The Death of a Soviet Writer

Vsevelod Kravchenko, 46 years old and a writer from Moscow, jumped to his death from a fourth floor window of a hotel in Caen, France, on September first. This is what he wrote, alone in his hotel room, a few minutes before he plunged to his death:

I have never done anything against my country. I am ending my life to avoid unjust accusations and useless suffering. I am accused by my personal “friends” for certain words which may be interpreted in a hostile manner. It is my naiveté and stupidity, but not at all what they want to reproach me for. I would like my dear children to pardon me—Ola, Sergei, Igor, Alexis—and my wife Dusya, her particularly, whom I have perhaps hurt without understanding it; and that my dear parents will pardon me.

EL

About the Author

Eugene Lyons

Featured Tags

Vsevelod Kravchenko, 46 years old and a writer from Moscow, jumped to his death from a fourth floor window of a hotel in Caen, France, on September first. This is what he wrote, alone in his hotel room, a few minutes before he plunged to his death:

I have never done anything against my country. I am ending my life to avoid unjust accusations and useless suffering. I am accused by my personal “friends” for certain words which may be interpreted in a hostile manner. It is my naiveté and stupidity, but not at all what they want to reproach me for. I would like my dear children to pardon me—Ola, Sergei, Igor, Alexis—and my wife Dusya, her particularly, whom I have perhaps hurt without understanding it; and that my dear parents will pardon me.