor Party and kibbutz movement, and so on. He got into trouble in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s for some of these associations, but thankfully that was still a time when courts protected unpopular speech.
It’s therefore no surprise that he was on the board of the American-Russian Institute of Southern California. I’d never heard of it, but a little reading showed that it was a Soviet-funded organization that worked to bring a positive representation of the USSR to America. It produced a quarterly journal with articles about life on collective farms, the role of women, and socialist-realist artists, as well as books and lectures on similar matters. The presence of many academics, such as my grandfather, gave an air of respectability to the organization, and it did quite well from its founding in the ‘20’s up until the late ‘40’s. It’s worth remembering that the 1930’s were a time when many felt that the future lay either with fascism (which had not yet been completely discredited) or Soviet communism (ditto).
I don’t know when or why my grandfather joined the ARI. I think he was in favor of democracy, but wished it would be more inclusive and socialist. He also must have had some mixed feelings about Russia and the USSR—there were extremely good reasons that his family left the old country, but there must have still been some warm feelings for his birthplace, and wishes for peace.
I also do not know what was the last straw for his association with the ARI. 1948 was a wretched time to be a human being in the USSR. His letter refers to acts of barbarism against culture. Like many Russians, culture was extremely important to Grandaddy, and it’s easy to think of Soviet or Stalinist policies that were barbaric against culture. 1948 saw the “Anti-cosmopolitan campaign,” in which “rootless cosmopolitans”—that is, Jews—were persecuted. Attention was first directed at Jewish artists and intelligentsia, and Jewish contributions to Russian culture were vigorously suppressed.
Even if one ignores antisemitism, and ignores culture, 1948 saw plenty of acts of barbarism by the Soviets. It became increasingly difficult for anyone with clear eyes and a conscience to support the Soviets, and as my grandfather noted, the ARI became primarily an apologist for atrocities. Support for the ARI withered (at the same time that Hoover’s FBI and anti-communists were ascendant), and the national organization mostly ceased to function. The California ARI persisted, thanks to wealthy and dedicated true believers until at least the 1960’s.
Now, three-quarters of a century later, the ARI is unnecessary. Russia has fully committed itself to fascism, but no longer needs to pay apologists to excuse its crimes in an obscuring blizzard of whataboutism. No academics need to be subsidized to lend an air of respectability to ugly suppression. An entire American news organization has happily and voluntarily partnered with Russian fascism, because their values align. An entire American political party has willingly enabled Russian fascism, praising Putin, because its own leader and many of its rank-and-file prefer fascism to the threat of a democracy shared with different people. And, in addition to all these willing apologists, Russia still pumps money and effort into shifting public opinion through propaganda and lobbying organizations like Facebook and the NRA.
There was something, some intolerable action, that forced my grandfather to distance himself from the Soviets. After Grozny, Aleppo, Mariupol, and Bucha, I don’t know if there is anything that will force the American right to distance itself from Putin’s fascist Russia. Just this week, CPAC announced that it would be holding its meeting in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary—Orbán being the lone European leader who has not denounced Putin, instead denouncing the Ukrainian president and all but blaming rootless cosmopolitans for the world’s ills.
My grandfather quit the Soviets, but he never gave up on the people of Russia. He was an admirer of dissidents such as Andrei Sakharov, and did what he could—which was, admittedly, not much. Today, I am myself tied up in knots, trying to distinguish between Russia and Russians. Russia, the state, has published on RIA Novosti an article calling for the elimination of the Ukrainian state and liquidation and exile of its entire governing class and intelligentsia. I strongly urge you to read this (link in comments), and bear in mind Maya Angelou’s admonition that “when people show you who they are, believe them the first time.”
On the other hand, the Russians I’ve known (including many coworkers when I was an academic) were good people, very proud of their history and culture. They were also, largely, ex-pats, who like my grandfather, left Russia for very good reasons. In truth, it seems that Russia has experienced a severe loss of human intellectual capital in the last few weeks. Of those who have stayed, many or most are as thoroughly soaked in nationalist propaganda as any citizen of Berlin or Moscow in 1939. Polls of Russians in Russia show strong support for this action, and for expanding into Poland and the Baltic States. Reading about and seeing pictures of Bucha, it becomes hard to not feel something like hatred for these Russians. As the Ukrainian president Zelinskii said, this is now the face of not just Russia, but the Russian people.
I do not want to hate. I want to hope, as did my grandfather. So, I will note that in Russia, in January, the ten most downloaded apps were picture filters for makeup and some business tools; in March, the top ten are all VPN apps and Telegram. Maybe the truth will get through.
References in comments.
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