Table of Contents Item Transcript

DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

TABLE OF CONTENTS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

ENGLISH TRANSLATION 2 CITATION & RIGHTS 15

2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 1/15 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

TRANSCRIPT ENGLISH TRANSLATION —Today is November 19, 2009. We are in Brest, Belarus, meeting with a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. Please introduce yourself, tell us when and where you were born, and a little bit about your prewar life. What was your family like, who were your friends, what kind of school did you attend? How did you spend the war years and how did you come to serve in the Red Army? Please, go ahead.

My name is Vladimir Ilyich Nemets. I was born on August 11, 1924, in Minsk to a family of higher-education instructors. My mother was a research associate at the Academy of Sciences and my father had a master's degree and taught at the Institute of Journalism in Minsk. My family life was very interesting and I would say educational. It is strange, but I don't remember studying in school or doing homework. I do remember very well sitting by our home library. My parents had two rooms like I have now, but you could not see the walls because they were covered with bookshelves. I would get on the stepladder and read a lot. I particularly liked historical literature about ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and Europe. My favorite was the history of the Napoleonic Wars by a historian named [Evgeny] Tarle. I loved soccer and remember being proud that I played for the Minsk youth team. I also liked formal dance and studied in a dance studio at the Young Pioneers Palace, where I gladly demonstrated all the dances I had learned. I was not yet done with school when the war broke out.

When the war started . . . for some reason my parents moved me to a construction-oriented technical school after seventh grade. I don't know why they thought I would be better off there. Right after finishing my first year there I was taking the tram home and found out that the war had started. The next day I saw trucks filled with people in their underwear roll up to our house. These were refugees from Brest. The people had fled Brest without even having time to dress and we received them. And then the bombings started. My father and I fled Minsk on foot. It was very tragic because someone told us that my mother and younger brother had already left. The Academy of Sciences in Minsk is on the edge of town near the Chelyuskinites Park, so it would not have been strange if they had already left. Later my mother came to her senses and realized that she had fled alone. At the time, there was basically no telephone service. We did not have a phone despite being an educated family. Personal phones were very rare back then. She returned to Minsk, but we had already left home. She did not flee in time and was imprisoned in the Minsk ghetto along with my younger brother. Like all but a few Jews who were imprisoned in the ghetto, they perished. Only a handful of people got out. My father and I left Minsk on foot and traveled I don't know how many kilometers.

We hitched a ride at one point and got to Mogilev. In Mogilev evacuation trains were being formed and my father and I ended up in Kzyl-Orda [Kyzylorda], Kazakhstan. My father first taught at an institute there

2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 2/15 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN and then joined the army as a volunteer. He decided that I should study at a technical construction school, where I stayed until August 1941. Then I was drafted and sent to train in the 2nd Turkestan Machine Gunner School in the city of Mary, which I graduated in March 1942.

—1942 or 1943?

1942. Actually, pardon me, my memory fails me. I was drafted in September 1942, and I finished the 2nd Turkestan Machine Gunner School in March 1943 as a lieutenant and was sent to a reserve officers’ regiment in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. From there I was sent on a military train along with other officers to the 2nd Ukrainian Front where I was assigned to my first military unit as a platoon commander in the 315th Regiment of the 19th Rifle Division. I remember that really well.

Later I became the commander of a machine-gun platoon which was first moved from the 2nd to the 3rd Ukrainian Front and then from the 3rd to the 4th. That is how we got so far south. In Moldavia [Moldova] we crossed the Dniester River, passed through Bulgaria, and reached Yugoslavia. In Yugoslavia we fought intense battles. I took part in the liberation of Belgrade. Then we were sent to Hungary and crossed the Danube River. I finished the war in Graz. I forgot to mention that I was wounded twice. The first time was near the village of Verblyuzhka in Ukraine. I remember that village well; we even wondered why it had such an interesting name [in Ukrainian and Russian the name roughly means "little female camel" —Trans.]. Turns out it was named this way because it was built on several hills which looked like a camel's humps. I was wounded a second time during the crossing of the Danube after I had already reached the far bank. After that I fought in Hungary and finished the war in Graz, Austria. That was what I did during the war. In 1946 I was demobilized and returned to my native Minsk.

My studies in Minsk did not go too well. I had studied dance before the war and had a knack for dancing. My euphoria helped me build upon that after the war in 1946–1947 I was an ensemble performer, a dancer in the Belorussian [Belarusian] Military District, for a year. In other words, my life took a crazy turn. Then I realized that it wasn't for me. I was accepted into the Grodno [Hrodna] Pedagogical Institute and graduated it in 1951 and, along with my wife whom I met in Grodno during my studies and who is still with me, moved to Brest. In Brest I was the assistant principal at a school and taught Russian language and literature. Before and after I was assistant principal, I taught Russian language and literature. I switched back and forth between these two roles, both before becoming head teacher and after.

Working as a Russian language and literature teacher was, I think, a very significant part of my life. In some sense I followed in my parents' footsteps although they both taught at institutions of higher learning. I worked with children, whom I have always loved and taught them not only literature, but also literary reading of Russian and Belorussian poetry, which I enjoyed myself. To this day my students often visit me.

2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 3/15 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

I'm very proud of one of my students who is now in America, finishing up at university. I think she graduated with a bachelor's degree. Another one of my former pupils is a student at the Minsk Conservatory. Many of the students come to visit me to read poems out loud. They love it and some have gotten quite good. I had taught them since first grade when they first entered our musical gymnasium. My last year teaching I worked at the Brest Musical Gymnasium and many of them came to visit me when they were already university students. They come to my home and ask to read poetry together. That is how I've lived for the past few years, it's been quite interesting.

—You said that your father volunteered for the army?

Yes, he volunteered. When arrived in Grodno, they needed high-class teaches at the Grodno Pedagogical Institute.

—Was this before the war or afterwards?

This was right after the start of the war when we evacuated. Even though he was given a draft exemption because he worked in higher education, he volunteered anyways.

—What happened to him?

I said good-bye to him near Kzyl-Orda where a mechanized regiment was being formed. He was the regiment's deputy political commander and was sent to fight near Moscow. During the defense of Moscow, which did not only include the outskirts of Moscow . . . There was a town called Solnechnogorsk, where he was killed while defending Moscow.

—Did you receive a death notice?

Yes, I received a death notice before I joined the army. In 1942 I was still studying in Kzyl-Orda, and I received it there. As I understand it, they were taken from the trains and sent right into battle where almost all of them died defending Moscow. The fighting around Moscow was heavy. Almost all those who were stationed 10–20 kilometers from the city during the defense of Moscow perished. So that's more or less . . .

It seems I did not tell you about my participation in the war. I don't know whether this is interesting . . . It was pretty unremarkable. I was a regular commander of a submachine-gun platoon and later I commanded a machine-gun platoon. I was a regular soldier and I was probably not very remarkable. I was given the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class for my part in a heavy battle where I lost everyone in my platoon, where I was the only survivor. Every one of my subordinates was killed in that battle.

2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 4/15 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

—Where was this?

This was . . . I'll tell you in a second . . . do you remember me mentioning the village of Verblyuzhka in Ukraine, where I was wounded during heavy fighting? I want to tell you about one detail of that fight. When I arrived at the front line, the first thing I did was demand that I be issued a pistol. I understood that there is no way that I could allow myself to be taken prisoner. It was unthinkable. I was an officer, a communist, and a Jew. I knew perfectly well what my fate would be if I was taken prisoner, wounded or unconscious. Just in case, I decided to acquire a pistol. By the way, it was a German Parabellum; we already had trophy weapons then. I never parted with that Parabellum so that if the need arose during the night or during heavy fighting, I could always kill myself. This was a firm conviction. However, I must tell you I never had the occasion to use it.

—How many men were in your submachine-gun platoon?

According to regulation, a submachine-gun platoon is twenty to thirty soldiers, but in reality there were never more than twelve or fifteen. When I commanded the machine-gun platoon, I was supposed to have three Maxim guns with seven men per gun. This included the men who transported it and brought the ammunition. Three people actually operated it. However, in reality there were only four people at each machine gun, one of them responsible for transporting it using horse-drawn carts. Most frequently there were only two or three people, including me, the platoon commander, servicing each machine gun. Although after we crossed the Dniester we were issued American Dodge cars and we mounted the machine guns on these vehicles instead of the horses . . . By the way, I was first in a division which even used camels along the Dniester River. We used camels to tow equipment all the way there.

Later in Hungary I was assigned to a very interesting division, the 73rd Guards Stalingrad–Danube Division, also known as the "Jewish" division. That name was, of course, unofficial. You see, this division was commanded by Lieutenant General Kozak, a Jew from Odessa. His deputies were Major Khenkin and Lieutenant Colonel Faynerman. There were also many Jews in charge of the artillery battalions. The company and platoon commanders were also Jewish. Jews weren't sent there on purpose. For example, here's what happened with me. I found out about the division and asked to be transferred there after being wounded. It was a famous division, also known as the "Breakthrough Division." We were part of the 57th Army, which was first commanded by Lieutenant General Gagen and later by Sharokhin. This division was famous for its combat abilities and also because every officer who was assigned there had to first pass an interview with the division commander. I remember being invited to speak with him and the conversation was remarkable. He asked me who my mom and dad were. Not who my "mother and father" were, but who my "mom and dad" were. He asked me who my relatives were, where I lived, which military academy I graduated from. Then he congratulated me on my acceptance into the 73rd, shook my hand, and sent me to my unit. I remember this fondly. I can picture him clearly, he had a beard . . . he probably kept it because it hid his face which was very obviously Jewish. The word "Jew" was already acquiring a

2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 5/15 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN negative connotation in some sense. In any case, in retrospect this is how I see it. He survived the war, but perished in a plane crash in Bulgaria as a Hero of the Soviet Union.

—You were in charge of a submachine-gun and a machine-gun platoon when you were nineteen.

Yes, you counted right. I was nineteen.

—How old were the men under your command?

Thank you, that is a great question. I often thought about how my subordinates were in their forties. There were some young guys too. I remember . . . I should have written it down back then, but I was too dumb to do it. Although . . . I was pretty smart in other ways. I was not sure that I would survive because platoon commanders were often killed. The losses among platoon commanders were the same as those among soldiers. I remember following at most 3–4 meters behind my guys during an attack. I was behind because I had to make sure that they all went to fight, which was no easy task. The Germans were excellent soldiers. I had to get my men to charge under fire. It would have been easy just to shout "Attack!" but in order to get them to go, I had to get up first. After I got up, they would get up too. I ran maybe 2–3 meters behind them. I remember the first battle near Verblyuzhka. I remember running behind them. We were all wearing quilted jackets, not overcoats, and I saw how bloodied bits of cotton would erupt from the backs of my men when they were hit. The bullet would go clean through and come out the other side with the cotton. The men would fall right away. I remember this battle. I told you that I was practically the only survivor. I was lying there behind those guys' bodies.

I was wounded in that battle, but my nineteen-year-old mind was truly affected by the death of those lads. I was lucky in some ways. I was lightly wounded twice and got one concussion. This was in a small town in Yugoslavia called Zajecar. During a street battle I was standing up against a wall when my battalion commander called me over to the radio. It turned out that my infantry company and my machine-gun platoon were on one of the main streets near the train station. Our advance was halted by German SPGs and mobile submachine-gun units which were blocking our way to the train station. When I was called over I had my back to the wall and I started to move away from it, but about 2 meters out an SPG fired at the building, which caused a brick to fly out and hit me in the back. If it had been a piece of shrapnel I would not have survived since shrapnel to the back is a sure death. But a piece of brick . . . it had been torn out . . . As a young officer I loved wearing those machine-gun belts. They cross each other on my back and that is exactly where the brick hit me. I was not wounded but got a concussion. Of course I was winded after being hit on the back with a brick. I fell down and blacked out at first. After a little while I got up . . .

—Before the war, when you lived in Minsk, you loved to play soccer. The children on your team were

2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 6/15 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN probably not all Jewish.

There were others. I still remember this great lad named Yasha Goder. He was an excellent player.

—When you played did anyone ever not want to have Jews on their team? Did that happen before the war?

I think this is a very important question and it is good that you asked it. Before the war, there was no anti- Semitism among the children. We did not even understand it.

—What about in the army?

It existed in the army. The first time I came across it was . . .

—In the academy?

No, during the evacuation. There I heard this nasty conversation about how Jews were evacuating to save themselves from the war. Of course, there were lots of Jews evacuating because there were many Jews in Belarus. I evacuated with a group of Belorussians which included me, my father, a man named Butko, and a Jewish woman. We all lived together. There was also another Belorussian woman and a Russian man . . . We all lived together. There I overheard this conversation that Jews were trying to avoid the draft. In my opinion this is a slanderous lie which was spread intentionally by the security services. I am convinced of it.

—The Germans dropped millions of leaflets which called on civilians to kill Jews and communists. Do you think they had an impact on people’s consciousness and their attitude toward Jews?

I think . . . I told you that I was in a unique "Jewish" division. There was no anti-Semitism there at all. The regiment commanders were these wonderful Russians. There were a lot of Jews commanding artillery batteries. They were the so-called "four eyes." They were all physicians and mathematicians. They made excellent officers. There was no anti-Semitism there. I was also in the 19th Rifle Division where my regiment commander was a Georgian named Ratiani whom I remember well. He was an interesting person. I don't remember anything untoward in that environment either.

—You remember that every year they published a list of Stalin Prize laureates? We bought the newspapers and would begin by studying the patronymics since last names did not say much anymore. There were many Jewish laureates every year in different disciplines. There were doctors, scientists . . . it was great. They admitted that some Jews were worthy of the Stalin Prize, or the National Prize as it was later known. However, in general Jews were not allowed to work at certain places and were not accepted into university. This mentality can be described by saying "This Jew is good, but they"re bad in general." The Jews in your division were recognized as being "good," but in general did you feel . . .

2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 7/15 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

I know what you're talking about when you say that some Jews were "good." I even heard that in the army. I experienced people being rude to me because I was Jewish. However, this was not the dominant attitude, it just wasn’t. However, I did experience instances.

— So it was on a . . . personal level.

Yes, it was based on personal prejudice. It even took place as an attempt by someone to assert their place at the expense of someone else. I experienced this, but these were individual cases.

—Did you ever feel that even though you were the commander of a platoon of machine gunners, that you had to be better than the rest because you were Jewish . . . that you had to be braver?

You . . . yes . . . in general that was my attitude in the army and afterwards as a teacher, and during my time as a university student. In the army I always felt it was my duty to be a responsible person. Of course, I also felt that because I was Jewish I could not give anyone cause to be suspicious of me for any reason.

—So in other words, in addition to the responsibilities you and everyone else shared, there was additional pressure because you were Jewish.

Yes, I experienced that in the army, but to an even greater extent as a student when anti-Semitism was becoming more menacing. This was during . . .

—The "Doctors' Plot"?

The Doctors’ Plot was in the 1950s, I was already a teacher by then. I remember that too.

—The purge of the Jewish Committee . . .

Yes, I remember that well, from 1948. I should tell you by the way . . . at some point around 1948 I began to find out a lot of things through my relationships with Jews in Minsk. In those years I began listening to the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. Later it became . . . a habit for me. By the way, I still only listen to Radio Free Europe . . . [and] I listen to BBC as my only sources of news. I avoid other sources on purpose. I read and listen selectively in order to understand what is happening. My sons have left for Israel, but not because they are looking for some kind of Jewish paradise. It was a conscious decision to leave a society which does not give them the opportunity to be free.

—Where did you celebrate Victory Day?

2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 8/15 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

Victory Day was in Graz.

—Yes, in Austria.

When we woke up we knew it was close because we had looked at the maps. Right before the victory we looked to see how much was left. I have to say that during the war I was nineteen, twenty years old, and I had a certain thrill-seeking quality. The trenches were all zigzags. There some straight ones, but they could easily be shot through, so mostly they were zigzags. I knew that jumping over the corners was a sort of thrill. I saw other guys doing it and I wanted to as well. By the time they would shoot at you, you had already ducked down. However, towards the end of the war nobody did this. We all realized that victory was close and we wanted to stay alive. Nobody acted stupid anymore.

—You worked with schoolchildren for a long time. During history lessons . . .

I taught literature.

—Well, literature then . . .

It doesn't matter, I understand.

—Did you talk to your pupils about the war?

Of course.

—You can probably discuss the war in several different ways. In general there are probably two main ways. The first is a retelling of all of Stalin’s blows, how the front lines moved, and about the role of the T-34 tank. The second is to talk about your own memories, how you saw bullets coming out of men's backs with bloody tufts of cotton.

That is exactly what I told them. I never described the war as . . . as a series of heroic victories. Never. The first thing I always said is that there is nothing uglier than war. There are no good wars. War not only injures those who are wounded, who die, but they also injure the survivor psychologically. Because when you see human tragedies and suffering on a daily basis you cannot remain the same. I talked to them about that and always put an end to childish foolishness. I was asked, "How many Germans did you kill?" This is a childish question, but in a way it reflects the limitations of adults when they talked about the war. I told them that I did not see the people I killed. When I shot from my submachine gun and my machine gun I probably did kill someone. However, to think that you killed someone . . . that cannot bring you any sense of heroism or joy. Killing other people is ugly. This is the thought I always . . . I often met with my pupils. I even suggested . . . you know, as the saying goes, no prophet is accepted in his own country. I worked at

2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 9/15 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN my school until 2007. By the way, strictly speaking, I am not retired right now. I am no longer a member of the staff of the 4th Brest Gymnasium, but I still give lessons there. I give lessons on dramatic reading. I come there and I am given a class to teach. I work for free. The children come to me for lessons, it's even more convenient for them. After they finish school they come to me and we study at this table.

—A few more questions if you don't mind.

Go ahead.

—After the war did you meet any Germans?

Germans?

—Germans.

No, but I should tell you that I defeated the hatred inside of me fairly quickly. I understand well that the Germans were victims of Hitlerism just like we were victims of Stalinism. There is no doubt. If we look at World War II, or as we call it the Great Patriotic War, there are two culprits who started it: Hitler and Stalin. Their two systems pushed us to war and maimed a huge number of so-called Soviet people indiscriminately. The only difference is that Stalin killed based on social class and Hitler killed based on race. This was a terrible crime against their own people and the people of the world.

—When you attacked, did you see wounded Germans?

Yes.

—What did you do with them? Did you ignore them?

I saw them being led away. One time I witnessed a terribly ugly episode during the Jassy–Kishinev offensive. I took part in that offensive and saw a staff officer shoot a German driver. He was an old man. I remembered that for the rest of my life. By the way . . . I was the commander of the 1st platoon and another man commanded the 2nd platoon. His name was Senkin. We tried to stop that major but couldn't do anything, and he shot the German. It was terrible, but I wouldn't say that this was a widespread practice. However, it did happen, war is war and dishonorable things happened.

—Were you ever present at executions for desertion or for purposely injuring oneself?

Executions for purposely injuring oneself?

2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 10/15 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

—Yes.

We knew that . . .

—But you never saw them . . .

No, I did not. When I was wounded, I was hit in the hand, the bullet hit a button . . . when I returned from battle having lost all of my troops . . . when I was returning from battle I ran into SMERSH operatives. They detained me and examined my hand to check if I had shot myself. If I had shot myself there would have been gunpowder residue and it would have been impossible to hide. That I did experience, but I never saw anyone do it.

—Thank you for meeting us.

I'm not sure if I did a good job. I don't want to tell you about my various feats because that would be bragging.

—I always respond the same way to these kinds of comments: I am alive because you fought.

Hmm, I suppose you are right. I was a rank-and-file participant of the war.

—You began telling us how you were treated in your platoon after everyone found out you were Jewish.

Yes, I was treated very well. I remember one episode particularly well. We received fresh troops and among them there were two brothers named Skiba. In Ukrainian that means "piece of bread"; it was a really Ukrainian last name, Skiba. I don't remember their names, but I remember the surname Skiba. The older one was forty and the younger was eighteen. They had both just been drafted. Their mother had been left in Ukraine and the older brother considered it his fatherly duty to protect the younger one. He was much older. Their father had passed away and after they were drafted the older one always tried to serve in the same unit as the younger. The older Skiba turns to me and says, "Comrade Lieutenant, can you take my younger brother as your orderly?" It was unheard of for a platoon commander to have an orderly, but I understood how much he cared for his brother with whom I was roughly the same age since I was only a year his senior. I took him in as an orderly. I noticed that his older brother would tell him, "Keep in mind, your commander is a Jew" and reminded him of some Jews who lived near them . . . I didn't ask. He would tell him, "Remember, you have a good commander, a Jew." I heard that. For me this was a discovery of sorts and I started to view myself differently. That was one aspect of things.

2021 © BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION PG 11/15 BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG DIGITAL COLLECTIONS ITEM TRANSCRIPT

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

—Do you like watching movies about the war?

Not usually . . . with very rare exceptions. For example, I watched the first film about it called "Star." I don't remember who directed it. "Star" was a radio call sign. They ran a remake not too long ago . . . They made a remake which looked like it was about special forces in the Caucasus. It was disgusting. I don't watch war films anymore for two reasons. The first is that they normally do not portray the war accurately. The second is that they are violent and typically portray some sort of super humans, often of a criminal type. I do not watch them. I read a lot, but only things that were written a long time ago, not modern works.

—Who is your favorite war poet?

From those times I like Simonov, Surkov, Aleksandr Tvardovsky. Those three poets evoked a response from me, I believed them and felt their words. I know their poetry. As for the postwar period, there was a man named Robert Rozhdestvensky. He was a magnificent poet. He wrote about the war like someone with firsthand experience. I think he let this great human tragedy pass through his inner being.

And of course Vladimir Vysotsky! So if we are talking about war poetry, then a poet like Robert Rozhdestvensky is what I enjoy. However, if you ask me who my favorite poet is . . . then it is definitely Esenin, Blok, Tsvetaeva. It is, of course . . . you know this is because I'm nervous . . . I don't have memory problems. I forgot all of a sudden . . . a poetess, my God . . .

—Akhmatova?

Akhmatova! Of course. Balmont. The Silver Age.

—When you practice with the students, do you read Balmont?

Of course.

—How do they fell about that? Do they understand or not?

They have a deep understanding . . . You know I never begin working on a text or a poem without first introducing them to it at least a little . . . although I do not have time to teach them completely, I don't teach literature, I just introduce them . . . Now we will study the works of the brilliant poet Balmont; sometimes the emphasis is placed on the "o" because he is from Scandinavia. I tell them about the incredible thirst to see the beauty of human life, the ability to access the hidden world of beauty. Human joy and happiness are not a tangible object. It is a world that a person has created for themselves. Or how he perceives something . . . something that is presented to us by Sergey Esenin, Tsvetaeva, Akhmatova, and of course Pushkin, whom I love so dearly. The ability to experience their world is one of the great

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN human joys. I tell them that.

—Are there any poems by Simonov that you love and remember?

Of course! [Author of below translation unknown]

"Remember, Alyosha, the roads of Smolenshchina,

Remember the rain and the mud and the pain,

The women, exhausted, who brought milk in pitchers,

And clasped them like babies at breast, from the rain.

The whispering words as we passed them: 'God bless you!'

The eyes where they secretly wiped away tears!

And how they all promised they would be 'soldatki,'

The words of old Russia from earlier years.

The road disappearing past hills in the distance,

Its length that we measured with tears on the run.

And villages, villages, churches and churchyards,

As if all of Russia were gathered in one.

It seemed that in each Russian village we passed through,

The hands of our ancestors under the sod

Were making the sign of the cross and protecting

Their children, no longer believers in god.

You know, I believe that the Russia we fight for

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

Is not the dull town where I lived at a loss . . ."

I forget the rest . . .

—One last question. It's a question my granddaughter asked me. She is ten years old and knows what we do and why her grandfather and grandmother travel so much. She asked me this question last year when she was nine. "Why do people fight?" How would you answer that question for a child of nine, of twelve?

How to answer why people fight? There are probably two answers, but how to answer a child? I think . . . you have to look toward a person's moral quality, human anger, that when this person was raised, they were not told that people are an object of love. That life is love and that you should revere people. If respect for other people is not formed in a person's childhood, and particularly in their youth, avarice takes its place. Historically it was a fight for survival, but today it is a defect in a person's character. War should not be talked about with piety or with awe. War is always ugly. War is murder. If we speak from a religious point of view, life was given by God. If we speak without that consideration, we can say that life is a great joy given by nature and attacking someone's right to live is a terrible crime. This is why in the States and the EU there hangs the question of whether to abolish capital punishment. Yes, the person may be guilty, but nobody has the right to take away his life. Yes, he should be punished, imprisoned for life, but we do not have a right to kill him. I am impressed by American civilization, because in my understanding it is a conglomeration of the best parts of European and Asian cultures. It represents the pinnacle of love for humanity. The Americans not only inherited European civilization, but have overcome its greatest shortcoming: slavery. By electing a black president, white Americans have accomplished a great feat . . . I got on a tangent here.

To love! I am of course an old teacher. When I meet young people I always ask them who they think is the better teacher, a strict or a kind one. Many of them start to talk it out . . . I tell them that I am sorry because I asked them a trick question. The best teacher is a loving one, for love is the most important condition for human interaction, especially with students.

—I promise you that I will definitely pass on your answer to my grandchildren.

Thank you.

—Thank you.

Vladimir Nemets. Full, unedited interview, 2009

ID BEL043.interview PERMALINK http://n2t.net/ark:/86084/b49096

ITEM TYPE VIDEO ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RUSSIAN

CITATION MLA Citation information coming soon!

CITATION APA Citation information coming soon!

CITATION WIKIPEDIA Citation information coming soon!

CONTACT [email protected] 212.275.4600

BLAVATNIK ARCHIVE FOUNDATION 1633 BROADWAY AVE, 4TH FL NEW YORK, NY 10019

BLAVATNIKARCHIVE.ORG FACEBOOK.COM/BLAVATNIKARCHIVE