(With this entry I am
briefly returning to the Stalin theme.
I have numerous Stalin entries
already posted on this blog. In particular, see the entries of February and
March 2011, but of course many others were posted at other times.)
Throughout my father’s
reminiscences of Stalin, as well as permeating the impressions of every
objective foreign visitor Stalin ever received, Stalin’s special presence,
statesmanlike dignity, poise had always come out. He came across as natural
royalty, with no affectation whatsoever, but always with a clear sense of his
personal position as not only the leader of the USSR, but as the foremost
national symbol, which enormous responsibility he never let down. One cannot
achieve such a feat by practice, it has to be nurtured out of an innate feeling
of personal chosenness by national destiny, and Stalin possessed this feeling
in abundance. In fact, as a bona fide great Russian ruler, he felt an organic
connection to the great Russian rulers of the past. He was Russian
royalty…
Stalin loved cinema, and
appreciated its mass appeal. He was himself a “movie-junkie,” especially
hooked on American Westerns. However, this last frivolous detail is
superfluously beside the point here.
Three great movies were
made under his towering personal supervision with detailed instructions given
to the scriptwriters, directors, actors, and even to the composer of the music
Sergei Prokofiev who must have thoroughly enjoyed thus being taught his trade.
Not surprisingly, the titles of these movies were Alexander Nevsky, Ivan
Grozny (a two-part masterpiece), and Peter I. Each time, as you
watch these movies, you can hear Comrade Stalin personally talking to you from
the screen.
For, as I said before,
Stalin saw himself as Russia’s supreme royalty, hereditary not by flesh
(although, on this particular point, see my entry Of Georgian Princes And Russian
Tsars later in this subsection), but by spirit. Apparently, he was a
kind of re-embodiment of his great predecessors, and lived his life
accordingly, seeking personal explanations of the present and instructions for
the future in his “past lives.”
Such an approach had
surprisingly sound logic behind it. Like Stalin,-- Alexander, Ivan, and Peter
had been fighting against great odds, and all three of them had most
spectacular historical successes. If Stalin, now, should design his life after
theirs, he might, too, meet with similar success!
This preoccupation with
great ancestors does not originate with Stalin, of course. Peter I also
venerated St. Alexander Nevsky, and also regarded himself as the direct
descendant of Ivan Grozny, bypassing his questionable father and grandfather,
the Romanovs, whose lifestyle, laws, and even children (Peter’s own
half-siblings), he had unhesitatingly renounced.
Stalin’s assimilation
into his regal status was comprehensive and penetrating into the minutest
detail. The most stunning feature about him was his overwhelming presence.
Short in stature, pockmarked, crippled, with a shriveled arm, he spoke Russian
with some difficulty and had a laughable accent. Yet as soon as he entered the
room, he would always become its centerpiece, and even his defects were working
in his favor. His shortcomings in speaking Russian would be transformed into
slowly measured, dignified speech. His limited vocabulary created conciseness
of style: he talked in maxims and dictums, impressing his listeners with the
simplicity of form, combined with sophisticated and subtle substance…
(This is the end of Part
I. Part II will be posted tomorrow.)
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