Anatoly Kuznetsov’s Followers (18)

Anatoly Kuznetsov

Born

in Kiev, Ukraine

August 18, 1929

Died

June 13, 1979

Genre

History

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Note: Anatoli Kuznetsov is known variously as Anatoli Petrovich Kuznetsov and as Anatoly Vasilievich Kuznetsov. Russian name: Анатолий Кузнецов

A Ukrainian mother bore Anatoly Vasilyevich Kuznetsov to a Russian father, and his passport stated that he was Russian. He grew up in the Kiev district of Kurenivka, in his own words "a stone's throw from a vast ravine, whose name, Babi Yar, was once known only to locals." At the age fourteen, Kuznetsov began recording in a notebook everything he saw and heard about the Babi Yar massacre. Once his mother discovered it and read his notes. She cried and advised him to save them for a book he might write someday.

Before becoming a writer, Kuznetsov "studied ballet and acting, tried painting and music, wo Note: Anatoli Kuznetsov is known variously as Anatoli Petrovich Kuznetsov and as Anatoly Vasilievich Kuznetsov. Russian name: Анатолий Кузнецов

A Ukrainian mother bore Anatoly Vasilyevich Kuznetsov to a Russian father, and his passport stated that he was Russian. He grew up in the Kiev district of Kurenivka, in his own words "a stone's throw from a vast ravine, whose name, Babi Yar, was once known only to locals." At the age fourteen, Kuznetsov began recording in a notebook everything he saw and heard about the Babi Yar massacre. Once his mother discovered it and read his notes. She cried and advised him to save them for a book he might write someday.

Before becoming a writer, Kuznetsov "studied ballet and acting, tried painting and music, worked as a carpenter, road builder, concrete worker, helped build the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the Dnipro, and worked on the Irkutsk and Bratsk hydroelectric power plants in Siberia." In 1955, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Eventually, he began "studying to become a writer" and enrolled at the Moscow Gorky Literary Institute.

The novel Babi Yar, published in Yunost in 1966, cemented Anatoly Kuznetsov's fame. The novel included the previously unknown materials about the execution of 33,771 Jews in the course of two days, September 29-30, 1941, in the Kiev ravine Babi Yar. The uncensored work included materials highly critical of the Soviet regime. Working on it was not easy. Kuznetsov recalled: "For a whole month in Kiev I had nightmares, which wore me out so much that I had to leave without finishing my work and temporarily switch to other tasks in order to regain my senses."

Soon after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, Kuznetsov defected from the USSR to the United Kingdom. His pretext for traveling abroad was to do research for his new book on Lenin's stay in Britain. He managed to smuggle 35-mm photographic film containing the uncensored manuscript.

He arrived in London on a two-week visa, accompanied by Georgy Andjaparidze, a suspected KGB "mamka", a secret police agent. Kuznetsov managed to trick Andjapazidze by saying he wanted to find a prostitute and instead ran for the nearest British government office. There he was connected over the phone with David Floyd, a Russian-speaking journalist and the Daily Telegraph's Soviet expert. Risking being caught, Kuznetsov returned to the hotel to pick up his manuscripts, his favorite typewriter and Cuban cigars.

Home Secretary James Callaghan and Prime Minister Harold Wilson decided to grant Kuznetsov an unlimited residence visa in the UK. Shortly after the public announcement of the British decision, Soviet Ambassador Mikhail Smirnovsky demanded the author's return, but Callaghan refused. Two days later, Smirnovsky called on Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart and asked that Soviet diplomats be allowed to see Kuznetsov, but Kuznetsov refused to meet with his countrymen. Instead, he wrote a declaration of his reasons for leaving and three letters: one to the Soviet government, another to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and a third to the USSR Union of Writers.

Sunday Telegraph published David Floyd’s interview with Kuznetsov, who spoke about his ties with the KGB, how he was recruited, and how he had formally agreed to cooperate in order to be allowed to leave abroad.

Some sources say that Kuznetzov was murdered in London in 1979 by a shot to the neck with a poisoned ice pellet. It is thought that the KGB was involved in the slaying. According to other sources, he died of a heart attack. ...more

Combine Editions
Anatoly Kuznetsov’s books

Average rating: 4.43 · 2,536 ratings · 288 reviews · 20 distinct works • Similar authors

	Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel by Anatoly Kuznetsov, David Floyd (Translator), Vagrich Bakhchanian (Illustrator) 4.44 avg rating — 2,604 ratings — published 1966 — 78 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Продолжение легенды by Anatoly Kuznetsov, Анатолий Кузнецов 3.60 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 1959 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	На "Свободе" by Anatoly Kuznetsov, Анатолий Кузнецов 4.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Селенга by Anatoly Kuznetsov, Анатолий Кузнецов really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1961	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Brilliant Chess Studies it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	У дома by Anatoly Kuznetsov, Анатолий Кузнецов really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1965	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Огонь by Anatoly Kuznetsov, Анатолий Кузнецов liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Journey 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1984 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Remote Sensing of the Environment and Radiation Transfer: An Introductory Survey by Anatoly Kuznetsov, Ирина Мельникова (Irina Melnikova), Dmitry Pozdnyakov 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2011 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A legenda folytatása by Anatoly Kuznetsov, Anatolij Kuznyecov, Ervin Radványi (Translator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Anatoly Kuznetsov (?)

“That there is in this world neither brains, nor goodness, nor good sense, but only brute force. Bloodshed. Starvation. Death. That there was not the slightest hope not even a glimmer of hope, of justice being done. It would never happen. No one would ever do it. The world was just one big Babi Yar. And there two great forces had come up against each other and were striking against each other like hammer and anvil, and the wretched people were in between, with no way out; each individual wanted only to live and not be maltreated, to have something to eat, and yet they howled and screamed and in their fear they were grabbing at each other’s throats, while I, little blob of watery jelly, was sitting in the midst of this dark world. Why? What for? Who had done it all? There was nothing, after all, to hope for! Winter. Night.”
― A. Anatoli (Anatoly Vasilievich Kuznetsov), Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel

tags: babi-yar, depression, holocaust, ukraine, world-war-ii

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“. . . so just remember that this is the first sign of trouble- if books are banned, that means that things are going wrong.”
― A. Anatoli Kuznetsov, Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel

7 likes

“I did not say I liked politics. I hate them. I scorn them. I do not call upon you to like them or even respect them. I am simply telling you: DON'T IGNORE THEM.”
― Anatoly Kuznetsov, Babi Yar, a Documentary Novel Complete, as Originally Published in Russia

tags: activism, activism-inspiration, calling-people, politics

0 likes

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